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| BBC's download plans get backing | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| TV shows like Doctor Who are expected to be available for download later this year after the BBC Trust gave initial approval to the BBC's on-demand plans. | TV shows like Doctor Who are expected to be available for download later this year after the BBC Trust gave initial approval to the BBC's on-demand plans. |
| Under the proposals, viewers will be able to watch popular programmes online or download them for viewing up to 30 days after they are first broadcast. | Under the proposals, viewers will be able to watch popular programmes online or download them for viewing up to 30 days after they are first broadcast. |
| But the Trust imposed tough conditions on classical music, which could stop a repeat of the BBC's Beethoven podcasts. | But the Trust imposed tough conditions on classical music, which could stop a repeat of the BBC's Beethoven podcasts. |
| Full approval of the on-demand plans will follow a two month consultation. | Full approval of the on-demand plans will follow a two month consultation. |
| After that, the BBC will be able to launch its long-awaited iPlayer, a computer application which allows audiences to watch or download any programme from the last seven days. | |
| Market impact | |
| Programmes like Planet Earth could be available for longerThe BBC Trust, an independent body which replaced the corporation's governors at the beginning of 2007, said the on-demand plans - which also cover cable TV - were "likely to deliver significant public value". | |
| But it agreed with broadcasting watchdog Ofcom, which said earlier this month that the iPlayer could have a "negative effect" on commercial rivals. | |
| As a result, the trust has imposed several conditions on the BBC. | |
| It wants the corporation to scale back plans to offer "catch-up" episodes for 13 weeks, suggesting that 30 days is enough for programmes such as EastEnders and Top Gear. | |
| Some content could be available beyond the 30-day window - and trustees suggested "landmark" series "with a beginning and end", such as Planet Earth or Doctor Who as examples. | |
| Chris Woolard, head of finance, economics and strategy at the trust, defended the decision to cut the storage time, saying that when people record a programme at home "if they don't look at it within 48 days, they don't look at it at all". | |
| Parental controls | |
| 1.4m people downloaded Beethoven's symphonies from the BBCThe trust also asked the BBC to explore ways of introducing parental controls to its on-demand services, as it is worried at the "heightened risk of children being exposed to post-watershed material". | |
| Podcasts also came under scrutiny, with the trust recommending that audio books and classical music be excluded from the BBC's download services. | |
| "There is a potential negative market impact if the BBC allows listeners to build an extensive library of classical music that will serve as a close substitute for commercially available downloads or CDs," it said. | |
| The news will be a disappointment to the one million people who downloaded Beethoven's symphonies in a Radio 3 trial last year. | |
| But trustee Diane Coyle admitted the board "could still change its mind if there was a public outcry and it was backed up by evidence". | |
| Licence-fee payers can now have their say on the BBC's plans, and the trust's conditions, in a two-month public consultation. | |
| The trust said it expects to publish its final approval by 2 May. |