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Following the recent closure of a legal loophole that meant the UK's TV license only applied to live-streaming of BBC content on the iPlayer (meaning you didn't need a £145.50 license to watch catch-up programs), the BBC has announced that it will be requiring all users to log in to view programs from 2017.
All users of the BBC's iPlayer service will have to log in with a personal account from early 2017.
Users of BBC services can already create an online account - known as a BBC ID - but this is not currently required in order to access iPlayer.
In another change, from Tuesday BBC ID holders will have to add a postcode to their account information.
The BBC says the information won't be used for [license] enforcement - but adds it may be in the future.
With young people watching less and less "live" TV, the key to ensuring they are even aware of what is on offer is to find out who's watching, track their tastes and try to tempt them with programmes that reflect their age and where they live.
It's unclear at this point how this will affect people using the get_iplayer script to download programs without requiring Adobe Flash / Air, but I'm confident the maintainers will find a way to keep going.
(Score: 2) by Kromagv0 on Tuesday September 27 2016, @05:46PM
I'd pay $150-$200/year to have access to the BBC TV programs as an American. Just have every back episode available and I will have more content than I could consume in a lifetime. I already donate to my local public radio because they carry the BBC World Service on one of the HD sub channels and when I do donate I point out that is the reason. Every year I donate $120 as $10 a month seems reasonable for the amount of radio I listen to, especially since I am only listening to that one channel.
T-Shirts and bumper stickers [zazzle.com] to offend someone
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday September 27 2016, @08:37PM
Most of it is available on Netflix for a hell of a lot less money than you're willing to pay.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Marand on Wednesday September 28 2016, @05:04AM
Maybe for now, but how long do you think that will last? BBC pulled Doctor Who (both new and old) off of all streaming services earlier this year, and has been removing a lot of its other online content since sometime last year (Red Dwarf was one of the casualties there).
Lots of speculation about it being in preparation of BBC launching some kind of paid streaming service akin to what the GP wants, though nothing's shown up yet.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday September 28 2016, @06:30AM
In the case of Red Dwarf, I think this is related to the fact that UKtv (Dave) are now funding production of the show, not the BBC. Last week UKtv's streaming platform had tens of episodes, if not all, available to stream for free in the UK (with ads).