July 27 Launch for BBC iPlayer

LONDON, June 27: The BBC has announced that its British
on-demand service, iPlayer, will launch on July 27, offering shows from across
the broadcaster’s portfolio of channels for download onto a PC, advertising
free, up to a week after the initial broadcast.

Jana Bennett, the director of BBC Vision, noted: "This
is a significant moment, as it heralds a new era when viewers will have the
freedom to watch programs from the BBC's linear TV channels when they want. It's
a revolutionary service which offers audiences more value, because from now on
they never have to miss out on their favorite programs—or those that they
didn't previously have the opportunity to try."

At launch, once viewers have accessed BBC iPlayer at
bbc.co.uk/iplayer and have downloaded a program, they will have up to 30 days to
watch it. Once watched, the show is automatically deleted.

Later this year, the iPlayer will become widely accessible
across bbc.co.uk, as well as via links from YouTube and a number of other
potential distribution partners, including MSN, AOL, Tiscali, Yahoo!, Bebo and
MySpace, among others. Discussions are currently underway. Users will be able
to watch promotional clips of programs, and link back to BBC iPlayer on
bbc.co.uk.

"Our vision is for BBC
iPlayer to become a universal service available not just over the Internet, but
also on cable and other TV platforms, and eventually on mobiles and smart
handheld devices," said Ashley Highfield, the BBC’s director of future
media and technology. "It underpins our Creative Future strategy, to
maintain the BBC's relevance among all audiences in the digital age."

BBC iPlayer is currently in closed environment testing
amongst some 15,000 people. It will go live to the general public in open Beta
on July 27, before a full marketing launch in the autumn.

In time, extra features will be added to BBC iPlayer, such
as streaming on-demand (allowing users to watch a program straight away),
series stacking (which allows users to download episodes from selected series
retrospectively) and the BBC Radio Player.