Advanced Television

Catch Up

BBC Trust: iPlayer doesn’t favour Apple

The BBC Trust has said that iPlayer updates do not prioritise iOS. In a document published online, the Trust said that it found no evidence to suggest iOS had been “unfairly favoured”. The watchdog was investigating a complaint suggesting that certain features were implemented on the iPhone operating system before Android – primarily the ability […]

May 31, 2013

STBs trump Smart TVs for catch-up

New data from MediaBug – Decipher’s bi-annual media tech tracker – have revealed that in homes in which both a Smart TV and a VoD enabled STB are present, an overwhelming 73 per cent choose to access their catch-up TV through the STB. The main reason given is ‘quick to access’, which highlights a key […]

May 30, 2013

Thatcher funeral third most watched iPlayer stream

Margaret Thatcher’s funeral on April 17th was the third most-requested live TV programme ever on the iPlayer, with nearly 823,000 requests for real-time viewing of the event. It was topped only by the London 2012 Olympic games in terms of viewer numbers. The funeral received a total 986,000 clicks, meaning that 163,000 people requested it […]

May 28, 2013

iPlayer on Windows Phone 8

The BBC has confirmed that the BBC iPlayer is available on Windows Phone 8 devices. The application – consisting of a shortcut to the mobile optimised website, live tile and media player – can be downloaded for free from the Window Phone Store. 
The application will enable users to catch up on their favourite BBC […]

May 15, 2013

ITV Player on Samsung devices

ITV has entered an exclusive fixed term partnership with Samsung to offer the new and improved ITV Player app on the manufacturer’s Android devices. The ITV Player app will be available on a range of Samsung Android tablet and smartphone devices, including the new Galaxy S4, the Galaxy Note 8.0 and the Galaxy Mega, whilst […]

May 9, 2013

Sky leads catch-up, Netflix leads VoD

Decipher has published its quarterly audit of VoD on the major UK DTV platforms and OTT services. One of the key changes in the landscape of UK VoD in the last six months has been the introduction, and then the rapid growth, of catch-up content on Sky. This was historically an area that Sky was […]

May 2, 2013

YouView rolls out software update

New software for the YouView Humax box is now available for retail and BT customers and will be rolled out over the next two weeks. The software will be available on Talk Talk YouView boxes shortly afterwards This software introduces a number of enhancements and new features: – An enhancement to searching for programmes that […]

April 23, 2013

iPlayer tablet views overtake mobile

More TV viewers watched BBC programmes on a tablet computer than a smart phone for the first time in March with 200,000 more views on iPlayer via tablet than phone. The BBC said the landmark was driven by TV shows, rather than radio – proving that tablet computers are rapidly becoming the second screen for […]

April 19, 2013

YouView launch ads banned

ASA, the UK advertising watchdog, has banned YouView’s launch ads after agreeing with Virgin Media that claims the service was ‘unique’ and the ‘easiest’ were false. The ads had run on TV and in the Radio Times. The claims objected to included: “YouView is the easiest way to watch catch-up TV, on your TV” and […]

April 17, 2013

Viewing of free-on-demand TV content up 40%

Rentrak has released its State of VoD Report 2012, which includes four years of VoD analysis from Rentrak’s OnDemand Essentials service. The report shows that the total time spent viewing free-on-demand television content in the US increased by over 40 per cent in 2012 compared to the previous year. Rapidly increasing numbers also show that […]

April 17, 2013