The BBC iPlayer service is currently free to all residents of the United Kingdom. But should the BBC start charging now that the service has proved its worth and kick started the online television sector in the U.K.? Ashley Highfield, thinks so.
Ashley Highfield?
Who is Ashley Highfield? Only the man who as director of future media and technology at the BBC did more than anyone else to push the iPlayer through from being a mere concept to a reality.
Highfield left the BBC shortly after the iPlayer launched to become managing director of consumer and online at Microsoft U.K. While there he has helped launch the MSN Video Player, which quite frankly pails into insignificance against the iPlayer.
Highfield Talks
Highfield was speaking last week at C&binet, the government’s digital creative industry conference. According to The Guardian newspaper, he said:
“I think the iPlayer was a catalyst to get a lot more content [made available on-demand] in the UK. All boats rise on that, commercial or not. A reasonable question to ask now is about ‘windowing’. Is seven days free right or should it be shortened [and should the BBC] get rid of hold-back periods [so commercial companies can more quickly exploit online TV revenues from content]?”
A Change Of Mind
It’s clear just from this short statement that Highfield’s opinion on these matters has changed since he moved from the public broadcaster to a private company in Microsoft.
I’d suggest his comments are intended to move BBC content into the commercial sector more quickly than it is now. The MSN Video Player is full of archive material but if the iPlayer charged for content then it would instantly enter that competitive world.
Conclusions
It feels as though all the companies offering free TV services at the moment are considering charging. That’s not the case, of course. This hasn’t come directly from the BBC and I doubt it will ever actually charge for content. First and foremost it would risk a backlash from British citizens who already pay a TV license fee to access BBC shows.
Hulu, on the other hand, is likely to start charging in the next year or so. But even that is likely to only be for certain, selected content rather than a flat charge for the whole service.
Still, it’s a worrying trend for those of us who have got used to watching free TV services on the Web.
