ITV gives web-TV a boost
Thursday 03 May 2007 14:06:10 by John Hunt
ITV announced this week the imminent launch of their TV on demand service. Similar to those offered by Channel 4 and the recent trial announced by the BBC, it will offer the chance to see any ITV programme broadcast in the last 30 days direct from their website. The £20m upgrade to ITV.com will make available about 20,000 hours of popular archive footage, and stream ITV channels live.
In vein with current ITV programming on Television, the material will be free and feature advert breaks or be supported by a sponsor. Streaming will be direct from the website and will not require additional software, unlike the BBC's iPlayer that will only run on Windows PC's initially.
A recent study by Motorola showed that 45% of broadband users in Europe watched TV shows online. France topped the stats with 59%, whilst Britain had only 43%. The new services from the BBC and ITV should help boost these figures, whilst alternatives such as Joost, from the makers of Skype, are breeding choice in the web-TV market with some less mainstream content.
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Posted by
uniquename about 1 year ago
I find it hard to believe that 43% of Broadband users in Britain watch TV shows online. Lies, damn lies, and statistics again?
I find it hard to believe that 43% of Broadband users in Britain watch TV shows online. Lies, damn lies, and statistics again?
Posted by
harryhound1 about 1 year ago
I agree 43% ?!? I don't know anyone who has watched a complete program.
I suppose it depends on the question.
"Have you ever watched TV on you PC ?"
Yes I have watched the odd clip to see what all the fuss is about in a "news" item.
I would be scared of watching complete programmes for fear of blowing my monthly "free" allowance in a week.
How big is half an hour of telly?
I agree 43% ?!? I don't know anyone who has watched a complete program.
I suppose it depends on the question.
"Have you ever watched TV on you PC ?"
Yes I have watched the odd clip to see what all the fuss is about in a "news" item.
I would be scared of watching complete programmes for fear of blowing my monthly "free" allowance in a week.
How big is half an hour of telly?
Posted by
CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
How big is half an hour of telly?
Depends on the format it is in, 30mins worth of divx/xvid video on average would be about 300meg, in resonable WMV format about 200meg, but if ITV are smart and use a form of shockwave to deliver their content then that 30mins can easily be under 100meg. Unless you have a service with one of the very small allowances of say 2gig its not that bad at all, also if all you subscribe to is a service with a 2gig allowance then you shouldnt even really be consider using your connection for high bandwidth like tasks such as big downloads and video streaming IMO.
How big is half an hour of telly?
Depends on the format it is in, 30mins worth of divx/xvid video on average would be about 300meg, in resonable WMV format about 200meg, but if ITV are smart and use a form of shockwave to deliver their content then that 30mins can easily be under 100meg. Unless you have a service with one of the very small allowances of say 2gig its not that bad at all, also if all you subscribe to is a service with a 2gig allowance then you shouldnt even really be consider using your connection for high bandwidth like tasks such as big downloads and video streaming IMO.
Posted by
john (
staff member)
about 1 year ago
I guess their 43% would include things like BBC news videos etc. TV on your PC doesn't count. I watch TV on my PC, but via a Sky box connected to a TV card..
staff member)
about 1 year ago
I guess their 43% would include things like BBC news videos etc. TV on your PC doesn't count. I watch TV on my PC, but via a Sky box connected to a TV card..
Posted by
harryhound1 about 1 year ago
Thanks CARPETBURN, this site is a whole new 3rd age education.
Thanks CARPETBURN, this site is a whole new 3rd age education.
Posted by
CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
lol harryhound1, hopefully ITV have planned the service well and if they advertise it right it could be very popular (not too popular though, otherwise they will start charging for it ;) ). I do agree with everyone, the current figure of 43% they quote is probably wishful thinking, but i also believe with a popular TV station airing stuff for free it could easily reach and exceed that figure.
lol harryhound1, hopefully ITV have planned the service well and if they advertise it right it could be very popular (not too popular though, otherwise they will start charging for it ;) ). I do agree with everyone, the current figure of 43% they quote is probably wishful thinking, but i also believe with a popular TV station airing stuff for free it could easily reach and exceed that figure.
Posted by
jimwillsher about 1 year ago
We don't have a TV in the ouse, we've just got TV cards for the computers. So technically we do watch TV on the PC, but not via IP...
We don't have a TV in the ouse, we've just got TV cards for the computers. So technically we do watch TV on the PC, but not via IP...
Posted by
TGVrecord about 1 year ago
Just occured to me if there is anything worth watching on ITV?
Cheers
Kevin
Just occured to me if there is anything worth watching on ITV?
