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ITV.com Discussion Thread

New ITV Player launches with pay mechanism (January 2006)

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FI
fishyfish
GMc posted:
fishyfish posted:
Is this it? No live streaming of ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3?

And what about The Bill? Doesn't that come under soaps? I thought the new itv.com would be every single show that ITV shows on TV?


This is only a preview, as has been said. I really don't like the big space between the itv.com logo and the actual nav bar. It's too empty.


Preview? So the new site will be launched later today? Or am I wrong in thinking this is the 12th, the launch date?
LO
Londoner
fishyfish posted:
Preview? So the new site will be launched later today? Or am I wrong in thinking this is the 12th, the launch date?

They have said that it will be rolled out section-by-section, starting today with Soaps.
PA
pad
fishyfish posted:
GMc posted:
fishyfish posted:
Is this it? No live streaming of ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3?

And what about The Bill? Doesn't that come under soaps? I thought the new itv.com would be every single show that ITV shows on TV?


This is only a preview, as has been said. I really don't like the big space aetween the itv.com logo and the actual nav bar. It's too empty.


Preview? So the new site will be launched later today? Or am I wrong in thinking this is the 12th, the launch date?


Presumably not. I assume now they will launch everything under preview.itv.com then when it's all up, remove the old stuff and move it to the main itv.com directory.
CW
Charlie Wells Moderator
Am I imaging things or did http://www.itv.com/page.asp?partid=7785 previously say "May 2007"? as the page now reads "Summer 2007". Personally I think they would have been better saying 'summer' to start with, instead of pushing back the launch and instead ending up with it being via a preview sub-domain for now.

It makes sense for them to set up the new site on a separate sub-domain, as there's probably a lot of old stuff which needs clearing out and the content management system might not be able to cope with two different systems running. I guess it allows for a fresh start, I certainly prefer the new URL system instead of the old 'partid' setup. I just hope they improve support for the new video player, else their main new feature will be rather restrictive.
FI
fishyfish
It won't let me obtain the media usage rights for the player - anyone else having the same problem? Just get a 'page cannot be displayed'...
DA
David_02
It won't allow non-IE users to view content? Makes the whole thing rather pointless then - I can't stand IE and only use Firefox.
DB
dbl
Looks like it's going to be DRMed, since you have to install something in order to view. Rolling Eyes

I'm going to not like this new site so much now.
DJ
DJGM
dbl posted:

Looks like it's going to be DRMed, since you have to install something in order to view. Rolling Eyes

I'm going to not like this new site so much now.


As I posted in this thread six weeks ago . . .

I posted:

pad posted:

A quote from that page:


Soon, you will be able to watch your favourite programmes live on TV – all for free.

The new itv.com will be the most comprehensive commercial broadcaster website,
with live streaming of our channels plus an exclusive 30-day Catch Up service.


Could be good, as long as they don't infect the video content with Digital Restrictions Management,
and they allow it to be viewed by everyone from the start, not just those with PC's running WMP10+
on Windows XP, unlike BBC iPlayer.


So much for wishful thinking. ITV's possible use of DRM, coupled with the "IE only" issue simply confirms one thing.

ITV bosses = braindead corporate *******.

I'll re-iterate something else I said that day . . .

Since they're planning on streaming all of ITV's output, the only area where they'd need to put any sort of DRM in
place, is for any content made by major 3rd party producers, usually the likes of major Hollywood studios, and
the recording industry. In which case, instead of using DRM, any such content would not be streamed at all,
and replaced either by a suitable "not available" apology caption, or alternative content to fill the gaps.

Homegrown content made by ITV itself, such as good ol' Corrie, absolutely does not need to be DRM'd at all.
AS
Asa Admin
The good?
Sensible URLs, live streaming

The bad?
Windows only is pretty bad but restricting it to IE is woeful - if it's need to be Windows Media there's a plugin for Firefox, isn't there?
Currently all streamed channels are showing the apology caption! Surely Trinny and Susannah could be shown.

The ugly?
The design. A world away from anything decent and almost exactly like the current design.
PA
paul_hadley
Some of my thoughts on the new preview site...

- Why are they using Windows Media for the videos - What's more easy and compatible than Flash? YouTube has the right idea - Why has ITV built a new site with videos playable only in Windows Media Player?

- I like the "proper" URLs for the pages now.

- The gap between the itv.com logo and the Sign in/Register bit - Why the gap? Can't the advert and the logo be on the same line as the Sign in text?

- White background - What happened to the sheek looking black background we were originally going to get?

- I notice the Sign in/Register option - Perhaps you can choose your own theme when you sign in (colour scheme, etc) - although, I doubt it.

- New site looks a lot more "21st century" than the current one (albeit with Windows Media Player streaming).

- Not all that easy to find the Live Streaming options for ITV1/2/3/4 - Why not have the logos "clickable" at the top (maybe they will be when the full site launches) which could take you to the live channel.

Overall, it's not too bad - Just needs some tinkering. Smile

Just tried sending some feedback via http://preview.itv.com/feedback - but it just brought up this error - "Failed to send to database. Please try again later."
PA
paul_hadley
Asa posted:
Windows only is pretty bad but restricting it to IE is woeful - if it's need to be Windows Media there's a plugin for Firefox, isn't there?

Firefox add-on - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419
FI
fishyfish
Surely they're allowed to show Britain's Got Talent?!

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