As reported by Chris Tew at WebTVWire, the BBC has thrown open its library doors to the public. Namely, programming that goes back as far as 1937 can be searched for and hopefully at some point viewed.

Using their newly named iPlayer users will be able to view programs from the previous seven days and store them on a PC for 30 days. What BBC has done is ratchet up the stakes and put the ball squarely in the court of U.S. networks. Since the BBC does not have to be concerned about advertiser based funding it gives them a significant competitive advantage over the "free networks" here in the States.

According to Ashley Highfield, their forward thinking Director of New Media & Technology,

“At any time, you'll be able to download any programme from the eight BBC channels and then watch it on your PC and, we hope, move it across to your TV set or down to your mobile phone, to watch it when you want”. He went on to say that the BBC was "Unlocking our archive is one of the biggest challenges we face and, potentially, one of the richest gifts we can give to the nation”.

Beyond iPlayer, BBC2.0 seeks to make the entire web video experience more meaningful for viewers as well as production personnel. According to BBC's Chief Technology Officer John Varney, says:

"Over the next few years the BBC will revolutionize the way production teams view, share and prepare content. Our vision is to have a fully open, accessible and interoperable network to enable production teams to gain access and share assets across the whole of the Corporation."

I believe these efforts along with IP too TV technologies such as Akimbo and others will have a disruptive effect on what personal media will come to mean to the public and what users will demand from media outlets.