BBC to Launch Video Download Service

LONDON: BBC director-general Mark Thompson has unveiled plans for a service that would enable users to pay to download and permanently keep their favorite shows from the BBC archives.

Dubbed Project Barcelona, the plan is being put before the BBC Trust later this year. The service would function as a "digital shop" for archived shows, which consumers could purchase for a "relatively modest" fee and keep permanently. Speaking at the Royal Television Society in London, Thompson described the transaction as the "digital equivalent" of people purchasing a DVD for the permanent collection.