BBC WORLDWIDE LAUNCHES THE GLOBAL IPLAYER APP IN AUSTRALIA
BBC WORLDWIDE LAUNCHES THE GLOBAL BBC IPLAYER APP IN AUSTRALIA
29 September, 2011 | Sydney
BBC Worldwide today confirmed that the global BBC iPlayer App will launch in Australia on Thursday September 29th 2011 and will be available to on the App Store exclusively on iPad. The app will give iPad users access to a quality mix of classic and contemporary British television specifically tailored for Australian viewers.
The global BBC iPlayer is a unique video on demand subscription service that will deliver over 1000 hours of award-winning British programming for a monthly subscription fee of AU$9.49 or AU$89.99 a year. Viewers will be able to sample carefully selected content for free before subscribing.
Subscribers will be able to access a rich selection of programs across eight genres: News Specials & Documentaries; Entertainment; Drama; Comedy; Science & Nature; Family & Kids; Music & Culture; and Lifestyle. The app brings together an eclectic mix of classic and revered comedies such as Little Britain, A Bit Of Fry And Laurie and Absolutely Fabulous; great UK drama series Pride & Prejudice, This Life, House Of Eliott and more recent fan favourites Doctor Who and Silent Witness; popular factual series including Michael Palin‟s Pole to Pole and The Hairy Bikers; and adorable children‟s programming including Charlie And Lola and Deadly 60. There will also be some exclusive content, including episodes of Holby City.
Hours of new programming will be regularly added to the service along with imaginatively themed collections curated from the BBC‟s extensive archive, including classic Doctor Who and documentaries from the Natural World and Panorama series. The launch collection in Australia will be "Daleks Forever!", classic Dalek encounters from 1963 onwards. Content will also be curated around the Doctors themselves, starting with Doctor Who: The William Hartnell years, Doctor Who: The Patrick Troughton years and Doctor Who: The David Tennant years.
Designed to be intuitive and easy-to-use, a key feature of the app allows subscribers both to stream and to download shows for offline viewing for when Wi-Fi or 3G connectivity is unavailable. The stylish and simple interface enables users to build a personal library of shows as well as navigate by genres and curated collections.
Said Tony Iffland, General Manager, BBC Worldwide Australia: “The global BBC iPlayer will enable Australian iPad users to access the best of British television, wherever and whenever they want to view it. It is a unique proposition offering a quality, enjoyable and engaging experience for viewers through editorially curated content, rather than catch up content.
“The launch of global BBC iPlayer in Australia marks an important step forward for BBC Worldwide Australia‟s digital growth and our intention to bring quality British content to audiences in an innovative, creative and easily accessible format.”
Said Jana Bennett, President, Worldwide Networks and global BBC iPlayer: “This unique Video On Demand product combines the classic with the contemporary and allows subscribers to mine seventy years of brilliant BBC programmes.
“We launched the global BBC iPlayer because we think there‟s an untapped market for the „best of British‟ shows, both for Brits living abroad and for all those people we know have a love of great British television, nowhere more so than Australia.”
The global BBC iPlayer App will be available to download for free from the App Store on iPad http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/bbc-iplayer/id449130604?mt=8 from Thursday 29th September onwards. Monthly and annual subscriptions are available for AU$9.49 and AU$ 89.99 respectively through In-App Purchase. The subscription is automatically renewed through the subscriber‟s iTunes account until cancelled. Downloads are available to view for as long as the user‟s subscription is active.
The global version of the BBC iPlayer App launched today is part of a pilot phase for the service. Australia is the second territory to launch the global BBC iPlayer App, following the launch to 11 markets in Western Europe in July 2011.