BBC to open up archives for downloading

[theboyfromxtown]

Introduction to main article. See link for more details


BBC director general Mark Thompson has announced proposals allowing viewers to permanently download copies of their favourite shows from the archives.

Mr Thompson said the plan - named Project Barcelona - would enable the purchase of programmes to own for a "relatively modest" fee.

He added that the digital archive would stay open for good, and shows would remain available to licence fee payers.

The plans will be put before the BBC Trust later this year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17368514

[tamla617]

i hope so. there are so many great plays,series that have never been repeated.i wonder how much will get on the system.bbc archives are gi huge.on the other hand how much will i be spending?i saw a figure of around £2 for each d/load.i bet it isnt that cheap

[jillfoster]

Oh..... that would be a DREAM COME TRUE! The first thing I would snag is every episode of "It's Cliff Richard" that exists, and then next on the docket... "2 G's and the Pop People", and then "They Sold A Million".

[honest man]

Well that's something,i would buy DRATS appearance atRoyal Vriety London Palladium,and their appearnce on TOTP also THIS IS YOUR LIFE the supremes and 4 tops togetheron TOTP alo TALK OF THE TOWN DRATS ,great stuff anyone know of anymore Motown-soul appearance on BBC, im getting prepared, cheeers.

[nomis]

DRATS at Royal Variety was wiped in the early 70s...they wiped nearly everything -The BBC wouldnt invest in video tape masters and just erased most 60s/early 70s shows to re use the tapes..if a show could be sold abroad then a16mm film print was made by BBC enterprises,But sadly TOTPs wasnt so the archive for the 60s is practically non existent less than 10 shows survive

[nomis]

1960s TOTPS video masters were all erased weeks after their broadcast,a show could be saved from wiping if the producer put in a "retain order"..a director or any performer on a show couldnt..only the producer..If TOTPS had been sold overseas then the 16mm film prints could survive but none were made..and once colour tv commenced in 1970 the BBC in all their stupidity saw fit to junk much of its black and white programmes reasoning they would never be seen again..throughout the 1960s a man called John Cura was hired to take "telesnaps" of many shows [[around 70 pictures of a show, very small on one page)directors and producers would hire him if they wanted a record of a show..also no BBC show could be repeated more than twice on British tv,another reason why they wiped so much..when Ian Levine went into the BBC in 1978 to buy some programmes he literally had to shout and scream to BBCs Sue Malden that their wiping practice was insane..they continued to erase tv shows until 1981..utter madness..

[nomis]

I know of one Black and White Cliff Richard show in the BBC vaults..Aretha is the guest star singing "dont play that song"..Ive seen one colour Richard episode that features The Three Degrees so some of his shows survive..

[bankhousedave]

This sounds like a great development.

[tamla617]

the downloads are for uk tv licence payers only.you'd probably have to enter the licence number to d/load.

for OUR AMERICAN COUSINS...........the bbc is funded [[more or less) by the tv licence,so no adverts, thats a licence for every household with a tv,doesnt matter how many.just pay on the highest tv fee
applicable,£145 for colour,49 quid for b&w.and reductions for the blind [[!) free for over 80 ,i think. you cant even get iplayer in the states/overseas and without the licence i cant see how you'll get the archived stuff,unfortunatley.

i'm not even sure if these downloads are something you can keep on the hardrive indefinate.might be like the i player keep it for so many days before it destructs.i can almost guarantee you wont be able to rip it to disc.the bbc has its other revenue stream from dvd sales and exporting tv progs.it wont let that particular horse bolt.although stranger things have been done before.

[tamla617]

the downloads are for uk tv licence payers only.you'd probably have to enter the licence number to d/load.

for OUR AMERICAN COUSINS...........the bbc is funded [[more or less) by the tv licence,so no adverts, thats a licence for every household with a tv,doesnt matter how many.just pay on the highest tv fee
applicable,£145 for colour,49 quid for b&w.and reductions for the blind [[!) free for over 80 ,i think. you cant even get iplayer in the states/overseas and without the licence i cant see how you'll get the archived stuff,unfortunatley.

i'm not even sure if these downloads are something you can keep on the hardrive indefinate.might be like the i player keep it for so many days before it destructs.i can almost guarantee you wont be able to rip it to disc.the bbc has its other revenue stream from dvd sales and exporting tv progs.it wont let that particular horse bolt.although stranger things have been done before.

