PBS Signs Download Deals with BitTorrent, Vuze
‘Download-to-Own’ Arrangements Include Nova, History Detectives, PBS Kids, Teletubbies, Programming from PBS Affiliate Stations
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/7/2007 11:59:00 AM
PBS signed new online deals for its TV shows with BitTorrent and Vuze.
Both are "download-to-own" arrangements for shows including Nova, History Detectives, PBS Kids and Teletubbies, as well as some programming from PBS affiliate stations.
PBS shares the BitTorrent online-content platform with 20th Century Fox, MTV Networks, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount and Warner Bros., among others.
PBS programming is also currently available download-to-own online at iTunes and Amazon's Unbox. Other PBS programming is available for free streaming at PBS.org, though mostly different from the pay content and in lower resolution.
The BitTorrent and Vuze content is available in either standard or high resolution.
Both deals have been in the works for months. PBS is increasingly seeking out new platforms.
“As of last week, PBS had two of the top 100 podcasts on iTunes, Wired Science and Bill Moyers Journal," PBS spokesman Kevin Dando said. "The PBS audience seems to like this kind of access.”
