British broadcasting giant BBC announced on Monday that it would offer viewers the opportunity to download its programs up to seven days after they had aired on television. The new offering is part of a plan to modernize the network.

As well as offering recorded shows, the player would also include live feeds of both BBC 1 and BBC 2.

Director General of the BBC Mark Thompson said the change was essential to ensure the future of the network.

"I accept the premise that if the BBC remains nothing more than a traditional TV and radio broadcaster then we probably won't deserve or get license-fee funding beyond 2016," he said. "That is very definitely not our plan."

It is not clear at this time whether the service would be free or require subscription fee. Also, Thompson did not say whether the media files available for download would include digital rights management to prevent illicit copying.

The feature would likely only be available to users within the United Kingdom, who pay a licensing fee in order to view television programming.

Thompson says he hopes to have the download service launched by next year.