Cheers
Kevin
Posted by
ggld2001 about 1 year ago
Not much point in offering TV on demand when most ISP's dont seem to be able to supply the connection speeds they promise. I should be on a 2mb line but I am lucky if I get 1/4 of that speed and thats if I dont lose my connection. Dont get me wrong when I first changed to broadband I had full speed but over the past 18 months it has dropped way down.
Not much point in offering TV on demand when most ISP's dont seem to be able to supply the connection speeds they promise. I should be on a 2mb line but I am lucky if I get 1/4 of that speed and thats if I dont lose my connection. Dont get me wrong when I first changed to broadband I had full speed but over the past 18 months it has dropped way down.
Posted by
Kempy about 1 year ago
The Internet was never intended to provide the levels of demand that we are now seeing. e.g. Email is a text based standard - so we abuse it with messages sent with background images and marketing emails etc. etc. and then we wonder why we have no bandwidth. BT will need to spend hundreds of millions to upgrade their network, but while competitors are prepared to charge so little for services there is no justification for BT to spend this money as they'll never recoup it.
The Internet was never intended to provide the levels of demand that we are now seeing. e.g. Email is a text based standard - so we abuse it with messages sent with background images and marketing emails etc. etc. and then we wonder why we have no bandwidth. BT will need to spend hundreds of millions to upgrade their network, but while competitors are prepared to charge so little for services there is no justification for BT to spend this money as they'll never recoup it.
Posted by
chrysalis about 1 year ago
if the 43% includes tv that has been downloaded via p2p it is very believable.
if the 43% includes tv that has been downloaded via p2p it is very believable.
Posted by
CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
ggld2001 and Kempy, you need to blame BT for your problems, people like myself on a high speed LLU service and MANY people on high speed cable have no such issues and can happily use the net for services such as this. I fail to see the connection between whining about BT and or your ISP has with regards to this story, its hardly ITV, the BBCs or similars fault BT cant get their act together.
@chrysalis i still think the 43% even with P2P included is wishful thinking but i do agree if the P2P figures are included then yes its much more likely to be nearer that 43% figure.
ggld2001 and Kempy, you need to blame BT for your problems, people like myself on a high speed LLU service and MANY people on high speed cable have no such issues and can happily use the net for services such as this. I fail to see the connection between whining about BT and or your ISP has with regards to this story, its hardly ITV, the BBCs or similars fault BT cant get their act together.
@chrysalis i still think the 43% even with P2P included is wishful thinking but i do agree if the P2P figures are included then yes its much more likely to be nearer that 43% figure.
Posted by
harryhound1 about 1 year ago
Size quoted ties in with bank holiday Monday's TISCALI film service and Tuesday's Virgin news item.
Just for the record my BT service via Madasafish can deliver over 4MBps to the master "test" socket BUT plug in my extension and it drops to 2.2 - 2.8. I cannot blame BT for dodgy internal wiring and a filthy electricity supply. Have you analysed your service using the tools on this site + router stats. Very revealing.
Size quoted ties in with bank holiday Monday's TISCALI film service and Tuesday's Virgin news item.
Just for the record my BT service via Madasafish can deliver over 4MBps to the master "test" socket BUT plug in my extension and it drops to 2.2 - 2.8. I cannot blame BT for dodgy internal wiring and a filthy electricity supply. Have you analysed your service using the tools on this site + router stats. Very revealing.
Posted by
Mike1558 about 1 year ago
What happens to the TV licence? As I understand it you have to be in possession of a TV set in order to have to buy a licence. If I don't possess a TV and download programmes and then view them from my monitor, that does not have any tuner then how can they enforce the TV licence?
What happens to the TV licence? As I understand it you have to be in possession of a TV set in order to have to buy a licence. If I don't possess a TV and download programmes and then view them from my monitor, that does not have any tuner then how can they enforce the TV licence?
Posted by
CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
They cant. You pay for a TV licence if you have equipment capable of recieving over the air waves (SIGNAL) a television receives (even if you own a video recorder but no TV you have to pay a license) The licence is nothing to do with actual viewing, but equipment you use. If you dont have a TV tuner card in your PC legally you can still watch their media via there website, unless of course they put a condition on there saying you must have a licence before you view content.
They cant. You pay for a TV licence if you have equipment capable of recieving over the air waves (SIGNAL) a television receives (even if you own a video recorder but no TV you have to pay a license) The licence is nothing to do with actual viewing, but equipment you use. If you dont have a TV tuner card in your PC legally you can still watch their media via there website, unless of course they put a condition on there saying you must have a licence before you view content.
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At last a TV company with common sense to give people programs over the web for free which they show free on TV and also bring it in a format all modern computer users can watch. Well done ITV way to show the BBC and C4 how things should be done.