The BBC has announced that trials to provide iPlayer through Freesat boxes will begin at the end of the month. As the popular service increases its distribution across a number of platforms, a BBC spokesperson said that whilst only a limited number of trials would commence this month, 2010 would see the full launch of the service on all Freesat HD boxes allowing for greater television viewing experience.
Making the announcement on the BBC’s official internet blog, BBC’s head of TV platforms, Rahul Chakkara, revealed alongside news of the upcoming beta trial, that watching iPlayer through Virgin Media now accounted for almost a quarter of all use. Becoming available on the Virgin Media platform in June 2008 he said that 200 million programmes had now been watched since the service launched.
Whilst plans were unveiled for the roll-out through HD ready Freesat boxes Mr Chakkra also responded to problems that have been seen through games console systems. Whilst iPlayer is available for viewing through both Sony Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii games consoles, the latter has experienced a number of problems. Adapting the iPlayer code for viewing through TV across a range of platforms had been “a challenge” he explained. “This is a fast changing and evolving industry. Many of our assumptions will be challenged with time. We will keep coming back to the products and update them where appropriate,” he wrote on the blog.
