p2pnet.net News:- The British Broadcasting Corporation is getting into the online music business and is considering partnerships with private firms, says director-general Mark Thompson.

He’s already said the Beeb will use its MyBBCPlayer to let viewers “legally” download seven days of programs at the forthcoming Edinburgh Television Festival.

“A simulcast of BBC One or BBC Two, letting UK viewers see programmes on the web at the same time as they go out on TV, is also planned as part of MyBBCPlayer,” says the broadcaster.

The plan is “to offer on-demand TV and radio programming, live streaming of BBC channels, and access to the broadcaster’s huge archives”.

With respect to downloads, Reuters quotes Thompson as saying it’s "ridiculous" to think consumers, "would not welcome the opportunity to actually buy a download of a piece of music they have heard on a BBC Website”.

The prospect of the BBC “using its massive heft is likely to upset UK media and Internet companies, which have often complained that the corporation - funded by a mandatory tax on UK television households totalling nearly 3 billion pounds ($5.4 billion) - has encroached on activities in the private sector,” says the story, adding”

“Thompson said that when and if the BBC links to online music stores, ‘the choice of commercial providers (would be) fair and open.’ Ashley Highfield, director of BBC New Media and Technology, told Reuters that the BBC has not yet held any discussions with online music providers.”

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See:-

BBC - BBC TV channels to be put on net, August 27, 2005
Reuters - BBC targets music downloads in Internet strategy, August 27, 2005

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