Continuity Booth - Television News and Nostalgia » Online Television

Netflix may have a real effect on UK TV viewing

Alan — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:39:07 +0000

Film fans can now subscribe to the leading US online film provider, Netflix, after the company launched a new service in the UK costing less than £6 per month. Thanks to deals with all the major studios, as well as most British television stations, Netflix subscribers will be able to access recent and classic films as well as watching TV programmes on demand on their television, PC or tablet computer.

Netflix is the largest firm to offer films and TV on demand through the internet in the UK, and has only a few competitors on this side of the Atlantic, such as Lovefilm. In the US, Netflix can boast almost 25 million subscribers and a stock market value of $5 billion; and boss Reed Hastings is hoping to see a similar level of success now that he has launched the scheme in Britain and Ireland.

LoveFilm does already have a substantial customer base in this country, having started out as a postal DVD rental company which has now branched out into streaming online films and TV series. In an effort to attract some of Lovefilm’s loyal customers, Hastings and Netflix are offering new subscribers one month free with no restrictions on how many films they watch in that time.

However, LoveFilm is not taking the arrival of Netflix in the UK lying down, choosing the day of Hastings’ launch to announce their own streaming-only subscription, priced at £1 per month cheaper than the US company’s rival service.

Part of the success of Netflix in the US is that they are the only company that provides such a wide choice of films and TV shows online; and it is that innovation that helped them to add a further 5 million subscribers in the first six months of 2011 alone. It remains to be seen if UK customers can be lured away from LoveFilm by this newcomer to the British market.

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Computer TV viewing slowing down

Alan — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:37:19 +0000

A recent study has found that the number of people who use a home computer or a portable device such as an iPad for watching television increased by less than 1% during 2011. Despite the continued popularity of these gadgets, fewer new subscribers are using their PCs to watch either live or on-demand TV programmes in the home or while on the move.

The research, which was carried out by specialist pollsters Ipsos Mori on behalf of Barb, found that almost 15% of those questioned had used a computer to watch a TV show in the previous week. Although this remains a significant increase on 2009’s figure of 11%, the numbers are definitely starting to plateau.

Watching television on mobile phones continues to grow in popularity, however, especially amongst young people aged between 15 and 34. While only 6.5% of those questioned in 2010 had used a mobile to watch a TV show in 2010, the figure in 2011 had risen to nearly 10%.

Experts believe that increased access to TV-on-demand through television sets in the home is having an impact on the number of laptop and computer viewers, while the figures for mobile phones are expected to continue to rise.

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Apple iTV will make you shout

Alan — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:02:50 +0000

Many people regard Apple is a company that have revolutionised both the mobile music and mobile phone market with their products and the company hopes that the new television will do the same for TVs. The new device which has been designed by the company allows you to gesticulate and shout at it, and it will understand your gestures.

Apple has been in talks with Sharp, who are the company who have been selected for manufacturing the iTV, they are due to begin production of the television in February. It is expected that the television will first started hitting shelves later in the year.

An analyst with Jefferies, an American bank, has commented, “Other manufacturers in the industry have become very curious over what the new television is going to do and they are keen to find out so that they are not left in the dust by Apple.”

There is been a great deal of speculation that Apple is planning to launch a television product after a passage was published in the biography of Steve jobs which was released shortly after his death. The passage read, “I want to create a television that is incredibly easy to use, I want people to be able to connect to the internet and sync their devices very easily. When we achieved the concept device for this product we were very satisfied.” Many people began to speculate from this that the television will download video from the internet and this could be a threat to major broadcasters.

Apple has recently filed a patent in the US for a device that would look at the gestures of the user and allow these gestures to control the video process. One of the most interesting things in the patent is protection for a gesture that will allow people to use their hands to bring an image from one device to another.

There is much speculation that the television device will involve technology that is already on the market. The new voice recognition program in the iPhone 4S is expected to be featured as is technology that is very similar to what is currently being used in the Xbox console through the Kinect hardware.

This is not the first time that Apple has ventured into the television market and in 2007 the company released the Apple TV. Unfortunately sales were very poor, especially compared with sales of other Apple products. It is expected that this failure has meant a radical redesign of the product and currently Apple have made no comment about the television product.

Industry experts have estimated that the amount of money Apple already spent on the factory to produce televisions is somewhere in the range of $1 billion. Sceptics have said that a television that works with touch gestures will be problematic as users will easily make accidental gestures. This television project is another part of the battle the company is having with Samsung, they are already producing an internet connected television.

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BBC iPlayer may need a TV licence

Alan — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:23:50 +0000

Services which might include BBC iPlayer at are now being considered to be brought in under the television licence fee. This decision is being considered by the Department of culture. Currently television viewers in Britain must pay a licence fee of over £145 if they want to record or watch television programmes broadcast. This includes whether they watch on a mobile phone, computer or television itself.

