LL
London Lite
Founding member
I've used Blinkbox and Wuaki.tv and they're 720p for streaming rentals and purchases. Still not convinced on downloading movies just yet for permanent purchase.
NG
Not that strange.
The BBC don't own perpetual rights to all of their content, and thus neither do licence fee payers. When a show is made the rights for things like music, stills, archive, writers and actors, even directors, are for a fixed period of time and/or number of broadcasts. If you want to repeat a show after that period, you have to pay extra.
Similarly if you want to sell a show on DVD or Blu-ray, you usually have to pay the original contributors an additional fee.
Of course, there is the argument that why should you pay for something that you could have recorded on live transmission. The response is, you didn't, and the legal situation regarding home recording is still a little murky. (And selling home recordings definitely an issue)
noggin
Founding member
It is a bit strange at the moment to have BBC Store in the UK on top of the licence fee, But people seem to be happy buying 70s Doctor Who and Red Dwarf through it even through its better to buy the DVD/Blu Ray.
Not that strange.
The BBC don't own perpetual rights to all of their content, and thus neither do licence fee payers. When a show is made the rights for things like music, stills, archive, writers and actors, even directors, are for a fixed period of time and/or number of broadcasts. If you want to repeat a show after that period, you have to pay extra.
Similarly if you want to sell a show on DVD or Blu-ray, you usually have to pay the original contributors an additional fee.
Of course, there is the argument that why should you pay for something that you could have recorded on live transmission. The response is, you didn't, and the legal situation regarding home recording is still a little murky. (And selling home recordings definitely an issue)
IN
This service is far too expensive to be successful. If they charged, say £40 for the whole pre-2005 Doctor Who catalogue, it could have been something I'd go for. £7 for a 6 episode serial? When I can purchase that same serial on DVD for £5? No thanks.
NG
You aren't ever going to get 26 seasons of Doctor Who for £40 though are you? That would be 155 stories. That's 25p a serial. Or between 3p and 25p an episode? I doubt that would cover the artists rights - so the BBC would be selling at a loss.
The point of the BBC Store is to bolster the licence fee, just as DVD and Blu-ray sales do, not to lose the BBC money.
Presumably the price point has to be similar to that of iTunes to avoid accusations of anti-competitiveness and massively undercutting a commercial rival too?
noggin
Founding member
This service is far too expensive to be successful. If they charged, say £40 for the whole pre-2005 Doctor Who catalogue, it could have been something I'd go for. £7 for a 6 episode serial? When I can purchase that same serial on DVD for £5? No thanks.
You aren't ever going to get 26 seasons of Doctor Who for £40 though are you? That would be 155 stories. That's 25p a serial. Or between 3p and 25p an episode? I doubt that would cover the artists rights - so the BBC would be selling at a loss.
The point of the BBC Store is to bolster the licence fee, just as DVD and Blu-ray sales do, not to lose the BBC money.
Presumably the price point has to be similar to that of iTunes to avoid accusations of anti-competitiveness and massively undercutting a commercial rival too?
LL
Isn't it BBC Worldwide who handle the home video stuff though?
The point of the BBC Store is to bolster the licence fee, just as DVD and Blu-ray sales do, not to lose the BBC money.
Isn't it BBC Worldwide who handle the home video stuff though?
NG
Isn't it BBC Worldwide who handle the home video stuff though?
Yes - and all BBC WW profits are ploughed back to the BBC to subsidise the licence fee. That's the point of it.
BBC WW are running the BBC Store, just as they operate BBC DVD and Blu-ray releases, and BBC iTunes sales.
noggin
Founding member
The point of the BBC Store is to bolster the licence fee, just as DVD and Blu-ray sales do, not to lose the BBC money.
Isn't it BBC Worldwide who handle the home video stuff though?
Yes - and all BBC WW profits are ploughed back to the BBC to subsidise the licence fee. That's the point of it.
BBC WW are running the BBC Store, just as they operate BBC DVD and Blu-ray releases, and BBC iTunes sales.
IN
You aren't ever going to get 26 seasons of Doctor Who for £40 though are you? That would be 155 stories. That's 25p a serial. Or between 3p and 25p an episode? I doubt that would cover the artists rights - so the BBC would be selling at a loss.
The point of the BBC Store is to bolster the licence fee, just as DVD and Blu-ray sales do, not to lose the BBC money.
If that's the case those artists rights are punitive and need to be renegotiated. We live in the age of Spotify, Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. which deliver people the content they want for nothing then less than £10/month. People will not tolerate paying high sums for digital content which they have less rights to than a physical counterpart. The PC video games industry has got this right - places like GOG.com often charge less than £3 for older games, and these are DRM-free downloads, typically with any bonus content included.
