Top Gear (and other BBC shows) might be available via iTunes

[argatoga]

Rumor suggests BBC shows arriving on iTunes this week
By Justin Berka | Published: February 17, 2008 - 07:34PM CT

Most of the BBC discussion in recent months has focused on iPlayer, which provides BBC content on-demand to UK Windows users. The current iPlayer will supposedly be coming as a standalone application to OS X and an Apple TV feature last this year, but folks in other markets still won't be able to get their hands on the content. That may be changing, though: according to a rumor covered by The Register, the BBC may be announcing a distribution deal with Apple sometime very soon.

Based on information from a "TV industry source," a deal between Apple and BBC Worldwide for iTunes Store distribution will be announced on Tuesday, and has already been communicated to some of the BBC's partners. The move comes as part of an attempt by BBC Worldwide to make some extra money off of the BBC's content. BBC Worldwide will be launching a download service later in the year, but is apparently exploring multiple new distribution avenues in addition to the in-house offering.

Unfortunately, we don't have any of the specifics of the deal, which are the really juicy bits. The biggest question is whether or not content will be available in the US as well as in the UK. If so, UK version of Kitchen Nightmares, here I come.

http://arstechnica.com/journals/appl...unes-this-week

Not perfect, but for those who want to pay for these shows this is an option.

[Viper007Bond]

And the source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02...ldwide_itunes/

It's unclear whether the BBC content will be available internationally. It's likely to be encoded in iTunes' standard MPEG-4 format, but DRM specifications are unknown.

[argatoga]

To be honest, if Apple/BBC World Wide bumps up the quality to match the scene rips and releases them in a timely fashion, I'd probably go for it.

[Viper007Bond]

Seems UK only, at least for now, and no sign of Top Gear:

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/18/bbc-w...-itunes-store/

[epp_b]

Even if it did come to North America, I would still have good reasons to torrent:

1. iTunes blows. Hard.
2. DRM sucks. Hard.
3. iTunes blows. and...
4. iTunes blows.

[argatoga]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

Seems UK only, at least for now, and no sign of Top Gear:

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/02/18/bbc-w...-itunes-store/

If I were a UK resident and TV tax payer I'd be a bit miffed. They are charging for shows funded by tax dollars.

Originally Posted by epp_b

Even if it did come to North America, I would still have good reasons to torrent:

1. iTunes blows. Hard.
2. DRM sucks. Hard.
3. iTunes blows. and...
4. iTunes blows.

I actually like iTunes . You can play the content in just Quicktime, but I can understand if you have a desire to copy it to a DVD, or transcode it into another format.

[Cobol74]

If UK only, look for a UK proxy should be able to get them then.

http://www.proxy4free.com/page1.html or http://www.freewebproxylist.com/



NB other proxy services are available from other sites.

Copied from another Forum - Q. Can someone recommend a free UK based Proxy:

A. "Solution #1. Visit HideIP's website and download their trial version of HideIP Platinum. Once installed, keep changing the IPs until you get a UK IP.

Most of the time, this technique should work. HideIP instructions can be found on their site.

Remember to jot down the UK IP address and its port number though because the next time you'll run the HideIP Platinum program (after closing it), it'll automatically change the IP.

OR

Solution #2. Now, if you are geeky, install Tor on your PC/Laptop and configure it to use IPs from the UK range."

Disclaimer - you take my advice (and I know nothing) and it is completely at your own risk.

[argatoga]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

If UK only, look for a UK proxy should be able to get them then.

http://www.proxy4free.com/page1.html NB other proxy services are available from other sites.

Unfortunately Apple determines nationality via credit card.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by argatoga

If I were a UK resident and TV tax payer I'd be a bit miffed. They are charging for shows funded by tax dollars.

You can get the shows for free for 7 days via the BBC's iPlayer.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by argatoga

Unfortunately Apple determines nationality via credit card.

My iTunes account uses my PayPal account. No credit card involved.

[Cobol74]

^ Exactly what I was going to say. I take it that iPlayer works abroad - I did not know if it did.

[teeb]

Originally Posted by Cobol74

^ Exactly what I was going to say. I take it that iPlayer works abroad - I did not know if it did.

Doesn't work from here straight off. If I wanted to iPlayer stuff I'd need a UK proxy.

[dlm3]

I just wish BBC would get a clue and sell its content over the net here in the states. I don't care whether it's iTunes or Amazon - I just want to be able to grab the latest episode of Top Gear after it has been broadcast in the UK and I'll be happy to pay a reasonable fee, say $2 per episode, for the privilege.

Bittorrent has shown that there's a market. A huge one. It's up to BBC to capitalize on it - and they won't get there by behaving as if this is a pre-bittorrent marketplace.

Most people will pay for things if you give them a chance and price it reasonably. Steve Jobs figured this out a while back, but the record companies and Hollywood still haven't figured it out, though they're showing signs they might be coming to their senses.

Now it remains to be seen if BBC will join those of us in the twenty first century.

[epp_b]

It's not entirely the BBC's fault or decision not to sell their shows online worldwide. The copyright bureaucracy and BS is a large part of why they "can't".

[upyourego]

Originally Posted by argatoga

If I were a UK resident and TV tax payer I'd be a bit miffed. They are charging for shows funded by tax dollars.

It doesn't work like that though - the Licence Fee is used by the BBC (in part) to buy the rights to show a programme for a certain number of times as well as offering it for seven days online through a catch-up service (iPlayer).

You need to think of television rights more like a rental model - the broadcaster rents the show and then has to pay again to do anything else with it after the original terms are met.

There are more rights holders involved in a TV show than the broadcaster and the producer. The writer has to be paid, the song writers and every musician in every song has to be payed - even conducters on classical pieces used in an episode have to be payed.

This is the main reason Top Gear isn't available on DVD and Won't be made available through iTunes - the music rights would cost to much to make it worth while.

[upyourego]

Oh and

BBC on Amazon Unbox for you Americans.

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=dv_TV_BB..._rd_i=16262841

[upyourego]

I've just downloaded an episode of Spooks from iTunes and the quality is pretty good.

The hour long show is about 600mb



The quality seems pretty good and the size is 640x480 ish. It's a bit grainy but that might be my monitor or the filmic effect of Spooks.

According to The Register:

The video is encoded in standard definition H.264 (AKA MPEG-4 Part 10) without DRM, in common with other content on iTunes UK and compatible with PC, Macs, iPod and iPhone, as well as other mobile devices.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by upyourego

The video is encoded in standard definition H.264 (AKA MPEG-4 Part 10) without DRM, in common with other content on iTunes UK and compatible with PC, Macs, iPod and iPhone, as well as other mobile devices.

Without DRM? Sweet.

Then if they release Top Gear via iTunes in the UK, that means decent quality replacements for old episodes.