December 2, 2009

BBC iPlayer Moves onto Freesat Boxes for Christmas

This December the BBC iPlayer will move from the computer screen and onto a select number of Freesat TV’s.

The decision to trial the iPlayer on Freesat demonstrates both the growing popularity of the iPlayer – recently awarded at the 2009 Royal Television Society Innovation Awards – and Freesat. According to one industry expert “this is a sign of things to come” with IPTV technology.

More Choice in a Digital World

With Britain switching on to a new digital world, it seemed natural for the success of the BBC iPlayer to be added to TV. Its popularity online has soared since its launch on December 25 2007.

It is expected to give viewers greater freedom of choice from their Freesat boxes as they will be able to combines channels from traditional broadcast mediums with video on-demand (VOD). Although, it hasn’t been an easy task combining the two as Rahul Chakkara, head of TV platforms at BBC, explains:

“The hardware of set top boxes and IPTVs (Internet Protocol Television) is constrained. Set top boxes don’t have the same processing power or memory as a typical PC. The software inside the boxes was really made for broadcast.”

The initial roll out of the trial will begin on December 7 2009 with a handful of Freesat viewers able to connect to the service through their TV with a special code. It is expected to become available to more Freesat boxes around Christmas. The first release will work with Humax HD set top boxes.

A Hybrid Approach to IPTV

Freesat is currently viewed in 750,000 homes in the UK and these figures continue to grow. Tom Weiss, CEO and founder of TV Genius, believes that taking the popular model of on-demand television and marrying it with digital broadcasting services could be a window into the future of viewing. He said:

“The interesting thing about this is that it’s a hybrid approach to IPTV where the majority of channels are delivered over a traditional broadcast medium and the Video on Demand (VOD) is delivered over the top (OTT) using IPTV technology. Definitely a sign of things to come.”

With a successful integration of the BBC iPlayer on Freesat boxes, hitting the record button might not be necessary in the future.