Telly addicts
BT has inked a deal with the BBC to bring its successful iPlayer VoD service to BT Vision.
BBC iPlayer will be gradually rolled out over the next 5 months, starting in early December, with all BT Vision customers able to access the service by April of next year.
Once complete, the service will be accessed by selecting BBC iPlayer from BT Vision's programme menu. The iPlayer branded app will eventually replace content on BT Vision's existing 50-hour 'TV Replay' package, which offers a small selection of BBC TV programmes, according to BT.
Daniel Danker, BBC general manager for programmes and on demand, said: "October was a record month for BBC iPlayer with a total of 139 million programme requests on computers, TVs and mobiles. Over 20 million of those requests were delivered to TVs. Licence-fee payers love the option of enjoying BBC iPlayer's high-quality experience and vast choice of programmes on the living-room TV, and we're delighted to be able to bring the service to BT Vision."
BBC iPlayer on BT Vision will be delivered automatically as a service upgrade over customers' internet connections. From the point iPlayer starts to be rolled out in December and until the BBC iPlayer application is available to all, all BT Vision customers will be able to enjoy the selected 50 hours of BBC programmes available within TV Replay for free.
However, the ‘BBC Hits' package of classic BBC programmes, made available on commercial terms from BBC Worldwide, remains unaffected by this partnership, BT said.
