Pay for iPlayer

Soldato
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What do people make of this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8270663.stm

Seems like a good idea to me. I'd like some money to go to BBC and some to the ISPs who are transporting the data.

I'd pay up to a pound per show... something like 50p for a half hour thing (Mock the week, Have I Got News For You, University Challenge...) and £1 for one hour things like Top Gear and documentaries.

I would want a back catalogue of a year though, and I'd want to be able to keep downloaded/bought stuff forever if I choose though. It would be paying for the ability to download, keep, choose from a back catalogue rather than the actual programmes.

I see this as a gradual move away from the licence fee - some people keep paying the fee, others opt out and only download content, for which they pay with micropayments per download.
 

XPE

XPE

Soldato
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Well i already pay for the BBC through my licence fee and i already pay money to my isp to transfer the data through monthly subscriptions.


Edit: if on the other hand this was link to your tv licence and the only people who had to pay are the ones with out it, then this could be a good idea
 
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Caporegime
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I do think it's out of order that people can watch iPlayer without paying the license fee, so effectively the rest of us are paying for their entertainment. They should lower the license fee and either introduce a pay per view or subscription style system for iPlayer
 
Soldato
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The time will come when it's either directly tied to you license or ppv it has to as the delivery model for TV moves forward. This is an even more pressing issue for companies like ITV and Chanel 4 given the huge drop in advertising revenue.
 
Soldato
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Seems like a good idea to me. I'd like some money to go to BBC and some to the ISPs who are transporting the data.

I'd pay up to a pound per show... something like 50p for a half hour thing (Mock the week, Have I Got News For You, University Challenge...) and £1 for one hour things like Top Gear and documentaries.

1) The BBC already get lots of money from the licence.

2) Why should ISPs get any more money? We already pay them. Do you expect sites like Youtube to pay them too?

3) £1 per hour is a rip off.

4) ....

However, the BBC says it has no plans to introduce such a fee.

:)
 
Soldato
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On the forest moon Endor
On the few occasions I've finished work on a Sunday night at 2200 then tried to use I Player to watch Top Gear I constantly got some message about " insufficient bandwidth - please try later"

And they seriously want me to pay for this service - they're having a laugh. It's quicker for me to download the program illegally from the net than wait on I Player!
 
Caporegime
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The time will come when it's either directly tied to you license or ppv it has to as the delivery model for TV moves forward.

PPV is not the delivery model for future mass market TV. Time and time again in the TV, broadband, and other entertainment markets, consumers have shown that they want to pay a fixed fee for unlimited usage.

I'd rather pay Virgin a set amount each month and watch as much or as little as I like, because I know exactly how much the service will cost me each month.

I'd rather pay my broadband provider a fixed fee and not constantly have to worry about how many GB I've downloaded that month.

I'd rather pay UKGOV / the BBC a license fee that entitles me to watch and listen to as much as I like for the year. What next, pay per listen digital radio stations with encryption cards?

I'd rather go to a theme park and pay a one off entry price, and do what I want once I'm in, without having to worry each time you go on another ride 'oh how much have I spent and how much do I now have left'.
 
Soldato
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On the few occasions I've finished work on a Sunday night at 2200 then tried to use I Player to watch Top Gear I constantly got some message about " insufficient bandwidth - please try later"

And they seriously want me to pay for this service - they're having a laugh. It's quicker for me to download the program illegally from the net than wait on I Player!

Yes but "with additional funding blah blah blah"
:D
 
Soldato
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Surrey, by the river
The BBC are looking at inviting other channels onto iPlayer, but again it will probably be free. In March of this year the Competition Commission blocked project Kangaroo which wuld have seen ITV, BBC and C4 offer all their content (the whole back catalogue) though a single portal with 7 day catch-up, download to rent and download to own.

If people are going to have to pay for it then the BBC content will have to come though other suppliers since the Competition Commission don't want the producer also owning the distribution channel since this apparently stifles competition (unless you are Sky and own the movies, sport and the satellite network, of course).
 
Soldato
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I would pay for it under 3 conditions:

1) Everything in HD.
2) Everything subtitled.
3) Reasonable price.

I don't own a TV licence, but my parents do, and we are all under the same roof so I think I'm covered.

No TV in my room either, don't watch it enough to warrant having one. I just use iPlayer when I'm bored.
 
Soldato
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I like the idea of giving an account, like login username and password to people who pay the license fee and then make it so you need to login to use it. Still wont stop all non-license fee payers watching, but im sure it would cut down a lot.

But yea, no way would i pay extra for using iPlayer.
 
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