In a blog post detailing how it plans to make iPlayer available to audiences on other platforms and devices, the BBC has revealed that its on-demand service will be launched on Freesat later this month.
The long-awaited arrival of iPlayer on the free-to-air satellite service will be welcomed by viewers, with the BBC expected to increase the quantity of high-definition content available on Freesat by offering HD streams of selected iPlayer programming.
Speaking on the BBC's Internet Blog, Rahul Chakkara, controller of TV platforms at BBC Future Media and Technology, states that he expects a beta of BBC iPlayer to be made available to capable Freesat devices "by the end of November".
BBC iPlayer will be delivered to Freesat viewers using the MHEG-5 standard that has helped broadcast interactive services for a number of years. The BBC adds that its R&D team, working together with the Digital Television Group, has extended the MHEG-5 standard to use an interaction channel for handling internet video - the resulting standard has been dubbed MHEG-IC (MHEG-5 Interaction Channel) and is used in both Freesat and Freeview HD set-top boxes.
