> It seems unlikely that nationally-funded organizations will be made to cover bandwidth to stream outside their countries.

I have been listening for years and from all around the world to FIP, BBC Radio 2/3/4, RAI Radio 2/3, Deutschlandradio Kultur and NPR. I do not see why TV should be treated differently.

Maybe Europe just needs to ask the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) to focus more on Internet and set up a state-run/sponsored network of multicast/unicast servers that can take care of broadcasting radio and TV over IP. The pan-european university network GÉANT is based on a similar concept and has been working very well (much better than commercial operators) for decades.

As have I, but that is thanks to the largess of the those organisations, not any legal directive (as far as I'm aware).

It's pretty common for state-funded media to support audio streaming. However, video is much less common. If a person outside the UK (using a plain-old internet connection) tries to access BBC video online they are told they can't due to their location. This includes locations within the EU; I am presented with this message from Dublin.

Given that people in the UK and Ireland (and maybe elsewhere) pay annual fees to support the BBC and RTE and pay for production, licensing, etc. with those fees, it that they shouldn't be mandated to provide that service to people in other countries.

The BBC is changing their rules as regards the requirement to have a TV license to stream their content. All they then need to do is allow people to buy TV licenses for non-UK addresses and they turn into a normal-looking streaming video service.

I wouldn't classify myself as having in-depth 'knowledge' but I believe both of them already have plans to stream worldwide. BBC considering charging a fee for it and RTÉ have an international player already offering free and paid services.