The idea of internationalising the BBC’s seven-day public service iPlayer reared its head several times over the last couple of years - but the window may be closing now that the BBC Trust has hinted BBC Worldwide’s overseas activities may be limited.

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Even so, Kym Niblock, MD of Worldwide’s overseas BBC.com site, is keeping the candle burning in an interview with Australia’s ITNews, which reports: “Niblock said the broadcaster wants to provide longer forms of content online and to smooth the interface with users so that they’re not presented with the option of content they can’t subsequently watch.” Niblock: “I do think you’ll see a player at some point on the BBC.com site that isn’t only limited to news clips.”

But these noises are a slight step away from earlier hopes of an overseas iPlayer, expressed by the BBC’s future media controller for vision and online Anthony Rose: “The internet is, by definition, a global medium, yet today we are artificially blocking international access to the iPlayer. That’s a problem, in my mind.”