BBC Red Button

Appears that the new internet powered Red Button service is to be launched tomorrow, from within the iPlayer branding online and on most recent Connected TVs.

The BBC has launched Connected Red Button, reinventing the BBC’s hugely popular red button service for the future by effortlessly bringing TV, radio and online content together in the simplest possible way.

The service will launch first on Virgin Media’s TiVo® service as part of the innovation partnership* agreed between the two organisations to create next-generation TV experiences. BBC Connected Red Button will be rolled out to other internet-connected TVs over the coming months.

BBC Connected Red Button enables you to:

Watch programmes from BBC children’s channels, BBC Three and BBC Four anytime - day or night – even if the channel is off-air
Effortlessly catch up on previous episodes of the shows you love and discover new gems
Get closer to the latest sporting action, with more streams, clips and content from your favourite events
Immerse yourself in news and weather headlines and clips that matter to you, when you want them, all at the touch of a button


see here ……..

MEDIACENTRE on BBC.CO.UK
04-Dec-2012 @ 12:07

What about the rest of us who are watching on CRT televisions with 5-6 yr old connected set-top boxes from Argos - do we get a new Red Button service also?

If they're happy to deliver all red button content online why don't they do the same with radio and then release the bandwidth for one more video stream for the vast majority of viewers who don't have the couple of brands of Smart TV which actually can pick up the service.

I had a play with it on TiVo earlier and it looks quite neat, it can be a tad sluggish but the concept is good, the iPlayer bar is onscreen straight away, and then when you flip into News, Sport and Weather it goes into thumbnail mode for the stories, overall it isn't too dissimilar to iPlayer on iOS.

Be interesting to see if content is produced for the new service in the same way - or whether it becomes just a way of accessing existing content (currently produced primarily for the web) on an alternate platform.

Hopefully the Freeview/Freesat variants will be decent quality video (including 50Hz interlaced content left 50Hz and not converted to 25Hz).

Sky's "closed" platform certainly delivers excellent picture quality - though it's a download rather than streaming service.

Right, so you complain that you can't receive the new service on your old box, but want radio removed from Freeview and only available on the new boxes to the detriment of all other viewers just so that you can have a dull red button video stream? Let it go.