BBC’s Global iPlayer to Cost Less than $10 a Month, Offer Uncut British Shows

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We might not know exactly when the BBC will launch their iPad-only global iPlayer app, but at least we know that it won’t be too expensive to sign up. BBC Director General Mark Thompson has announced that the subscription cost of the international iPlayer, which will give users access to new and archived content from multiple British television producers, will be “a small number of dollars per month, definitely fewer than ten.”

Talking to an audience at the Financial Times Digital Media & Broadcasting conference in London, Thompson said that the BBC was “exploring internationally what the right pricing and models are… The most important thing is the consumer pricing is right.”

He also said that one benefit to the global iPlayer is that it will allow broadcasters to release their shows in their original forms, as opposed to being edited, reformatted or rebranded, as often happens in international distribution (PBS and BBC America being common offenders with both), suggesting that restoring original editions could lengthen the lifecycle of programming following international broadcast distribution.

Thompson also said that the corporation was looking at using other methods of distributing its content online, specifically mentioning conversations with Facebook and YouTube.

More on Techland:

iPlayer Expands Beyond BBC In The UK, Prepares For Global Invasion

Global BBC iPlayer To Be Paid, iPad-Only Service

Global iPlayer To Offer British Video-On-Demand Internationally