Over 150 million television programmes were broadcast in September on catch up services and currently they do not require people to have a television licence. It is likely that this issue is going to become even more of a problem next year when the YouView product comes onto the market.

Experts in the industry have said that services like this will mean that the iPlayer and other programs can be easily watched on a television set. This will increase the number of people who are claiming not to be watching television while it is broadcast. Instead they will simply watch streaming versions of the programme from the BBC’s website.

A spokesperson from the government has commented, “We are aware that technologies are changing how people watch television and it’s important that the BBC continues to get its funding.” The government have made no comment on what changes it is considering making to the licence fee.

Jeremy Hunt is the culture secretary and he is planning a new bill tackling communications and has said that a green paper is going to be published this December. Last year Mr Hunt commented that the government will not be adding a PC licence fee to the current system.

Figures from the BBC have suggested that less than 0.2% of homes watch catch-up television without watching the original broadcast. A spokesperson from the broadcaster said, “The current system is working efficiently and we don’t really see any need for it to be changed at present.” The BBC trust in 2009 ,however, found that if services that brought online television easily to people’s television sets then a rethink of how the licence fee works might be necessary.

About the change the BBC trust commented, “We don’t know whether people will be switching to the Internet as their sole method of viewing television but it is clear to us that this is already occurring to some extent in some segments.

Recent research has shown that nearly half of all university students are watching most of their television on their computer, rather than on a television set. We think that live events are the reason most people are not switching to Internet television entirely.”

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Rosie Webster the web-TV show

Alan — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 07:06:01 +0000

Rosie Webster moved to London in the hopes that she would be able to start a career as a model. It seems that things are not exactly going as she hoped as recent photographs show that that character, who is played by Helen Flanagan, is trying to make her move into modelling after getting a job working the morning TV show by Lorraine Kelly.

The new TV show which has been spun off from the Coronation Street soap from which the character originates. There is even a tied in website where ‘Rosie’ has commented about her setting out on a career as a model. She also tells fans of the character about her incidents while trying to become a model.

One of these involves a time when she was asked to pose topless but refused because it was not something that she was comfortable doing, she commented, “Some people might not know how to say know, but I do.” The character went onto say, “My advice to those who want to make it as a model is to learn how to say no to things that you don’t want to do.”

The new TV show sees Rosie Webster and her boyfriend move to the city to pursue her dream of becoming a model. As mentioned things don’t really go as the couple planned and this leads to some tensions between the two characters. It seems that everything will turn out all right in the end for their relationship though as Rosie has commented, “Jason and I are just meant to be together. We have so much in common; it was fate that we met.”

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Google TV on the way

Alan — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 03:31:12 +0000

Google, the search giant, has had a less than successful start trying to break into the television market. The company has been providing television services in the US for nearly a year and the company has offered some free content as well as subscription content through set top boxes.

The company has recently confirmed that they are planning to go ahead with a European expansion and the chairman of Google Eric Schmidt has said that the move into Europe will be happening within six months. This comment, which was made at a conference in Edinburgh earlier this month, confirmed what was being widely rumoured.

Google has said that the launch in the UK is one of the firms’ highest priorities. The service is sure to include many of the free online television services, such as BBC iPlayer. It is also expected that there will be several other services available on the platform and that there will be announced shortly.

The set top box by the company will also allow you to browse the internet on your television and Google have said they hope that the new device will encourage stations to experiment with new broadcasting techniques.

Mr Schmidt has said, “Some critics in the United States think that we are trying to compete with traditional broadcasters but this is just not what is happening. We are just creating a new platform for them to experiment with. We don’t mind either way if people want to pay for content or whether they only want to watch something that is for free.

Those who produce the content will be the ones who have to decide whether they want to charge. Google are only providing the platform.” The device has been a commercial failure in the US and Google are hoping they will have more success in Europe.

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BBC Worldwide offers its classics to iPlayer app users

Alan — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 07:13:53 +0000

BBC Worldwide offers its classics to iPlayer app users

The commercial arm of the BBC, BBC Worldwide, is now offering audiences right across Europe their first ever opportunity to delve into an eclectic digital mix of both contemporary and classic BBC TV programmes. They are being given this chance, from today, courtesy of a new global iPlayer app, available exclusively for the iPad through the website www.bbc.com/iplayer/tv.

This innovative new on demand video subscription service, which is launching in Western Europe first, will deliver to audiences the quality award winning programmes which form the foundations upon which the history and heritage of the BBC is built. Costing €6.99 for a month (or €49.99 for an annual subscription), the app is initially being rolled out in Belgium, Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, The Republic of Ireland, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Subscribers will have access to a rich selection of captivating programmes made in the English language across eight different genres: Comedy; Drama; News Specials & Documentaries; Science & Nature; Entertainment; Family & Kids; lifestyle and Music & Culture. The app brings together such collections as the classic comedies Only Fools & Horses and Fawlty Towers.

