BBC Trust

The Trust reiterated its support for the principle of sharing the iPlayer more widely, but said the BBC would need to find simpler ways of achieving this.

The rejected proposal involved a federation between the public service broadcasters (PSBs) to provide access via the iPlayer to their on-demand video content, combining commercial and public service components. The Trust concluded this was not the best way to share the BBC iPlayer or to deliver increased public value to licence fee payers. However, the Trust said it was open to alternative proposals for sharing iPlayer technology on a simpler basis to others beyond the BBC.

Diane Coyle, BBC Trustee and Chair of the Trust's Strategic Approvals Committee said:

"The iPlayer is a success, and we believe that access to its technology could be useful to other broadcasters. The Trust supports the BBC's aim of sharing the benefits of the iPlayer.

"When assessing the proposals submitted by the BBC Executive, the Trust weighed up a number of factors. These included their strategic significance, their impact on other BBC activities, the potential competitive impact, and their overall value to licence fee payers.

"We concluded that the open iPlayer plans in their proposed form, combining both commercial and public service elements, were too complicated. We were not convinced that there was enough potential value to licence fee payers in the public service part of the proposal, and we have therefore rejected the BBC Executive's proposals for an open iPlayer federation.

"We will look again at future public service models for the online delivery of programming as part of the strategic review now in progress. In the meantime, the Trust is open to considering an alternative proposal for the licensing of the iPlayer technology to third parties if that can be done on a simple, fair and commercial basis."

The BBC Executive submitted detailed proposals to the Trust's Strategic Approvals Committee on 29 September on use of the iPlayer technology by third parties. These are collectively known as the 'open iPlayer' proposals, and comprise a number of distinct elements including:

• Making the BBC's iPlayer technology available to third parties on a commercial basis
• Creating an online 'federation', consisting of the BBC and the other public service broadcasters
• Putting in place links between BBC and other PSB VOD sites.

The proposal – commercial plan

• Licensing iPlayer technology to third parties

The proposal submitted to the Trust sought approval to establish a new commercial service – not part of the existing commercial arm, BBC Worldwide – which would license the BBC's iPlayer technology to third parties. The commercial proposal was based on securing a number of customers for this service, potentially including UK PSBs and BBC Worldwide. This was projected to deliver a modest profit back to the BBC, in line with the criteria for commercial activities.

The proposal – public service plans

Under the 'Open iPlayer Federation' plans, the Executive proposed:

• Forming a group consisting of the UK PSBs
• Implementing links between iPlayer and other PSB sites. These would drive traffic between the various PSB sites by, for example, allowing users to search for non- BBC content on the BBC iPlayer site
• The creation of a new VOD listings website to which all PSBs would link and through which a selection of content provided by the federation partners and any other VOD provider could be accessed by UK consumers.

Trust concerns

• The combination of commercial and public service activities was too complex, and the inter-weaving of public service elements prevented consideration of the commercial suggestions as a standalone plan
• The proposed public service activities were of considerable strategic significance but it was not clear whether they were the best way of increasing the public value of iPlayer for the benefit of licence fee payers. This issue ought to be re-assessed in the course of the broader ongoing strategic review, in which the BBC Trust and Executive are looking at the post-switchover world of 2012 and beyond to develop a clear strategy for what kind of BBC could best serve the public, and best support the media sector
• The federation approach was not considered to be a necessary feature of proposals to share the iPlayer technology with others
• The degree of co-operation envisaged between major UK content producers would need to be looked at in terms of its possible effects on competition.

The Trust concluded that it would not be appropriate to put the open iPlayer proposals through an approval process in their current form, but that it would be willing to consider any plans for the commercial licensing of iPlayer technology to third parties which the Executive might choose to put forward.

Ends

Notes to editors

More on the open iPlayer

Last year, the Trust asked the Executive to look at options for partnerships with the wider industry, including sharing technology which the BBC has developed - like the iPlayer - in the same way that BBC content is shared.

On receipt of plans of this nature from the Executive, the Trust's role is to determine whether these are suitable for further regulatory scrutiny. In this instance, the plans were carefully considered by the Trust's Strategic Approvals Committee, and were rejected on the basis of the concerns outlined above.