GERMAN television viewers soon will be able to subscribe to some of the BBC’s most popular arts and science programmes under a new deal with T-Online.

Subscribers will be able to rent a range of programmes, including Big Cat Diary, Life in the Undergrowth and How Art Made the World, for an introductory price of just €1.95 (£1.35) under a content deal between BBC Worldwide, the BBC’s commercial consumer arm, and T-Online.

The BBC has vowed to work more closely with technology giants such as Microsoft and Apple as part of a plan to overhaul its website and prepare for a time when programmes increasingly will be watched on demand over the internet.

Isabelle Helle, BBC Worldwide’s head of German- speaking territories, said that the deal “emphasises BBC Worldwide’s commitment to this new and important method of content provision”.

The deal with T-Online comes after a number of other agreements that BBC Worldwide has secured to provide content for video-on-demand services to international providers, including Versatel in the Netherlands, HOT Vision in Israel, Ebismedia in Italy and Telefónica in Spain.

Ashley Highfield, the BBC’s director of new media, recently shared a platform with Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman, and said that the corporation was planning to work with a range of partners to prepare itself for the next era of the internet.

Last year, BBC Worldwide’s activities achieved profits of £55 million on £706 million of sales. Last year Etienne de Villiers, the former Walt Disney executive and ITV director, was appointed to chair the BBC’s commercial board.

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