Using iPlayer in France

RE: accessing the BBC iPlayer from France (Facebook)…

My wife and I live in Savoie; we have a satellite dish for Freesat but tend to watch the iPlayer via a VPN more often. Picture quality on the satellite is variable and the convenience of being able to watch whatever you like whenever you like on iPlayer is good. But we are aware that VPN could be blocked any time – I’m surprised it hasn’t been already, given that other UK sites and Eurosport are not accessible.

We would happily pay a monthly or annual subscription fee to the BBC to have “legal” access and I’m certain many others around the world would do the same. I’m sure there are good reasons for the BBC not offering this, but it seems to me that it would be a significant source of new revenue if it were ever introduced.

The Radio Player is another issue – we enjoy free access to that, although I do find it ridiculous when sports coverage is interrupted with the dreaded “for rights reasons we cannot broadcast this programme”.

It all just seems quite archaic!

Chris Cole, Savoie

It is usual for sports broadcasters to pay for territory-specific rights.