BBC won’t share iPlayer tech with other PSBs

The BBC’s governing body, the BBC Trust, has vetoed plans to share its iPlayer technology with fellow UK public service broadcasters. Online on-demand service iPlayer has been a huge success for the BBC and it had planned to form a federation with other PSBs that would make all of their content available on-demand. The service would also have had commercial elements and BBC commercial arm BBC Worldwide would have likely become involved.

However, the BBC Trust said that while it supported the principle of sharing the iPlayer technology, it would need to be achieved more simply.
“We concluded that the open iPlayer plans in their proposed form, combining both commercial and public service elements, were too complicated,” said Diane Coyle, BBC Trustee and Chair of the BBC Trust’s Strategic Approvals Committee. “The Trust is open to considering an alternative proposal for the licensing of the iPlayer technology to third parties if that can be done on a simple, fair and commercial basis.”