News 

From September the corporation will hold three months of 'intensive trials' of its interactive Media Player (iMP). It will make selected TV programmes available for up to seven days after they were broadcast, alongside the radio broadcasts which are currently being streamed plus additional channels not yet available online. It also plans to offer feature films, where it can acquire the rights.

Unlike the BBC's current online content - radio stations streamed via its own Radio Player application or Real Player - the new system will require users to download programmes. These will have embedded DRM software that will tell the iMP to delete them once their seven days have expired. The same DRM will prevent programmes from being shared or burned to disc. Geo-IP technology

ADVERTISEMENT

will also be used to restrict availability to the UK.

Content will be distribute using peer-to-peer (P2P) technology.

The pilot will be used to assess the demand for particular types of programmes and to determine whether there will be any impact on the commercial TV market. The final decision on whether to go ahead will rest with the BBC governors.

The BBC's director of New Media and Technology, Ashley Highfield, could not resist drawing a parallel with the most well-known and successful online content delivery service, coupling it with a reference to a 70s TV advert.

'MP could just be the iTunes for the broadcast industry, enabling our audience to access our TV and radio programmes on their terms - anytime, any place, any how - Martini Media,' he said.

'We'll see what programmes appeal in this new world and how people search, sort, snack and savour our content in the broadband world.'

Highfield said in a recent speech that the uptake of broadband and the increasing numbers of people using the internet to access audio visual material was in danger of stalling without the necessary content to attract viewers and listeners.

Broadband users who would like to be considered for a place on the pilot should send an e-mail to imptrial@bbc.co.uk including their name, contact details, age and postcode.

The trial software is for Windows only.