Well now it looks like the old British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is about to take on Apple’s iTunes, as the latest word is the BBC is to launch a new premium download video service that just might snatch a bit of custom for iTunes, as the BBC’s director general, Mark Thompson has now confirmed Project Barcelona.

According to the guys over at Pocket-lint by way of The Guardian, the BBC chief speaking at a Royal Television Society event said that Brits understand the distinction between viewing Dad’s Army on BBC 1 and then purchasing a permanent copy and Barcelona is the “equivalent of doing the second.”

Apparently once a programme ends on the BBC’s network, a digital version will become available to download and keep just minutes after, and thus it is a different proposition to that of the BBC iPlayer where you get to view a programme one time only for a limited time.

Thompson also says that it is not a stealth second fee, or any reduction in the present public service the BBC offers, but rather the “exact analogy” of walking into a shop and purchasing a DVD, and further stated that programmes would be permanently available for a “modest fee.”

Apparently that modest fee would be in the region of £1.89 a programme although there is expected to be some flexibility in said fees. In comparison on iTunes, Top Gear costs £2.49 whilst Only Fools and Horses costs £1.49 and Benidorm costs £1.89.

However there is no word on just when the BBC is likely to make the new service available to the public, but one can presume when they do you’ll be able to download the programmes to view on your smartphone or tablet just like you can with BBC iPlayer.