BBC to show programmes on iPlayer ahead of TV broadcast

The BBC Trust has approved a 12-month trial which will see a number of BBC shows made available to view online prior to their TV transmission.

Up to 40 hours of content from across all genres is expected to be put on the iPlayer service ahead of its later broadcast.

“During 2012, the BBC brought selected online-only programmes to audiences.

These included BBC Three comedy pilots, a Doctor Who web series called ‘Pond Life’, and curated archive programmes for BBC Four.

“We will build on this in 2013,  and make more programming exclusively available to our audiences via BBC iPlayer.” – BBC future media publicist Ian Walker.

Other broadcasters have also made shows available online before their TV broadcast. It is not yet known whether the BBC plans to make any of its archive programming available to watch online after ITV recently revamped its own online catch-up service allowing users to purchase a selection of archive programming.