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BT Vision gains ITV catch-up content
Tuesday 18 November 2008 12:24:12 by Andrew Ferguson

BT Vision has some 340,000 subscribers, though how many are paying for Video on Demand subscriptions or occasional on demand content is unknown. One of the cheaper subscriptions is for the TV Replay service at £3 per month, which gives access to a range of catch-up material from Channel 4, the BBC and Channel Five.

ITV has reached an agreement with BT that will see content from ITV shows appearing on BT Vision. Shows will be available for eight days after broadcast, as well as an archive of 500 hours of material.

ITV is not doing this out of the goodness of its heart, but will receive a minimum payment from BT Vision each year and a top-up fee on a per subscriber basis. This will all help ITV move towards its target of £150m income from online operations by 2012.

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Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote"One of the cheaper subscriptions is for the TV Replay service at £3 per month, which gives access to a range of catch-up material from Channel 4, the BBC and Channel Five."
Someone should tell these people catching up with programming from those channels can be done free online or if that doesnt suit do they not know freeview will offer those channels for no charge and a freeview recorder is well under 100 quid now.
Posted by Spectre_01 about 1 year ago
Although my vision box is in the bin i would point out that catching up by watching shows via the broadcasters website online is low quality and makes for a poor viewing experience.

Also £3 per month is the same as well over 2 years use from a PVR at the pricing CB mentions, also factor in that 1 year warranty PVR's come with, should it fail and need to be replaced the effective cost of the PVR increases over BTV catchup services. Acually more cost effective to go with BT's option in this case.
Posted by c_j_ about 1 year ago
"watching shows via the broadcasters website online is low quality and makes for a poor viewing experience."

Direct streaming from the website might be poorer than TV quality pictures but how is a BT Vision download any different than an iPlayer or 4oD download? Or is this service streaming via the "on demand" BT Vision stuff?

Meanwhile, it seems the financial arrangements are very different... oh dear, are we looking at the content providers readying the mass market for the end of "free 30day catchup"?
Posted by chrysalis about 1 year ago
I feel sorry for customers on exchanges with high amounts of BT vision consumers as the assured bandwidth reduces the shared best efforts bandwidth.
Posted by AndrueC about 1 year ago
I hope they've used the opportunity to upgrade their servers. ITV catchup has been broken for me for several weeks now. It constantly rebuffers every minute making it unwatchable.

By contrast I can watch a BBC iPlayer high quality stream for as long as I want with no issues.
Posted by andrew (Favicon staff member) about 1 year ago
The catchup will be feed to the BT servers, and then sent to the thousands who watch it, so has potential to reduce load for ITV, and reduce Internet bandwidth used.

The Vision VoD stream should be at the usual 2Mbps rate, which is double or more than most of the TV stations own website options.
Posted by gayboy-ds about 1 year ago
Interesting on how ITV left Homechoice just before the Tiscali move.
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote"Also £3 per month is the same as well over 2 years use from a PVR"

I could point to places you can buy a Freeview PVR for under 50 quid. If you wish you can PM me. Also unlike the service you pay £3 a month for once you record something on a Freeview PVR its on there until you wish to watch it.... Not for as long as the provider chooses to make it available.
Posted by rasczak about 1 year ago
Of course Freeview PVRs also allow backdated recordings where you can program to record the show that was on yesterday don't they
</Sarcasm>

The BT Vision Box is a twin tuner PVR as well anyway so recording any freeview programs in the future is open to users this just gives another option.
Posted by rasczak about 1 year ago
Whether £3 a month is worth it to watch on the main TV without any extra wiring over getting it for free on a PC and then having to try an connect this to the TV and sound system is open to debate, it will be good for some but not others. Of course, it sounds like Carpetbrun thinks BT should be forced to provide any service, to anyone who wants it, for free so charging £3 a month for it is obviously a ripoff.
Posted by Dawn_Falcon about 1 year ago
He does.

It's a reasonably priced service for the less technical people who want to watch TV shows on their TV when they like - fiddling arround with cheap and badly designed PVR's, with a severely limited capacity and often missing programs, etc, is annoying for many
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote"Whether £3 a month is worth it to watch on the main TV without any extra wiring over getting it for free on a PC and then having to try an connect this to the TV and sound system is open to debate, it will be good for some but not others. Of course, it sounds like Carpetbrun thinks BT should be forced to provide any service, to anyone who wants it, for free so charging £3 a month for it is obviously a ripoff."
What is this magical "extra wiring" you speak of?
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote".....fiddling arround with cheap and badly designed PVR's, with a severely limited capacity and often missing programs, etc, is annoying for many"

Yeah ive heard that about BT vision boxes and the freezing issues they have also
Posted by Spectre_01 about 1 year ago
CB you'll need a cable or two to link the PC's graphics card to one of the TV's inputs - I'd hardly call it magic, more necessity. It'll still look like a pixelated jittering mess though.

