[sentenza]

The BBC is more than TV. The BBC is a cultural lifeline. It might be less so today in the age of the internet but it still is significant.

If you say there is no moral obligation, then what is the reason for the BBC or ARD or YLE or TVE or RAI to even exist?

Publically financed broadcasting is based on the idea that the people should have some sort of neutral-ish source of information. If you strip away all the stuff that has been put on top (football rights, TV dramas and the like), it comes back to that. On a side note, it is actually a discussion that is taking place over here in Germany, whether or not entertainment is part of the mission of ARD and ZDF.

Now why should there be a magical wall on the border of the island, beyond which the British citizens don't have the right to be informed?

One could argue that it is completely irrelevant whether or not _I_ can watch the BBC, but there is a moral obligation towards the expat Brits.

[Tyrannosaurs]

Independent news is a different thing. I might question how or why it's the UK's obligation to provide that but I'm very proud that we do provide it through the World Service on the radio (broadcast around the world), the BBC News website and multiple regional global news channels available in most countries.

But that's a very different thing to making Strictly Come Dancing and Doctor Who available to expats and others as a "cultural lifeline". Part of leaving a country is that you do leave things behind and I don't see why TV is something people should be entitled to any more than they are to red London buses, policeman in strangely impractical hats or Ribena and Marmite.

Even aside from the practical challenges around licencing of content, I'm not sure the British TV licence payer has any interest in funding a global TV network, and even if we did would having this behemoth of broadcasting available across the world have a positive or negative impact on local stations, particularly in smaller English speaking countries?

[chestnut-tree]

There is a global version of the BBC iPlayer for viewers in some European countries

http://europe.bbcentertainment.com/about-iplayer/

It's downloadable from the iTunes store and you have to pay to watch. I have no idea what content they provide: I presume it's what they consider most likely to sell or appeal to a mass audience. If you're after interesting or specialised BBC documentaries, you might be out of luck.

Regarding radio, all the BBC radio stations can be listened to live if you're outside the UK (but not through iPlayer catch-up). There's also a podcasts directory

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts