BBC to test downloadable programming

Can we just say that Ashley Highfield is The Man? The BBC's Director of New Media and Technology has announced that they will begin trialing a new program to allow people to download shows from the Internet after they air on TV. The trial will begin with 500 BBC employees, who will be able to download selected programs after they air to watch them on their PC, burn them to DVD or even transfer them to PDAs to watch during their commute. If the employee trial goes well, it's expected to be extended to a select few broadband Internet subscribers from different services, and when it's finally launched to the public Highfield expects that viewers will be able to check out a week's programming from an interface similar to BBC Digital's program guide and just select and download the ones they want to watch.

We knew it, you knew it, and now the BBC knows it, but people have been swapping their shows online thanks to BitTorrent and other P2P applications for ages already. But instead of suing downloaders or trying to lockdown their shows, the BBC is charging right in and helping downloaders instead. See? We told you Ashley was The Man. If this works, we can't wait until Highfield and his team get the entire BBC archives online.