BBC to begin plugging £150m hole with launch of iTunes TV rival
The BBC is to begin selling digital downloads of over 10,000 hours of both new and archived TV programming – a move that will place the broadcaster in competition with Apple's iTunes service.
The venture will help the BBC pull in a new source of income as it contends with a £150m shortfall in license fee revenue after the government and the broadcaster reached an agreement to drop charges for over 75s.
Beginning this autumn the BBC will make almost all of its programming available to purchase within a day of being broadcast, according to the Sunday Times. The corporation has reportedly denied the move is an indicator that the BBC will introduce a subscription service.
TV box sets will also be available for download, but viewers will not be able to buy a series before it is broadcast on television.