BBC plans to open archives online

Decades of classic television recordings are to be opened to the public after the BBC announced it will make "the best television library in the world" available on the internet.

Groundbreaking wildlife footage and clips from well-known shows will be among the selected material to be released from the video vaults.

The project, called the BBC Creative Archive, was outlined by the Director-General Greg Dyke at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, but details have yet to be finalised.

"The BBC probably has the best television library in the world," he said. "Up until now this huge resource has remained locked up, inaccessible to the public because there hasn't been an effective mechanism for distribution.

"But the digital revolution and broadband are changing all that. For the first time there is an easy and affordable way of making this treasure trove available to all."

While entire entertainment shows will be available at the flick of a switch, because programme sales on DVD and video are a lucrative income source for the BBC, clips from top shows may be available.

Mr Dyke said the plan was to allow "parts" of programmes - where the BBC owned the rights - to be downloaded along with a licensing system, a "massive step forward" in opening the archives to the public that originally funded them.

A BBC spokesman said there was no fixed date for the launch of the archive.