BBC iPlayer catch-up to be extended to 30 days

The longer service is expected to launch this summer

People will now be able to listen to Radio 1 on BBC iPlayer

Programmes on iPlayer, the BBC’s catch-up service, will soon be available to watch for 30 days instead of seven, the BBC Trust has confirmed.

The changes are expected to be rolled out this summer.

In comparison, shows on both ITV Player and Channel 4's 4OD already stay on the catch-up platform for a month after first being broadcast.

91 per cent of 1000 iPlayer users questioned said they would be “very” or “quite” interested in programmes being available for longer, according to research published by the BBC Trust.

The idea was first floated by director general Tony Hall in October 2013, as part of plans to make the service the “front door” or gateway to the BBC.

BBC Executive said in a statement: “New iPlayer already has downloads, better recommendations, HD, live restart, favourites and collections, and extending the catch-up window to 30 days gives people even longer to enjoy their favourite BBC programmes. We will now set about making this happen with the aim to roll this out from the summer.”

iPlayer also recently announced its support for Google's Chromecast streaming device as it launched in Europe for the first time. The USB stick-like device, allows users to stream content from the internet via different apps - the official iPlayer app being one of them.

At the time of the launch, the BBC's executive product manager Chris Yanda said the range of platforms that Chromecast worked across made it appealing.

Additional reporting by PA