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Paying for Downloads

Messages: 1 - 3 of 3
  • Message 1. 

    Posted by astral_sphere (U14630899) on Friday, 14th June 2013

    I think it reasonable that the BBC might charge for a new service to make older programmes accessible to License holders via the download services available on the BBC website. At present, I can download some programmes but to do so, I must effectively leave the BBC and buy from a company which sells outside the BBC's remit and sphere of influence. I have some questions about this state of affairs.
    1) The BBC owns a vast array of high quality material. It owns the material because the License Fee payers help to fund the creative and physical processes which produce valuable material. Why can not the BBC make money from the sale of the material? Why is the material only commercially valuable to outside companies? Reference: it is stated on the BBC website that these downloads create NO income for the BBC. Why not? The material belongs to the BBC and hence, to all License Fee paying households in the UK.
    2) When I tried to download a recent programme using a retail option, as an experiment, I found that one programme cost £1.40 (c.$2.10). It is hardly likely that I will ever consider to download or stream the hundreds of programmes in which I might be interested. I understand the need to charge for an archive retrieval system BUT could the cost be kept to that which is affordable for regular users? If the charge per programme is too much, is there not a risk of the service being kept at the margins and underdeveloped; offering a small range of material, selected by an in-house panel rather than the listening and viewing public?
    3) Assuming that an extensive download service, offering a wide range of otherwise unavailable archival material, will cost money to establish, why not consider a regular payment subscription? This would require publicity but the uptake would be very high as the BBC would be offering a new service of high-quality material on demand.
    Personally, I can not imagine my life without the BBC: I have DVDs, CDs, cassettes (!) and a desire to switch on the radio every day, to find excellent new programmes. I would like the download service to link into the current programmes and to offer nostalgia also. I think that to go halfway is to miss an opportunity to give the listener and viewer the fully integrated system which I envisage. In the best BBC tradition, would it not be a good idea to create the best possible system from the start?

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  • Message 2

    , in reply to message 1.

    Posted by technologist (U1259929) on Friday, 14th June 2013

    The BBC announced Project Barcelona - Now known as BBC Store - last year see www.bbc.co.uk/news/e...
    and a blog www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/...

    Despite both Mark and Roly having left the BBC ... the idea is still there .. and I would hope that Tony hall may mention this in his statement after the summer.

    Can I just point out the cost of finding and negotiating the rights - as well as the Rights themselves .. and of course the infrastructure to support BBC store .. it is not cheap.

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  • Message 3

    , in reply to message 1.

    Posted by benchboy26 (U15765129) on Tuesday, 18th June 2013

    I do think the BBC has it right on this it would be great to download rather then going to the shops, but I do think that pricing will be an issue.

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