If the BBC can't achieve attractive price points for their content the service is utterly moribund. I can't find a single offering on there which looks even vaguely attractive, even with 25% off. I can find plenty of examples of rip off's though - here's another standout one:
The Office Series 1 - £7.99 on BBC Store, £1 in any branch of Poundland
(or free/£4.99pm on NowTV; free/£5.99pm on Netflix)
The Office Series 2 - exactly the same
Well I'd argue the price on iTunes should come down too, but I don't see why Worldwide should have to hold the same pricepoint on all the platforms they distribute through - no other broadcaster has to, and you can be damned sure that Apple will be taking more via iTunes than they do on the BBC's platform.
This service is far too expensive to be successful. If they charged, say £40 for the whole pre-2005 Doctor Who catalogue, it could have been something I'd go for. £7 for a 6 episode serial? When I can purchase that same serial on DVD for £5? No thanks.
You aren't ever going to get 26 seasons of Doctor Who for £40 though are you? That would be 155 stories. That's 25p a serial. Or between 3p and 25p an episode? I doubt that would cover the artists rights - so the BBC would be selling at a loss.
The point of the BBC Store is to bolster the licence fee, just as DVD and Blu-ray sales do, not to lose the BBC money.
If the BBC can't achieve attractive price points for their content the service is utterly moribund. I can't find a single offering on there which looks even vaguely attractive, even with 25% off. I can find plenty of examples of rip off's though - here's another standout one:
The Office Series 1 - £7.99 on BBC Store, £1 in any branch of Poundland
(or free/£4.99pm on NowTV; free/£5.99pm on Netflix)
The Office Series 2 - exactly the same
Presumably the price point has to be similar to that of iTunes to avoid accusations of anti-competitiveness and massively undercutting a commercial rival too?
JA
You're forgetting it wouldn't include the wiped episodes.
You aren't ever going to get 26 seasons of Doctor Who for £40 though are you? That would be 155 stories. That's 25p a serial.
LL
Isn't it BBC Worldwide who handle the home video stuff though?
Yes - and all BBC WW profits are ploughed back to the BBC to subsidise the licence fee. That's the point of it.
BBC WW are running the BBC Store, just as they operate BBC DVD and Blu-ray releases, and BBC iTunes sales.
I always thought the BBC and BBC Worldwide were completely separate entities, and that BBC Worldwide had no input on the funding of the otherwise licence fee-funded services. I guess I learned something today.
The point of the BBC Store is to bolster the licence fee, just as DVD and Blu-ray sales do, not to lose the BBC money.
Isn't it BBC Worldwide who handle the home video stuff though?
Yes - and all BBC WW profits are ploughed back to the BBC to subsidise the licence fee. That's the point of it.
BBC WW are running the BBC Store, just as they operate BBC DVD and Blu-ray releases, and BBC iTunes sales.
I always thought the BBC and BBC Worldwide were completely separate entities, and that BBC Worldwide had no input on the funding of the otherwise licence fee-funded services. I guess I learned something today.
NG
Isn't it BBC Worldwide who handle the home video stuff though?
Yes - and all BBC WW profits are ploughed back to the BBC to subsidise the licence fee. That's the point of it.
BBC WW are running the BBC Store, just as they operate BBC DVD and Blu-ray releases, and BBC iTunes sales.
I always thought the BBC and BBC Worldwide were completely separate entities, and that BBC Worldwide had no input on the funding of the otherwise licence fee-funded services. I guess I learned something today.
No - completely and totally the reverse!
BBC Worldwide exists purely to return money from BBC programme sales to the public service corporation (which owns BBC Worldwide). Any sales of BBC content should alway generate revenue to return to the BBC and thus subsidise the licence fee.
BBC Worldwide also, increasingly, invest in programmes at a pre-production stage, to ensure that they receive a decent budget, in expectation of future sales. So a better show gets made than would otherwise be the case, or in some cases a programme gets made that otherwise would not be.
noggin
Founding member
The point of the BBC Store is to bolster the licence fee, just as DVD and Blu-ray sales do, not to lose the BBC money.
Isn't it BBC Worldwide who handle the home video stuff though?
Yes - and all BBC WW profits are ploughed back to the BBC to subsidise the licence fee. That's the point of it.
BBC WW are running the BBC Store, just as they operate BBC DVD and Blu-ray releases, and BBC iTunes sales.
I always thought the BBC and BBC Worldwide were completely separate entities, and that BBC Worldwide had no input on the funding of the otherwise licence fee-funded services. I guess I learned something today.
No - completely and totally the reverse!
BBC Worldwide exists purely to return money from BBC programme sales to the public service corporation (which owns BBC Worldwide). Any sales of BBC content should alway generate revenue to return to the BBC and thus subsidise the licence fee.
BBC Worldwide also, increasingly, invest in programmes at a pre-production stage, to ensure that they receive a decent budget, in expectation of future sales. So a better show gets made than would otherwise be the case, or in some cases a programme gets made that otherwise would not be.