In a move to embrace BitTorrent and streaming, the BBC has announced that it’s making a special “box-set” of 10 Doctor Who episodes available online.
As part of the BitTorrent bundle, Doctor Who fans can download a video with actor Peter Capaldi and a 10-minute preview of the first episode from the show’s modern version for free. If you like what you see, for $12 you can download the entire set of 10 episodes.
It’s the first deal for a major broadcaster to offer paid content on BitTorrent.
“Our entire mission is to get content out legitimately to as many fans as we can around the world,”Julia Kenyon, director of drama brands at BBC Worldwide, told Guardian Tech. “We’re in a lot of territories, but we’re not everywhere, and not everybody has access to paid-for TV.”
As the Guardian notes, this is part of BitTorrent’s efforts to overcome its image as a file-sharing service that is used for mostly pirated materials. The company is working to “convince media companies and creators that its network of 170 million file-sharers can be a powerful legal distribution channel, through its bundles.”
Will people pay for content through BitTorrent? This Doctor Who experiment will be one to watch.
