In the week that BT and Sky both saw their triple play offerings potentially trumped by a possible NTL/Virgin ‘quadruple play’, BT chose to release details of its upcoming content deals with BBC Worldwide, Paramount and Warner Music Group.
Ian Livingston, chief executive of BT Retail, talked up the deals, “Whether you are a music fan, love films or hooked on drama you will get the best in entertainment when you want it. BT is defining next generation TV.”
Against a backdrop of whispered rumours of delays with Microsoft’s IPTV Edition, the BT service is slated for launch next year.
BT’s TV service will piggyback on-demand programming, delivered by a high speed Internet connection to a Philips terrestrial Freeview receiver, and the PVR component of the box will hold 80 hours of downloaded programming.
The service will not be a monthly subscription like that of NTL and Sky, instead it will follow a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model, where individual downloads and viewing can be charged.
An agreement with BBC Worldwide that covers on-demand rights for BBC programming and charges for viewing, will provoke controversy as the BBC is paid for by a universal levy on TV viewers in the UK.
Problems won’t be confined to BBC programmes if ITV programming is carried, advertisers are bound to be unhappy that time-shifting viewers will skip the paid for messages.
You might be able to tell that we’re not that excited about this deal. At least BT seems to recognise that viewers watch content rather than technology … or well negotiated deals.
With so many digital TV homes in the UK subscribed to Sky or cable, we’re just not sure if BT will be able to muscle into the Digital TV space.
A major question mark hanging over them is whether the content promised so far is enough to encourage current subscribers to switch or, even more difficult, if they can get the so called “digital refuseniks” to join BT’s TV.
Sprint and MSpot, have announced the launch of MSpot Movies, a new service which streams mobile-optimised feature films to mobile phones.
The streaming content will be cut up into ‘chapters’ (short segments optimised for a mobile audience) and will also include music concerts and stand-up comedy specials.
Although there’s no denying that mobile video is set to grow – Strategy Analytics reckon they’ll be 150 million viewers by 2008 – we really can’t raise much enthusiasm at the prospect of burning up our bandwidth by watching a selection of crap movies on a tiny screen in 5 minute chunks.
Takeover mania isn’t confined to one side of the Atlantic; Liberty, the media group that includes QVC and holds a majority stake in IAC/Interactive Corp, is buying Provide Commerce whose mission is “To become the leading e-commerce marketplace for the delivery of perishable products direct from the supplier to the consumer,” whatever that means.
The Liberty purchase, is subject to approvals from US regulatory bodies as well as Provide Commerce shareholders, if all obstacles are cleared then the acquisition should complete in the second quarter of 2006.
Bill Strauss Provide Commerce’s CEO was equally direct,
NBC Universal and Apple have struck a deal to make NBC-owned television shows, such as “The Office” and “Law & Order,” available on the iTunes music store.
The shows will be available from next week, downloadable from the iTunes Music Store the day after they air for $1.99 (£1.15, €1.70) per episode
Friends Reunited and ITV have decided to make it legal; after a short romance, a deal’s been agreed. Rumours they’d been seeing other suitors that included BT, News Corp and that bastion of middle England the Daily Mail & General Trust, did little to cool the ardour of an excited ITV.
“When ITV approached us we immediately clicked; they share our values, they’re a national institution that is trusted and well loved, and by joining with them, Friends Reunited will become the UK ‘s 8th most visited site giving us access to a vast audience so we can connect even more of you even more of the time.”
“A powerful consolidated online advertising sales proposition. 53% of Friends Reunited users are in the ABC1 demographic and 40% are in the 16-34 age range – both key audiences for advertisers. It will contribute additional advertising synergies as ITV Internet sales will have increased scale, becoming a one-stop-shop for media agencies in the online space.”
Vodafone UK and British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) have announced an agreement to launch Sky Mobile TV, the UK’s first commercially available mobile TV service available on a wide range of handsets, as we 
The deal looks set to turbo-boost adoption of entertainment and information services to mobile phones, with users able to enjoy TV programmes on the move with access to live breaking news and sports reports from Sky News and Sky Sports News.
The Sky Mobile TV pack will be provided free of charge (subject to Vodafone customer fair usage policy) until the end of January 2006, with customers being charged £5.00 (~$8.90, €7.38) per month for each of the Sky Mobile TV packs subscribed to thereafter,
Additional mobile channels are likely to sign up to the Sky Mobile TV service over the coming months.
Call us cynical if you like, but when we get a press announcement trumpeting some kind of ‘world first’ or another from someone we’ve never heard of, our eyebrows tend to arc skywards.
It is significant that content is breaking on mobiles before it’s in the shops and we’ve no doubt that mobiles will continue to play a greater part in the distribution of music and video, but we can’t really get excited about someone (even if they have got dazzling teeth) releasing a few snippets of a DVD for mobiles and then expecting the Guinness Book of Records to be calling them up.
In fact, we’re so unimpressed that we can’t even be bothered to give you the name of the video, but you can find it somewhere on Vodafone’s Dutch Live TV website, or just click around chirpy Frans’ website.
The world of film and video games come ever closer as Electronic Arts (EA) team up with Steven Spielberg to develop three original video games.
EA has been, how shall we say, “inspired”, heavily by The S before, as anyone who’s ever played the opening scene of the first Medal of Honor, and heard of a film called Saving Private Ryan may have noticed.
* I downloaded and installed iTunes6. Takes 5-10 minutes. No big deal. iTunes6 has the same basic interface and purchasing/sampling system as previous versions of iTunes.
* File sizes: Killers video: 20.1 mb; Desperate Housewives episode: 208.6 mb. Both were MPEG-4 video files.
* I’m sure there are some underlying copyright / “rip-off Britain” issues at play here. I’m just not smart enough to figure them out. But there is a problem when the popular television shows are not available on iTunes-UK and the same music video is 1.89 GBP or about $3.30 – that’s $1.30 extra for each music video that UK customers must pay.
After weeks of frantic speculation that a video-capable iPod was on the way, Apple have sure enough announced the very thing at their event in the California Theatre in San Jose and BBC Television Centre in the UK.
New iMac G5. A bit faster, but the big thing is FrontRow. It’s Apple’s Media Centre-killer. The new Apple Remote, a svelte 6 button remote control that looks like a shuffle, controls any media you have on your iMac. Makes the MS Media Centre 26+ button remote look very wrong – too tech. Simplicity reigns. iSight camera is built in. Parallel output to bigger screen, projector. Price is very tempting starting at $1,299 (17″ £899 inc vat, €1379) (20″ £1199, €1799).
Video-capable iPod. Next gen iPod with 30% thinner than current generation player but with a bigger 2.5″ colour screen. 320×240 QVGA (quarter VGA), but not wide screen as rumoured. Video playback supports MPEG-4 and h.264 playback. 30Gb & 60Gb. S-vdeo out through the doc, but video will appear pixelated on full size TV screen. The 30GB should go for $299 (~£219~€349), and the 60GB for $399 (~£300~€469). They’re on the Apple online Store and will be shipping next week.?