Comments on: BBC, ITV, Channel 4 to launch joint on-demand web TV

By: Alleanza dei canali televisivi britannici per la VoD - Video Monte Ceneri

Alleanza dei canali televisivi britannici per la VoD - Video Monte Ceneri — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 03:40:54 +0000

[...] [fonte] [fonte] The Alleanza dei canali televisivi britannici per la VoD by Luca Palli, unless otherwise [...]

By: TechCrunch UK » Blog Archive » TVCatchup on hold after broadcasters weigh in

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:03:18 +0000

[...] attracted the major broadcasters, which have all been investing in their own services including the Kangaroo project. The site probably drew more scrutiny when it signed a commercial deal with advertising firm 24/7 [...]

By: ron

ron — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 13:50:32 +0000

Hi everyone im a ex-brit of course from uk. i now live in Philippines and miss the old BBC even though at times whilst in uk i complained.
so i was grateful that it was avalible online yes….www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
and found to my hearts content the full line up of bbc stuff to watch

ok i agree not intended to be viewed outside uk and by using ip changing software i am able to watch and download to my hearts content

Thanks BBC and soon ITV.

Ron

By: British TV Rivals Team Up For Joint Online TV On-Demand Service | GOSSIP

British TV Rivals Team Up For Joint Online TV On-Demand Service | GOSSIP — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:55:39 +0000

[...] TechCrunch UK has more. [...]

By: rc

rc — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:43:28 +0000

it’s good and it’s about time

trading tennis blog

By: TechCrunch en français » Les chaines anglaises s'unissent pour offrir un service de TV à la demande

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:21:15 +0000

[...] Plus de details surTechCrunch UK . [...]

By: DavePress » links for 2007-11-28

DavePress » links for 2007-11-28 — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:39:41 +0000

[...] BBC, ITV, Channel 4 to launch joint on-demand web TV Interesting developments in web TV, vi Mike Butcher at TechCrunchUK (tags: bbc tv itv channel4 webtv socialmedia) [...]

By: Shakir Razak

Shakir Razak — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:22:20 +0000

Hi,

I think people are getting way too excited and ahead of themselves here.

Most importantly, this is mainly for the commercial post-catch-up period allowed under contract-right-renewal/pact rights already

secondly, the main platform will simply be either a convergence and building atop the existing foundations of Kontiki, or using Flash with Air.

So essentially, while it’s good for the UK broadcasters to lead the world in universality and ubiquity, don’t get too excited yet!

Yours kindly,

Shakir Razak

By: Tim-TechFruit

Tim-TechFruit — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:30:38 +0000

@ Stefano – you can already get BBC channels amongst others on Zattoo, but it is just a streaming service to watch TV over the internet and not an on demand service, so isn’t quite the same thing.

This is a great move by the UK broadcasters as far as the public are concerned, as even having 4OD and BBC iPlayer running at the same time is annoying at best. Hopefully, we will finally be able to actually watch what we want when we want from all the main channels.

However, I do see a few problems:

1) DRM – the single most annoying thing about corporate steps ‘forward’ in technology and distribution. We should be abel to watch it when and where we like – not limited to 7 days after broadcast or whatever limits they plan on setting. I really, really hope they don’t use Windows Media rights management and instead opt for H.264 encoded AVIs or MKVs, but it isn’t likely. With BBC content – being as we pay a license fee for it, the only restriction should really be for UK only users anyway.

2) Compatibility – an issue that comes with DRM – this will have to work on Windows XP/Vista and Mac OSX to get started, and should really support Linux too. Maybe if they made the client open source and just created it specifically for Windows and OSX then some Linux users would port it themselves.

3) Limiting the emergence of new stations and channels. If this platform is wholly owned by BBC/ITV/Channel4 then I imagine they can/will monopolise it and prevent smaller independent channels from using the service. However, if they built an open architecture and then leave the possibility for others to join the service it would become very interesting. The architecture could allow anyone to start a station, but they would need their own servers and hardware to support the channel’s demand. This would allow the smaller UK channels like Channel5/FX/Dave to also use the service and appeal to the audience.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:47:15 +0000

“It aims to “build on the experience” of the broadcasters’ existing media players, ITV.com, 4oD and the BBC iPlayer.”

So Windows DRM again! sort it out for Mac please. I’d be happy with something like Joost because it’s provides a decent user experience.

By: BBC, ITV and C4 to finally team up | barnesdmd.co.uk

BBC, ITV and C4 to finally team up | barnesdmd.co.uk — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:42:06 +0000

[...] TechCrunch UK alerted me to this first but the original news piece is with the Guardian. Finally, the heavyweights of the UK Broadcast industry are teaming up to offer a combined on-demand television service. [...]

By: BBC, iTV og Channel 4 går sammen om onlinetjeneste for TV

BBC, iTV og Channel 4 går sammen om onlinetjeneste for TV — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:39:35 +0000

[...] mere hos: BBC: TV rivals form on-demand service TechCrunch UK: BBC, ITV, Channel 4 to launch joint on-demand web TV Guardian: Broadcasters to launch joint VoD [...]

By: Rick Curran

Rick Curran — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:30:04 +0000

Mmmm, will they use something other than Windows Media DRM format for the downloadable files? I doubt it. Looks like being limited to streaming video again for us non-Microsoft users

By: Stefano Buliani

Stefano Buliani — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:27:52 +0000

About time! wrote a long article complaining about iPlayer just a few days ago. They better get it right this time.

One thing I don’t understand is why don’t they just strike a deal with Joost, zattoo or really any other content provider available out there? Seems stupid to reinvent the wheel.

By: I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog

I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:03:46 +0000

@Dillon: Dragon’s Den is a business programme? News to me.

Kangaroo, is it? I guess Platypus was taken and Wombat sounded just a bit *too* silly.

By: British TV Rivals Team Up For Joint Online TV On-Demand Service

British TV Rivals Team Up For Joint Online TV On-Demand Service — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:41:49 +0000

[...] TechCrunch UK has more. [...]

By: Mike Butcher

Mike Butcher — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:52:29 +0000

Congrats to MediaGuardian for getting the early story. At least I got the official announcement, heh. Still, interesting move, now it’s a done deal. Makes a lot of sense too.

By: JohnofScribbleSheet

JohnofScribbleSheet — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:47:26 +0000

Well, this just confirms the iplayer was a failure. Somewhat predictable.

By: Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:46:08 +0000

Excellent news! They can’t get this out quickly enough – hopefully this means the end of the dodgy software behind iPlayer and 4oD. I’m looking forward to it.

By: Dillon

Dillon — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:35:26 +0000

Sounds very interesting.
It would be really nice to be able to aggregate all the business documentaries/series (Dragon’s Den etc) and watch together.

By: dc crowley

dc crowley — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:20:51 +0000

I really hope this is *not* a UK only viewing room… and that the rest of the world (or even the single European market, whatever that is) can enjoy this stuff as well. Great move though and great to see these guys working together.

Let you entertain me.