ITV Sticks its 'Cold Feet' in iTunes UK

Following recent reports that British BBC viewers would be able to download a selection of programs straight from Apple's digital store, Apple is announcing that ITV programmes are now available on iTunes UK. Users will be able to download complete series of classic ITV shows such as "Cold Feet", "Brideshead Revisited" and "Captain Scarlet."

"Enjoy the best in award-winning drama, comedy, entertainment and cult classics from ITV on the iTunes Store. UK customers can now download complete series of classic ITV shows like Cold Feet, Brideshead Revisited and Captain Scarlet," Apple reveals.

Dawn Airey, Managaging Director of ITV global content teases iTunes customers with the following statement: "We want to give viewers the opportunity to watch their favourite shows wherever they are", he says. "ITV has thousands of hours of classic content in the archive which we are bringing to a whole new audience via iTunes". The news also reveals that "more great additions" should be hitting iTunes "soon."

Pricing has remained the same, meaning that iTunes customers will have to fork out for £1.89 (US$3.75) per episode.

Also, Macworld revealed some time ago that UK broadcaster Channel 4 had joined the BBC to make some of its shows available through Apple's UK iTunes Store. As such, a selection of shows including Shameless, Skins, Peep Show, Black Books, Spaced, Monarchy and Teachers have been available since March through Apple's online media and entertainment service.

The latest episodes of Shameless and Skins (two popular dramas) will be made available for download the day after they air.

Mark Thompson, General Director at BBC, wrote a while ago in a blog entry that there was a lot of criticism for a lack of Mac and Linux compatibility, all this while a lot of positive feedback has also been received, ever since iPlayer was officially launched on Christmas, 2007.

BBC has confirmed that the Mac version of BBC iPlayer will become available this year. The new application will enable Mac users not only to stream, but also to download TV content from the Internet, and watch it at their leisure. BBC found that the iPlayer was having a significant effect on the web TV market in the UK.

iPhone users have already ben offered a beta for the BBC iPlayer application.