Lorraine Heggessy, chief executive of TV production company Talkback Thames, believes that any user utilizing the BBC iPlayer service to catch-up a TV show should be charged a micro payment.
Showing support to Heggessy’s idea, the chief executive of Talkback’s parent company Fremantle Media spoke at a BBC event about conducting a feasibility study of the proposal and seemed to be extremely passionate about this idea. However, the BBC has yet not accepted Fremantle’s idea of charging viewers up to £2 to watch a certain show.
Beeb’s spokesperson said that British users already pay for this service, as the cost of the BBC iPlayer is included in the license fee.
Interestingly, former director of programmes at Carlton Television, Steve Hewlett, appreciated Fremantle’s idea. He stated that catch-up TV online should not be free, as giving away DVDs was never considered an appropriate option by the BBC. He added that traditionally, license fee payers only pay for the first transmission besides getting an access on a TV set.
Hewlett brought forward an idea that was on similar lines to charge for iTunes and Amazon online viewing. He said that it is easier to make payments nowadays, as one simply needs to create an online account for transactions. Moreover, keeping prices at par with the iTunes would surely be an attractive option for the buyers. The popularity of this type of service has also grown since the advent of mobile broadband services and laptop deals that are giving people ease of access to the internet at any time of the day from anywhere they want.
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