Also available are thrilling dramas such as Luther, Sherlock and the multi award winning Pride and Prejudice. You can also catch up with the latest goings on in Eastenders, tune in to Top Gear, watch the incredible archive of Doctor Who and let the kids be entranced by the adorable Charlie & Lola.

There will be hours of new programmes added to the app each week, along with themed collections from the BBC’s enormous archives including shows from David Attenborough and specials on the Royal Family.

Designed to be intuitive and easy-to-use, a key feature of the app allows subscribers both to stream and to download shows for offline viewing for when they can’t access Wi-Fi connectivity. The stylish and simple interface enables users to build a personal library of shows.

John Smith CEO BBC Worldwide said: “I’m proud that we’re one of the first international broadcasters to give access to our shows in a perfectly packaged app. This launch is an important route to market in our strategy of pursuing multiple platforms for our programmes and brands, taking British programmes to new digital audiences around the world. Today marks a significant next step on a digital journey that has already seen 12m BBC Worldwide apps downloaded across brands as diverse as Lonely Planet and Good Food.”

“Based on the soaring success of the UK’s pioneering BBC iPlayer service, the app combines technical innovation with editorial creativity to transport users to the heart of the BBC and British television and on a journey of discovery, wherever and whenever they want,” said Jana Bennett, BBC Worldwide President of Worldwide Networks and Global iPlayer “We have an exciting vision for what this service could become and will develop it based on feedback from within the markets.”

The global BBC iPlayer App is now available to download for free from the App Store in the launch markets on iPad at www.bbc.com/iplayer/tv.

The global version of the BBC iPlayer app launched today marks the start of a pilot phase for the service.

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Young people moving away from TV towards other entertainment

Alan — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 07:06:11 +0000

According to research from Ofcom, the communications regulator, those people between the ages of 16 and 24 said they would miss internet and their mobile more that television. This is the first time a study has been done and the result was that television was not their most important media.

Television still remains the form of media that would be most missed by those in the UK in general. But the popularity of the television is declining with over 40% of the people saying they would notice the loss the most compared to just over 50% in 2009. In a contrasting scenario, those between the ages of 16 and 24 already say that their mobile phones and web are much more important than TV.

Just less than 28% said they would miss their mobile phones the most while around 26% said it would be the internet they would miss more than anything else and TV was a distant third at 23%. These are results of the Ofcom annual media literacy survey and show very clearly how the everyday life of people revolves very much around the web and their mobile phones.

Over 50% of parents that have children between 5 – 15 say they know less about the internet than there children do and the figures soars to over 70% of those parents with children between the ages of 12 – 15. Parents are also becoming less concerned about how their children use the internet with only 37% having parental controls in place.

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BBC iPlayer is mushrooming

Alan — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:24:41 +0000

It seems as if the BBC is catching up with the rest of its internet competitors for the iPlayer, such as You Tube and so on, by making TV programmes from the other terrestrial channels available to viewers.

The BBC launched the update to its iPlayer service last Thursday, which now gives you access to much more choice when it comes to watching TV online. You can still catch your favourite programmes from the other channels on those channels’ own online services.

The iPlayer enjoys a huge advantage over some of its terrestrial online competitors. Users viewed over 160 million programmes from both television and radio on the iPlayer last month, compared to only 10 million for the ITV Player service.

Paul Clark of the BBC wrote on the channel’s blog that the changes to the service had been very demanding and had taken some time. He continued that the iPlayer should be there to support other online services too and that the BBC hoped to double traffic to and from the site.

As long as the channel is regulated by the Ofcom, the industry watchdog, it can appear on the iPlayer, with the exception of sexual material, betting and other services deemed to be inappropriate.

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ITV wants micropayments for Project Canvas shows

Alan — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:04:54 +0000

ITV is considering launching a micropayment system online and hopes that it will be able to charge a small amount for some of the content that will become available via Project Canvas. Project Canvas is the BBC venture that will offer video on demand to those who use Freesat and Freeview services.

ITV chief executive, Adam Crozier, stated that the network broadcaster is not trying to use its weight to unfairly charge consumers and that financially the station is only making as much as Channel 4 even though they are known to earn more television revenues.

Crozier went on to explain that ITV is not able to compete because it is behind in functionality and terms of revenue and thus they need to find a new way to invest online due to the fact that their website is not as great as other broadcasters. Thus, if micropayments were added the company could start to profit from their online presence.

He also announced that the company has set aside a three year investment fund that totals £75m and will be used to develop the website. The website is planned to be renovated before Project Canvas is launched which is due to happen towards the middle of 2011 since the launch of the project will make the ITV website a landing point.

Crozier added that Project Canvas is going to play a large role in the future of ITV and the company needs to make sure that ITV.com and the project are linked properly in order to get the most out of the joint venture.

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