More details on BT and its TV service
Wednesday 26 October 2005 12:44:00 by Andrew Ferguson

TV-on-demand and Catch-up TV look set to be buzz words for 2006. 2005 has seen lots of press releases on the matter and today is no different with the announcement by BT Retail that Philips are set to supply the set top box for the BT Next Generation TV service. 2006 should see services in trial and being rolled out across much wider parts of the UK than TV over broadband is currently available to.

The BT TV service will be built around a FreeView receiver with built-in PVR (personal video recorder), and employ Microsoft's IPTV software for on demand content. The key bullet points are:

1. Entertainment on demand – an extensive library of movies, TV and music all available instantly
2. Catch-up TV – programmes from the previous seven days broadcast schedule will be available on demand without the need to record
3. Flexible payment – no mandatory subscriptions. Pay-per-view options
4. Personal Video Recorder – simple to use recording function capable of storing up to 80 hours of programming
5. More than 30 digital terrestrial TV channels
6. Communication services – instant messaging, chat and video telephony on TV
7. Interactive services – online games, retail opportunities and community services

The service is expected to be available to BT Retail broadband customers from late summer and autumn of 2006. Trials of the service are planned for earlier in 2006. The full BT press release can be found at www.bt.com.