Could the BBC's iPlayer go global? Various media have picked up on a report in Friday's Daily Telegraph that Google, owners of YouTube, is said to be in talks about the possibility of an international version of the popular catch-up TV service.

The Telegraph reported that ources close to the negotiations say that BBC director general Mark Thompson is leading talks with Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt about rolling out an international version of the iPlayer, supported in some way by Google-owned video sharing site YouTube.

An international version of iPlayer would open up full-length BBC television shows, currently available to watch online for up to seven days after first broadcast in the UK, to a global audience.

Edited versions of some BBC shows have been available on Google's YouTube in the UK since early 2007. This step would mean BBC content could be seen globally in their entirety on the iPlayer platform.

Commenting on reports, the BBC siad there were "significant number of obstacles" to commercially extending iPlayer in other countries - such as international rights clearance and existing content agreements with services such as Apple's iTunes.

"These obstacles present significant difficulties and for this reason there are no firm plans for a specific international BBC iPlayer," it added.

"The BBC is one of YouTube's oldest partners and for over two years we've worked with various parts of the BBC to support the distribution, promotion and monetisation of their content," said Google in its own statement on the story. "However, we never comment on this kind of rumour and speculation."

The Telegraph also reported that separate talks are also understood to be happening concurrently between YouTube and BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the corporation, about making the BBC’s archive content, for which international licenses have already been acquired, available on YouTube in their entirety.