James Delahunty
16 Feb 2008 1:41
According to a TV industry source, the commercial arm of the BBC will begin adding downloadable video content to Apple Inc.'s iTunes multimedia store. The Register says a source informed them that BBC Worldwide's digital media director Simon Danker informed the company's third-party production partners about the deal with Apple.
BBC Worldwide is an attempt by the BBC to increase revenue by selling rights to TV shows internationally to add to the money collected from TV licenses. The BBC iPlayer allows UK residents to watch TV shows for free up to seven days after they have aired on television, and it has been indicated that iPlayer support will be going to Apple TV soon.
Next year, BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 are set to launch Project Kangaroo, a joint on-demand video streaming service. It is not clear whether the BBC content going to iTunes will be available worldwide or just in the UK.