BBC to look at selling downloads of programmes to overseas viewers

The plans are being examined as ways of deriving more revenue for the BBC, and come after improvements in technology that allow the BBC to identify where internet users are located. This means the BBC can restrict access to UK licence fee payers, but that it could also buy internet rights for overseas programming and then charge users to watch them from overseas.

Ashley Highfield, director of new media and technology, said in an interview with the Guardian: "It's something we've been mandated to do by our charter. It's now become possible because we have internet rights that we could charge for, and we now have the technology."

The plan to run advertising on bbc.co.uk that is served to overseas visitors only, and not license fee payers from the UK, has been mooted in the past, but dismissed because the technology was unreliable.

Now, however, ads could be shown exclusively to people visiting the site from overseas. Highfield said that it was being looked at once again.

The BBC's website has around 48.1m users a month, of which 22.8m come from overseas.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.