Skip to main content

BBC America Heads to iTunes

Longtime readers of this site know my love for all things BBC America, so I was over the moon when I learned that the digital cabler has signed a deal with Apple's iTunes to begin selling full episodes for purchase and download through the iTunes Store here in the US.

Customers looking for a Brit fix can now purchase single episodes and complete seasons of such BBC America series as Robin Hood, Torchwood, and Little Britain through the iTunes Store, with new episodes of Robin Hood, which launched its second season this past weekend, available for purchase 24 hours after their linear broadcast.

Episodes will be priced, like their US counterparts, at $1.99 a pop.

“BBC is delighted to provide U.S. audiences with the unique ability to purchase and download select award-winning BBC America programming on the iTunes Store,” said Beth Clearfield, Vice President of Digital Media and Business Development, BBC Worldwide America, in a prepared statment. “As the first U.K. broadcaster available in the U.S., BBC is leveraging its trusted international brand in entertainment to provide our audiences with a first-rate digital experience.”

While the offerings are limited to those three series at the moment, I am confident that BBC America will continue to add programming to the iTunes Store as it becomes available and hopefully within 24 hours of broadcast. And, though I've already downloaded a few episodes of Little Britain to my iPod, I'm hoping that the digital cabler will add upcoming series like Gavin & Stacey, current series like Last Restaurant Standing, or classic series like Spaced to the mix.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Very cool news. I can't say that I'm that excited about Robin Hood but having Torchwood and Little Britain available is a step in the right direction. And, like you, I would be thrilled if they made some older shows, like Spaced, available too.
TxGowan said…
My only problem with this is I'm afraid it'll cut out any replays on the actual network. I missed most of Season 2 of Torchwood (and Life on Mars, dang it!) and I don't think the episodes showing on iTunes bodes well for them being shown again anytime soon.

I don't own an iPod, either, and I'm not sure I want to pay $26 to watch either of those series on my PC.

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns