BBC planning iTunes style service?

Content platform – digital distribution – these are the buzzwords of the day and for a good reason.

And while the BBC already has its very successful iPlayer service, apparently Auntie is planning to expand its online content distribution network with a new service built along the lines of an iTunes store.

Paidcontent has got wind of the scheme, Project Barcelona, which would use a download-to-own (DTO) model to offer an expansive catalogue of old and new Beeb TV shows. They’d cost £1.89 a pop.

It seems that the BBC are still negotiating terms with content producers, who on the one hand see a potential new revenue stream, but on the other are concerned about diminishing DVD sales.

The Beeb would seem to be trying to tempt them in with a higher cut of the profits on offer compared to Apple’s iTunes.

The BBC wouldn’t confirm the planned project, but told Paidcontent: “In addition to BBC iPlayer, the BBC already makes some of its content available on a download-to-own (DTO) basis.”

“Any proposal to extend this facility would require not just the support of the industry but formal approval by the BBC executive and the BBC Trust.”

So we’ll take that as an “it’s in the pipeline, but we can’t say anything official yet”, then.

The Beeb’s iPlayer served around two billion programme requests throughout the course of 2011.