The BBC is said to be looking into offering a global service to its iPlayer service, currently available to the UK market only, with the help of its commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. However, unlike the iPlayer in the UK, you are likely going to be charged to watch one single episode.

The iPlayer in the UK is paid by the license fee and is advertising free – mainly because of its charter states that no advertising is permitted on any of services. Rights issues, however, prevent its content to be viewed outside the UK, however, its radio content is available to be streamed via podcasts or heard live.

The main reason that resonates across the stories around the world is that it would allow its commercial arm to raise its prices for “premium content”, with executives saying that audiences around the globe will be prepared to pay $10 per episode for shows like Doctor Who, Torchwood and Spooks.

As well, if the service is launched, the content will most likely be a catchup service on the many BBC-owned international channels, including BBC America in the US and UKTV in Australia; or will be historical material from the BBC archives. Also, because of the nature of BBC America and UKTV’s programming, it will also include programming from its rival broadcasters ITV and Channel 4.

Talking to paidContent earlier in the month, managing director for BBC.com Luke Bradley-Jones said that users are willing to pay for such content. “Millions of people love Torchwood and would probably pay 10 bucks an episode rather than two bucks,” he said, noting the pricing that Apple sells the same content in its iTunes store.

Right. Though, I’m not sure I would pay $10 for an episode, where I could get it cheaper on iTunes, or free on your very own service (via a IP masker) or even via BitTorrent.

Seven Network has today announced that it will be naming its second channel, on channel 72, 7TWO and will be launching the channel on November 1 at noon. The channel will join ABC3, SBS TWO, GO! and ONE as the new channels that will join the Freeview platform.

“I am pleased to announce that 7TWO will be the home for premiere episodes of our international hits including J.J Abrams’ Lost, Ugly Betty, Heroes and 24,” said Tim Worner, the network’s Director of Programming and Production.

“We’ve been strategic in putting together a program schedule for 7TWO that allows us to grow our audience between our two channels, without sacrificing one for the other. It is a complementary relationship that will go from strength to strength maximising the opportunities for our audience and clients.”

Other shows that will be on the new channel will be The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and premiere episodes of NBC’s The Jay Leno Show. British and New Zealand programming will also be broadcast, with Prime Suspect, Judge John Deed and Rosemary & Thyme joining FTA premieres of UK motoring show Fifth Gear and New Zealand hospital drama Shortland Street. ITV soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale will also be broadcast during the afternoon.

Seven will also broadcast some of its archived shows like Sons & Daughters, Harry’s Practise, The Real Seachange and The Outdoor Room. Older episodes of Home and Away are broadcast in the mornings, while the last four episodes of Home and Away of the week will be shown on 7TWO on Friday, allowing viewers to catch up before watching Friday’s episode.

But new seasons of Ugly Betty and Heroes that are the big highlights. Heroes, previously in a late night timeslot on the main channel, will now be given a prime time slot, hoping to compete with GO’s programming offerings. Premiere episodes of Lost and 24 are set to join the channel’s programming line up in 2010.

To view the channel, switch over to channel 72 on your digital set top box. If you cannot see the channel yet, then you must retune your box. No word if Prime will be bringing the channel to regional viewers.

Foxtel has announced it will be bringing another 30 channels to its platform during the year, and will make significant upgrades to its new guide and active services, revamp its channel packages and bring downloadable content to users.

Its new service, dubbed “FOXTEL Next Generation”, will be launched on November 15, while its new service that will allow you to download movies and TV shows relating to your packages will be accessible to all subscribers on October 1.

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Results from research conducted by the University of Hertford in the UK, commissioned by the music industry group UK Music, has came with startling revelations that 61 percent of all 14 to 24 year olds living in the UK that were interviewed use file sharing networks to collect, on average, 8000 tracks on their computers.

More than 1,800 young people were asked to do the survey, with the University finding that 86 percent have copied a CD for a friend,;75 percent said that they sent music via email, Bluetooth, Skype or MSN; 57 percent saying that they have copied their friend’s entire music collection and 28 percent have ripped it out of a radio, TV or internet stream of the song.

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Tonight at 6:30PM saw the launch of Nine’s new general entertainment channel, GO!, on channel 99 on the digital television platform, which will complement the already existing ABC2, the upcoming ABC3 and SBS Two; along with One HD, the networks HD channels and their main channels, on the Freeview platform.

Regional viewers, via WIN and NBN, will be able to see the channel on channel 88, while Foxtel and Austar subscribers will have to wait – but it would likely not take long, unlike One HD, since the owner of Nine’s parent company, PBL Media, Consolidated Media Holdings has a stake in Foxtel.

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Television broadcaster ITV plc has sold its social networking website Friends Reunited to Brightsold, a subsidiary of publisher DC Thomson, for £25 million (AU$50.35 million) – a £10 million increase from the £15 million prediction, according to The Guardian.

The new owners has bought all of the assets of the site, including its dating operation, genealogy assets and the social networking components to the brand. It also acquires the white-label dating services for online websites, including UK newspaper the Daily Mirror.

ITV, which also reported that it has a pre-tax loss of £105 million during the first six months of this year and is in a middle of a job hunt to fill its chief executive position, bought the website in 2005 in a deal that was worth £120 million in cash; with a further £55 million if its three-year performance-based earn-out deal were achieved, which were achieved.

The division was also the least-profitable part of the media company, which also owns Granada Productions (renamed ITV Studios) and a suite of TV channels (mainly on the digital television platform) in the UK. We previously reported that ITV put it up for sale in February.

The acquisition is under review by the competition authorities.

Users of the Pirate Bay should be happy to find out that a user deletion interface is set to be built today, as many users have asked for their account to be removed after news of the Pirate Bay was being sold to Global Gaming Factory X AB, a Swedish software distribution company.

Bowing to pressure, users have asked to delete their accounts over the fears that their logs could be handed over to the RIAA and other international anti-piracy organisations; despite the Pirate Bay says that no personal data will be given to the new owners.

“We also want to point out that we have no logs of anything, no personal data will be transferred in the eventual sale (since no personal data is kept). So no need to be worried for safety,” one of the Pirate Bay admins wrote in a blog post.

“We understand that you’re upset. But we have reasons to do this that we cannot ignore. We need to keep the site going and this is the only working alternative. We cannot finance the growth of the site anymore and we cannot back down.”

“The only way is up and this the only route to that place,” the writer continued.

The Pirate Bay has announced that it is being acquired by Global Gaming Factory X AB, a Swedish software company, that will see a new business model for the website that “allows compensation to content providers and copyright owners.”

In a statement, The Pirate Bay wrote, “We've been working on this project for many years. It's time to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die. And letting TPB die is the last thing that is allowed to happen!”

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