First it was Virgin Mobile Australia and now it is the BBC that are getting my attention. (Two companies at opposite ends of the customer satisfaction scale!)
I appreciate that the BBC is funded by a combination the UK TV license fee payer, UK Government grants and overseas sales of programmes/DVDs/etc, but surely there must be someone at the BBC clever enough to work out a way to make the iPlayer available via a subscription model to non-UK residents.
In case you don’t know about the iPlayer, it broadcasts a rolling week of a full set of the programmes broadcast on the BBC in the UK.
As an ex-pat, that all sounds very interesting, but sadly it isn’t available to anyone outside the UK.
I am sure the reasons why they can’t magically make it available internationally are complex and completely understandable, but it doesn’t stop me wishing they would come up with a clever way around it.
I have asked around other ex-pat friends and everyone I speak to is interested in the service and prepared to pay. Surely this could be a significant revenue generator and surely just a matter of time before it happens.
Before you say anything, yes I am aware I can get hold of the BBC’s output via a variety of legal and decidedly grey channels, but I’d rather encourage the Beeb to do the decent thing and sort out a way themselves – afterall they did it with the Radio Player.
