It’s clearly “gang up on the BBC” month.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8270663.stm

I can honestly say that if the BBC started charging to watch iPlayer then my watching of TV would be exclusively from torrent downloads.

I like to catch up on a few programs now and then but I'm not going to pay (more the the TV license) to watch University Challenge or Strictly Come Dancing.

As the catch-up service is short-lived (you can't catch on up last years programmes, AFAIK), I don't see why the BBC would need to charge.

If their whole catalogue of entertainment was on there and I could call up season 1 of Dr. Who or something, then yes, paying a couple of pence would be reasonable (although I'm b******d if I'd spend 2 quid to watch a streamed programme, download to own, maybe).

As the programmes are only available for a couple of weeks or whatever, I don't see the need for payments. as it isn't "back catalogue" stuff and falls under the same remit as video recording - anything you record off of the television can be retained for a few months, then should be deleted (unless you had a bulk eraser - aka huge magnet - this part was never practicle).

I also thought of the fact that it is only available up to a week after the program airs.

It is very different from downloading it to own it.

Why would we pay for something twice?

I hardly ever use iPlayer. Then again, I hardly ever watch the BBC now that there's no Doctor Who or Torchwood being screened.

Mark

They do “series catchup” where all episodes are available for the duration of the series.

The lack of Dr Who is not good. We do have Triffids and Survivors to look forward to, though. And the Doctor is turning up in an episode of Sarah Jane Adventures.

I'm all for people outside the TV tax zone paying for iplayer, but I even resent paying for BBC DVDs - we should be issued them, we paid for them to be made after all. If they asked for extra cash for iplayer I would use torrents instead.

I agree. I watch TV exclusilvely on iPlayer these days, but would not pay for it. I am unfamiliar with torrents, but would try them if it came to that.

Well, like I say, we already pay for the iplayer through the TV licence.

AFAIK it's not available outside of the UK, well it wasn't when I was in Austria, so I don't think that's an issue.

I did some totally independent research of my own which conclusively proves that people would not, it also suggested quite strongly that Tony Cohen should shut the f u c k up.

Basically these overpaid tv execs are saying no one will buy their programmes because the BBC are giving theirs away for free.

I think the real problem is no one would watch ITV stuff if it was free because it's s h i t, I mean who wants to watch Martin Clunes 23 hours a day then Loose Women for the other hour.