[jillfoster]

I know of one Black and White Cliff Richard show in the BBC vaults..Aretha is the guest star singing "dont play that song"..Ive seen one colour Richard episode that features The Three Degrees so some of his shows survive..

Norris, I already have all of his existing shows, I just want them nice and clear! LOL that one Aretha Eipsode you mentioned exists, one episode from 1970 exists, and the entire 1974 run of 9 episodes are all intact.

[jillfoster]

the downloads are for uk tv licence payers only.you'd probably have to enter the licence number to d/load.

for OUR AMERICAN COUSINS...........the bbc is funded [[more or less) by the tv licence,so no adverts, thats a licence for every household with a tv,doesnt matter how many.just pay on the highest tv fee
applicable,£145 for colour,49 quid for b&w.and reductions for the blind [[!) free for over 80 ,i think. you cant even get iplayer in the states/overseas and without the licence i cant see how you'll get the archived stuff,unfortunatley.

i'm not even sure if these downloads are something you can keep on the hardrive indefinate.might be like the i player keep it for so many days before it destructs.i can almost guarantee you wont be able to rip it to disc.the bbc has its other revenue stream from dvd sales and exporting tv progs.it wont let that particular horse bolt.although stranger things have been done before.

Oh please... why do people always try to rip to disc with computers? All one has to do it take the video output and run to the input of a stand alone DVD recorder. There is even a device to do that with a computer, called "PC to TV EZ", you can record anything that is happening on your computer monitor with a stand alone DVD recorder [[Or VHS if it strikes your fancy).

[marv2]

1960s TOTPS video masters were all erased weeks after their broadcast,a show could be saved from wiping if the producer put in a "retain order"..a director or any performer on a show couldnt..only the producer..If TOTPS had been sold overseas then the 16mm film prints could survive but none were made..and once colour tv commenced in 1970 the BBC in all their stupidity saw fit to junk much of its black and white programmes reasoning they would never be seen again..throughout the 1960s a man called John Cura was hired to take "telesnaps" of many shows [[around 70 pictures of a show, very small on one page)directors and producers would hire him if they wanted a record of a show..also no BBC show could be repeated more than twice on British tv,another reason why they wiped so much..when Ian Levine went into the BBC in 1978 to buy some programmes he literally had to shout and scream to BBCs Sue Malden that their wiping practice was insane..they continued to erase tv shows until 1981..utter madness..

That does sound crazy and more than a bit surprisely being that British always seemed to treasure history.

[theboyfromxtown]

DRATS at Royal Variety was wiped in the early 70s...they wiped nearly everything -The BBC wouldnt invest in video tape masters and just erased most 60s/early 70s shows to re use the tapes..if a show could be sold abroad then a16mm film print was made by BBC enterprises,But sadly TOTPs wasnt so the archive for the 60s is practically non existent less than 10 shows survive

Was the Palladium on BBC and not on ITV? I still have the audio of at least one of their Palladium performances on a reel to reel.

[Hotspurman]

That does sound crazy and more than a bit surprisely being that British always seemed to treasure history.

The problem was the cost of the tapes back then. Even in instances where a writer or actor offered to pay for the tapes themselves [[I;m thinking specifically of Peter Cook, who seemed to sense that his shows would have a value years into the future) the BBC refused, claiming copyright problems. Again, using Peter Cook as an example, there shouldn't have been a problem, since he invariably wrote his own material. So much of the reissues of 'Not Only But Also' and 'Til Death Us Do Part and several of the Doctor Who episodes have come from sources outside of the BBC. I know the BBC did ask many of the stations they sold material to during the 60s and 70s whether they had kept material, to little or no success.

[honest man]

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH,John stop it, you are a tease,HA hELLO MATE,

[tamla617]

Oh please... why do people always try to rip to disc with computers? All one has to do it take the video output and run to the input of a stand alone DVD recorder. There is even a device to do that with a computer, called "PC to TV EZ", you can record anything that is happening on your computer monitor with a stand alone DVD recorder [[Or VHS if it strikes your fancy).

isnt it easier to give info out without the "oh please why dont people blah,blah"line you took,thanks for the info tho' you've just made my life a million times brighter and look forward to more pearls of wisdom in the future,only next time try and do it in a way that doesnt get up the noses of people you're trying to help [[i guess that was your purpose).in the mean time if you'de like to know how to ready a 747 for flight,give us a shout.thats a piece of piss too.if you know what you're doing