Channel 4 head toward streaming content
Wednesday 21 May 2008 14:16:07 by John Hunt
Channel 4 have this week launched a news catchup service that is available via their website that allows you to catch up on the last 7 days of the Channel 4 News programme. Unlike their 4oD service that requires special software that only works on a Windows based PC, the news catchup uses an embedded flash player similar to that of the BBC iPlayer meaning that it is available multi-platform on Windows, Mac and Linux based operating systems directly in your web browser.
In addition to the catchup of the daily Channel 4 News, key interviews and content from the programme as well as from News at Noon and More4 News will also be available to view separately. We hope this is a sign of things to come and that Channel 4 will also add its 4oD content to the streaming service to make it more accessible to potential viewers.
Ease of use is key as can be seen by the continued growth of the BBC iPlayer which reached 21 million programme requests in April, up 22% on 17.2 million for March. As the iPlayer becomes available on more and more platforms (such as the Apple iPhone and on the Nintedo Wii) this number will only grow. It is unsurprising that other content providers are following in the footsteps of a flash based player to help increase viewer numbers.
Digg this
Add to del.icio.usComments
@neilmundy
You're mistaken, it doesn't require WMP11, it runs in flash.
You are right it is the catch up online that still requires WMP 11.
What happened to Silverlight?
It doesnt require WMP11 the catch up service in a form has been there a while, this is just developed and being promoted more now... You can rip news streams from the site very easily and it will play back in WMP10 and lower, infact if you rip the flash or the WMV you can even play it back just in media player classic with a codec pack installed... Same goes for linux, rip the content with a firefox plugin and you can play it back very easily.
The flash streams are in FLV format which can be converted very easily to other formats with just the ffdshow code installed (again you can get that for linux also) and a simply media conversion app...... Another good service from a TV channel :) Love what they have started to do with this online TV stuff, i said long ago it was coming and people here scoffed, whos laughing now?
Still requires Windows Media Player 11 so only works on Windows.