APPLE - BBC TELEVISION PROGRAMMES MADE AVAILABLE ON ITUNES

BBC Worldwide has announced that a selection of BBC television programmes will be available to purchase and download from the iTunes store in the UK.

In an announcement today the BBC became the first UK broadcaster to offer TV programmes on iTunes, at a cost of £1.89 per episode.

The shows can be viewed on iPods, iPhones, Apple TV, PCs or Macintosh computers.

"We want to give audiences a wide variety of options on how and where to view their favourite BBC shows," said Simon Danker, director of digital media at BBC Worldwide.

"With more people now choosing to watch TV shows on their iPods, fans of series such as The Mighty Boosh and The Catherine Tate Show can now enjoy those shows wherever they are."

Apple's vice president of iTunes Eddy Cue said that viewing television programmes on Apple products had become increasingly popular.

He also claimed to be "thrilled" that BBC shows were now to become available on iTunes.

The statement by the BBC today said: "Making BBC programming available on the iTunes Store is key to BBC Worldwide's stated objective to secure the broadest possible distribution strategy for its huge range of television content."

The new deal will sit alongside the company's existing deals with online outlets such as YouTube and MySpace.

It was recently announced that the BBC was working with ITV and Channel 4 on a video on demand (VOD) service called 'Project Kangaroo'.