The BBC continues to extend its reach onto new platforms – a move that began with its vast and comprehensive website, and which gave a huge boost to online TV streaming in the UK with the launch of its popular iPlayer service that is widely available across phones, tablets and even consoles.
Today the corporation has announced the launch of a new platform for its globally renowned BBC News division, making its services available through the growing range of internet-enabled TVs.
The initiative was first announced several months ago and since then BBC teams have been developing the new service that will bring video packages to the big screen as well as being able to browse text news stories if desired. Although the full range of video available on the BBC News website will not be available through the TV service, video clips and packages will be chosen from the BBC’s considerable regional, national, and international news resources.
The product will launch first on Samsung’s web TV platform, moving to other systems in time, and will only be available to UK television license fee payers. The BBC has worked closely with Samsung on developing this first version, but is seeking to work with other manufacturers to expand the availability of the product, which is built in HTML, but designed for big screen viewing and navigation with a TV remote control.
The launch of this new product is part of an overall BBC vision called ‘connected storytelling’, which is summed up as ‘one service, ten products, four screens’. Having already established a presence on the web, phones, and tablets, today’s launch strengthens the BBC’s presence on the TV which was previously only available through the Wii and PlayStation 3.
Multi-platform access to services is increasingly important to broadcasters and other content providers: Last week Sky announced that it would be making its channels and content available to its ten million customers on computers, mobiles, and tablets free of charge.
Image and source: BBC News
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