I want my BBC
Posted January 31st, 2010 by debritz
There are sound commercial and legal reasons why we can't watch broadcast television from other countries in Australia. I know this but, for a brief moment, I got excited when I followed a Google ad to the Tellyport website which promises, for a monthly fee, to provide access via proxy to the BBC iPlayer plus Hulu and other US online television services. Then I read the FAQs, which ended with:
Whilst offering a proxy service is legal, using it to watch geo-targeted content may not be and our members are probably in violation of the broadcaster's terms of use. Please note that a UK television license [sic] is required to watch live BBC television, even on the Internet ...
In other words, we will charge you to do something that is illegal. Interestingly, for six months of last year I still held a British television licence while living in Australia. Would it have been legal for me to use a proxy service then?
PS: Why would I want to watch British TV from Australia? Because some of my favourite shows are not available here, even on pay-TV, or they are screened long after their use-by date. For example, I want to be able to watch topical shows like Have I Got News for You and Mock the Week, and I want to watch them in the week they are screened in Britain. I'd most certainly pay for the privelege. If UK-TV or another cable channel (or, preferably, the ABC) isn't interested in buying and screening them, why can't these shows be made available here on iTunes?
PPS: Yes, I know there are other, illegal, ways to watch whatever I want, but why should people be forced to break the law just to watch what they like?
Brett, There has to be a logical solution. Either the government allows a HD exemption for the ABC, (allowing it to shut down the DVB DiG channels, and convert ABC HD to ABC NewsTV 2(4)-7 (emphasising the 4), and opening a "best of British" ABC 5) or the BBC iPlayer is launched downunder.
I have also thought of this great option for Ten, when it shuts down OneSD soon. You see how with digital radio, 612 digital offers local programming during sport (with sport on Grandstand Digital) while 612 AM offers sport from Grandstand, heavily disrupting local programming.
My idea for Ten, is for the analogue station to remain as it does now, bar the addition in the wee hours, of One HD content to replace informercials and reintroducing local late and weekend news.
But with those with digital recievers, you would get the following.
10.1 (SD channel branded as Ten) Same as analogue service, except local news at 5, would be replaced by Ten National, a 60 minute news service at 5, live into all markets.
10.2 (HD channel branded as One HD) Same as current One HD, with late night content airing on Ten in lieu of infomercials.
10.3 (SD channel, formally One SD, internally branded as Ten Local, on-air branded as local channel, e.g. Brisbane Ten) New channel, digital home to local Ten News (at six), local late news (simulcast on analogue Ten) and new local content produced by the individual stations that make up Network Ten. Other highlights include network's offcuts, as well as being home to non-anti-siphoning list sport (ANZ Championship, home town games live on both One and Ten Local, possibly local AFL, league etc) and retro and new-to-Australia overseas content.
Simply, it is a better way to use Ten's digital spectrum.