The BBC are in talks with Google to launch an international edition of the BBC iPlayer, supported by Google owned YouTube.

The sticking point seems to be the need to aquire international rights for the content shown on UK iPlayer.

Separate negotiations are also in progress between the BBC’s commerical arm, BBC Worldwide and YouTube with a view to the BBC’s archive content, for which international rights have already been acquired, available on YouTube.

It is currently possible to watch some BBC content on YouTube but only in short format; trailers and clips as opposed to entire shows and episodes.

A BBC spokesperson said: “There are a significant number of obstacles to extending this commercially to other countries, including international rights clearance. These obstacles present significant difficulties and for this reason there are no firm plans for a specific international BBC iPlayer, but audiences can watch BBC content outside the UK through numerous BBC Worldwide content deals with online partners such as iTunes.”

(Via Telegraph)