Regional TV Blockages (1 Viewer)

[BitStream]

I watch a lot of International TV over the Internet, and I've noticed that networks are getting very picky about letting their content be viewed for free outside their broadcast areas.

The Dutch youth network BNN, displays a slide stating that you are not permitted to view their station from the US if you click on the live feed on their Website.

The BBC has blocked all video on their Web site from being viewed outside the UK.

I clicked on "David Tennant's Doctor Who Video Diary" on YouTube the other day, and got a message from YouTube stating that the owner of the video had restricted viewing to the UK.

Clearly, foreign stations have realized the value of their programming, and want to sell Internet access to it as opposed to giving it away for free. A few years ago, the BBC was streaming BBC1 and BBC3 to anyone who wanted to click on it. Not any more.

 

[Amy Mormino]

You can't really blame them, can you? Doctor Who will probably be sending its new season over to the U.S. via SciFi Network and it would hardly be in their interests for international viewers to see the episodes months before. The Dutch example is a little stranger as I can't see what outlet in the U.S. their channels would have for selling their shows.

We should enjoy all the free internet TV shows (as well as all the free online content from print magazines and newspapers) while they are here because they probably won't last.

 

[BitStream]

Well, with Doctor Who, most fans on the Internet have seen them via Bittorrent by the time they air in the US, so Sci-Fi has kind of lost that market, regardless of what the Beeb does to protect them.

Anyone with a PC, broadband, and a satellite dish can stream stations live, and all the sites that search and index video streams will quickly discover them, so it really isn't within the power of the broadcaster to restrict live streaming distribution of anything that is popular.

I found a reflector on xs4all which re-broadcasts BNN, without the anti-US restriction.

I stuck both a lo-rez and hi-rez BNN link on one of my spare Web Pages that isn't linked from anywhere, so I may have clickable outrageous and funny Dutch TV when I want it.

They have this series called "Spuiten en Slikken" which is a laugh riot.

 

[Roger_R]

I think the main reason for the blockage is that people living in those countries have paid for the programmes either through a licence fee or tax. I can see why BBC decided to block users that haven't paid for the programmes.