My Satilite box freezes as well as one of my freeview boxes, so the BTV box is no better, while unimpressive hardly out of the ordinary.

Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote"CB you'll need a cable or two to link the PC's graphics card to one of the TV's inputs - I'd hardly call it magic, more necessity."

SO again i ask what is the magical "EXTRA" wiring?? I assume any type of digi TV box also needs a cable from it to the TV doesnt it?
Posted by rasczak about 1 year ago
No, I've looked all over I can't find the scart socket on my computer, can you tell me where it is ? Not all graphics cards have a composite or S-Video TV out, and even if they do, 50 foot long cables running through 4 rooms are not really convenient, not everyone has their computer and main TV in the same room. I don't know why I bother, are you being deliberately obtuse or do you not realise how dim you are coming across as ?
Posted by Spectre_01 about 1 year ago
Oh please CB, lets face it if you don't have a purpuse built living room PC using one in another part of the house to do the job is going to be a pain, you'll have to go to the PC in another room, select what you want to watch, then go back to the TV and see if its come on, fiddle with the remote and then realise you haven't set it up right and go back to the PC... and then after that show has ended go back and do it all over again...
Posted by Spectre_01 about 1 year ago
You will likely need extra cables that arn't included with your TV or PC to pull this off as well, I wouldn't call them 'magical wiring' as such...

Dsub-Dsub, DVI-HDMI, HMDI-HDMI, RCA leads are the best for long distance though which can be used for composite video and sound channels from your sound card (adapted with a 3.5 mm sterio jack at the PC end). Graphics cards with one or any of the above are very cheap these days, not having one is a poor excuse but may be a limiting factor for some who arn't confident in upgrading a PC themselves.
Posted by Spectre_01 about 1 year ago
RCA will look wack and not deliver HD so thats something else to keep in mind and getting a digital cable to go the distance will be costly.

So really the 'free' way CB speaks of is watching it in low res on a computer monitor not sitting back in your lazy boy chair and on your widescreen HDTV unless your willing to get a living room PC and do a 'little magical' wiring...
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
Oh i see so you are assuming everyones PC is a million miles away from a TV whilst also assuming a digi box is next to everyones TV.... A interesting yet highly inaccurate opinion.
As to the leads you mention...Dsub-Dsub, DVI-HDMI, HMDI-HDMI, RCA leads, with any modern equipment they are included with a graphics card or a monitor..... Again hardly magical EXTRA cables... 1 cable from a digi box goes to a TV (scart or hdmi) One cable from a pc goes to your LCD tv (normally VGA or dvi to hdmi).... My god how old is your TV and PC?
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote"No, I've looked all over I can't find the scart socket on my computer, can you tell me where it is ? Not all graphics cards have a composite or S-Video TV out, and even if they do, 50 foot long cables running through 4 rooms are not really convenient, not everyone has their computer and main TV in the same room. I don't know why I bother, are you being deliberately obtuse or do you not realise how dim you are coming across as ?"

LMAO at your old analogue connecting theory LOL.... Place hand in pocket and buy something which wasnt made 20 years ago ROFL
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
PC not in the same room??? Tell me how do you watch you BT vision content on another TV which isnt in the same room then huh???

Connecting a PC to a TV nowadays is no different to connecting a modern digi box to your TV.... A single cable.

If you have 1 BT vision box but wanted to watch that on a TV in another room you would have to move it just like you would have to move the PC... Quiet why would you want to pay BT for a vision box monthly when one cable from a modern computer to a modern TV will do the job.
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
Extension cables....... Oh pray tell please inform us all how someone connects their sky box or similar to a phone socket if there TV isnt near the phone socket?

Seriously your babbling on about having to buy an extension cable for a PC when in alot of cases people have to do exactly the same thing with digital tv services.
Posted by Spectre_01 about 1 year ago
CB you obviously have no idea how many peoples PC's are in different rooms, your assuming everyone setup must be like your own. I've seen alot of peoples homes and the PC is more offen then not in another room, the few exceptions are laptops and i've never seen a dedicated Media PC actually in use for its intended purpose.
Posted by Spectre_01 about 1 year ago
Most of your posts are nonsence but i'll answer this one:

