BBC Trust publishes BBC on-demand content report

The BBC Trust has concluded provisionally that on-demand BBC programmes should only be made available to TV platform operators through the BBC iPlayer, and should not be made available on a programme-by-programme basis. The BBC iPlayer should be made available in standard formats that the great majority of other TV operators can readily adopt, the Trust has concluded, with 'bespoke' versions of iPlayer only developed in exceptional cases. It has now launched a 4-week consultation on this new syndication policy. The BBC's on-demand syndication policy determines how the BBC should make its on-demand, or 'catch up', content available for distribution on other platforms, for example Freeview, Freesat, Sky and Virgin. Following the first part of its review, the Trust has provisionally concluded that the BBC is able to deliver the highest public value for its programming if it provides a trusted and familiar way for viewers to access it. For linear television, this is the BBC's channels, for on-demand, this should be the iPlayer, which will become increasingly important as the home for BBC on-demand content as the market for catch-up television continues to grow.