4oD

Channel 4 have launched their full on-demand service on ntl: Telewest, it's branded as '4oD' to join the existing mainly BBC content. Every C4 programme viewed starts with a 4 OD animated logo into a clean version of the diner ident.

Pick of the Week is all free content from the last week of C4, and includes shows like Deal or No Deal, Countdown, Dispatches, Brat Camp, Goldplated, Hollyoaks, Madness of Boy George, Supernanny, Star Stories amongst others, all free to watch at anytime, with pause, ffw etc. (and all the ads have been taken out).

The TV Hits section includes loads of old C4 series in full, the first episode of which is free, and then 49p per additional episode. (Apart from US stuff Lost, Desperate Housewives at 99p !)

The video on demand service is the standout reason for having cable currently, mainly for the free stuff.

They are due to launch their online service too soon. Have they sorted out the issues with ads on the broadband simulcast yet?


On Demand is cable's strength at the moment - shows how limited the planned Top Up TV service really is.

Don't know how far Sky are off doing something via Sky Digital - I'm not sure they could launch a service like NTLs, but they would be able to do something similar to Top Up TV via Sky+ I'd imagine.


I assume then that as it's free the C4 stuff on NTL Telewest has some form of advertising!



Interesting though they have the rights to alot of old C4 series - so perhaps after all a "Gold4" type channel would be a realistic possibility as a replacement for Quizcall.

I can't see any free stuff myself. You go into the 'pick of the week' section which is supposedly free and every block of the alphabet smugly tells you there are 'no titles'

I can access the stuff ok, although some of the stuff you pay for are not up yet, as im aware off.

No, the Pick of the Week content is all free, and has had all adverts & sponsorship removed. I don't know if this will change but at the moment it's better to watch C4 via on demand than it is actually 'live' !

I guess the thinking is that getting people to use the free catch up service might lead them to some of the paid content.

All payed for and free content working fine for me. I suggest you reset your box unless it's not working in certain areas.

P.S. No idea what the situation is with radio on Cable, but with Channel 4 Radio being basically an on demand podcast type service, could they make the content available via 4oD?



P.P.S. If content is ad free then, are you paying an additional subscription for the "free" On-Demand service?

Nope, no additional fee as of yet. Ive just got NTL and im really impressed with the VOD. Especially the 4oD, lots of content there. The VoD is free, even with the Free pack they now do apparently.

Ive recorded it in action...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXLsxtPDFNc

No, the On Demand service is a free additional service, which you can choose to use if you wish. Some content yo have to pay for, and I think it's only the catch-up service which is free from both the BBC and Channel 4.

I'm going to watch Celebrity Wife Swap later as I missed it .

PVR + most programmes repeated on various channels multiple times over the week + only a limited range of free stuff = what's the point of this service?

All they'll end up doing is clogging up the bandwidth and slowing down people's internet access (as I'm assuming this'll be using the existing IP/broadband infrastructure).

My sentiments exactly. You are the only person other than myself who has agreed with me on this one. With a PVR, why bother? Why transmit 400,000 copies of one episode of countdown down the wire, when anyone who is so addicted to it they can't miss an episode could simply PVR it on a daily reservation, on its original transmission, with no bandwidth clog?

PVR manufacturers may as well go one step further and make a box which records EVERY programme that's on for say, up to a week, allowing the viewer to build their own schedule? Also this means the ads still get seen (even if they're FFWD'd, they still have a subliminal impact) so the ad rates can still be justified. "On Demand" to me waters this down, and adding this to the waste-of-bandwith issue, means it will only be a matter of time before watching ALL TV will be like BBC PARLIAMENT on Freeview, with a quarter screen, with MHEG or sub-picture elements around the side playing constant ad banners like on the internet, to make up for the fact that scheduled advertising does not work in an On-Demand environment.

I'm starting to wonder how exacylt this one works.

They could do a system whereby each programme is shown on a 15-minute rotation like PPV events, this at least would only be a little wasteful. Is that the way it works or is it genuinely on-demand?

Even so though, Mark you're quite right about the advertising -- if people know they can catch their favourite programmes whenever they want, advert-free, they're not going to bother watching, or recording live -- I know I wouldn't. Cue the implosion of broadcast TV as we know it.

Even having MHEG ads around the edges of the picture wouldn't work, as any decent TV worth its salt has an adjustable zoom feature now, and so do most DVD recorders. I've used this feature to watch BBC Parliament full-screen before from Freeview -- the picture quality ain't pretty but it's better than only seeing an effective 16" screen on an average living room set.

All very gimmicky and short-sighted if you ask me.

VOD is a more bandwidth efficient than using a PVR based system though. The cable companies can send countdown to just the 400,000 people that want to watch it but not the other few millions that don't. With the traditional broadcast model and a PVR that's what they do at 3:15 every day, a huge waste of bandwidth.

Say at the moment I have 200 hundred channels coming down the coax into my flat, I can only watch one at a time so that's the bandwidth of 199 full video channels wasted. With VOD, or an IP based system like Homechoice, they only need to send one video channel to each subscriber at a time.