"PC not in the same room??? Tell me how do you watch you BT vision content on another TV which isnt in the same room then huh???" -Wireless is how BTv installers sorted that and power socket ethernet adaptors for the self install. Moving the PC into the same room was never a requirement - just the homehub.
Posted by rasczak about 1 year ago
Spectre_01, there's no point continuing. Carpetburn has an idea in his head and once he does that then it must be right no matter how much proof there is to the contrary. It is just the way he is get used to it, the problem is making sure other's don't start believing the rubbish he spouts.
Posted by Spectre_01 about 1 year ago
You know your 100% right Rasczak, pointless to waste any more time on it.
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote""PC not in the same room??? Tell me how do you watch you BT vision content on another TV which isnt in the same room then huh???" -Wireless is how BTv installers sorted that and power socket ethernet adaptors for the self install. Moving the PC into the same room was never a requirement - just the homehub."
So you basically use the same equipment as what would be needed to watch TV from your pc in another room, you do know how to stream i assume?
Posted by Dawn_Falcon about 1 year ago
Carpet - freezing problems? Rare, and tou can just power cycle. The sort of crap you get on the PVR's you advocate, where an issue means no program? Oh wait, look, it is different!

And most PC's are not in the same room as the TV. Read up on your home economic surveys!
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote"Carpet - freezing problems? Rare, and tou can just power cycle. The sort of crap you get on the PVR's you advocate, where an issue means no program? Oh wait, look, it is different!"
Unless i forgot something what i said where did i say about anything freezing???
quote"And most PC's are not in the same room as the TV. Read up on your home economic surveys!"
Maybe you could point to a statistic to show that, cos the ones i read after a google say 58% of UK users have a PC and TV in the same room and 47% of those have connected or attempted to connect their PC to their TV... NEXT!
Posted by Somerset about 1 year ago
Interesting, do you have a link?
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote"Interesting, do you have a link?"

Ill wait for dawn to try to prove the so called economics claim most dont have a tv in the same room before i crush it like coffee beans.

Incidentally it also seems most peoples Main phone face plate just like their TV is also in one of the most popular rooms of the house, though i dont have a stat for that claim, i actually think i read that here about a couple of years back.
Posted by AndrueC about 1 year ago
Most PVRs have problems. I've been through four DTT PVRs and eventually settled on the Humax 9200T as the best of a bad bunch. Even that sometimes drops timers and needs reprogramming.

The only PVR I know that is 99% reliable is the Sky+. That isn't perfect but it's good enough to let me trust it rather than watching live.

But guess what - the Sky+ is part of a subscription service and is service provider specified. Funny that :)
Posted by AndrueC about 1 year ago
As for PC's in living rooms..it's an issue for a lot of people but there are ways round it. If you have a PS3 or XBox you can stream from the PC with relative ease. There are also quite a view network video streams on the market.

So I'd say that the truth lies in between you guys. For some it'd be impractical to use a PC to receive TV. For others, pretty easy. There's no way you can make a blanket statement either way.
Posted by rasczak about 1 year ago
AndrueC, exactly my point. It isn't rocket science to hook a PC to the TV to view these catchup services, but then again it may still be beyond someone, either technically or practically. The question is, is £3 a month worth it to get over the techical or practical issues. If, for you, it is then this is a welcome service. I may not need it, but my parents might, horses for courses as they say.
Posted by Somerset about 1 year ago
'Ill wait for dawn to try to prove the so called economics claim most dont have a tv in the same room before i crush it like coffee beans.'

That's really helpful!
Posted by CARPETBURN about 1 year ago
quote"That's really helpful!"

Im the person being accused of being wrong, I personally think it is helpful if they can prove it.
Posted by Somerset about 1 year ago
'58% of UK users have a PC and TV in the same room and 47% of those have connected or attempted to connect their PC to their TV

And how many succeeded? And were happy with the picture?

What did you search for to find these numbers? 47% seems high.
Posted by comnut about 1 year ago
Somerset: dont you know google????
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=opera&rls=en&as_q=how+many+have+TV+and+PC+in+same+room&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=100&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=y&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images
Posted by comnut about 1 year ago
Oops! another good reason to add a 'make link' comand...

Posted by comnut about 1 year ago
or try these..
http://omnivideo.wordpress.com/2008/10/24/do-you-connect-your-pc-to-your-tv/

http://active-tv.blogspot.com/2007/12/pc-pulls-back-from-living-room-tv.html

It is the same argument as why a lot DO NOT have a PC... too busy just scraping a living, caring for family, find life difficult enough without having to learn something else!!

And most families will put them in separate rooms to keep the kids OUT , to get a bit of peace...
Posted by Somerset about 1 year ago
The first answer on the Google link is..... this page!

The survey on another link is US based.

And maybe most people connect their PC to the TV to just use it as a big monitor for games etc.
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