BBCi World Cup (non)interactive on DTT

Anyway agree that the BBCi world cup interactive service is the most non interactive service ever made?

It's basically nothing more than 2 extra channels, the 'interactivity' is just a little menu to change between them and BBC1. They didn't even wrap it inside a BBCi text service, it just evokes a channel change on the box. I know this is the only way you could change out of BBC1 because the other two channels are on SDN, but once you are on 701 surely there should be a little MHEG service wrapped around it enabling you to change to 702 without your box consiously changing channels (I'm talking about the way BBCi text allows you to change between BBC channels from within the service). And then they could have made some other text based information such as stats and tables available from within the service.

As it is, I don't see why they made a big ho-ha and hyped it as a BBCi branded interactive service when they might just aswell have told you to change between BBC1, 701, and 702 because that's all you can do.

I haven't seen the Dsat version yet, but it looks much more like such a service should look. Once again DTT is the poor relation when it comes to interactivity - I don't know why they bother trying to pretend that DTT can support interactive TV because, outside of replacements for 'analogue' teletext service, it really can't cut the mustard.

They had around a month to pull this together so I think it's fine. What more do you want? Whatdid you expect?

I'm dead happy.

But the BBC had been planning a 'World Cp Channel/Service' for a long time.

Do people have nothing better to do than complain?

On the one hand you criticise the BBC for its poor DTT interactive service, yet you then go on to explain precisely why this is by saying that DTT is not really adequate to support multistreaming for interactivity.

Consider yourself lucky for the fact that the BBC bothered to offer an interactive service on DTT at all. They know as well as you do that multistreaming on the current single multiplex is hardly the most practical way to run an interactive service, but at least they have tried to provide some kind of extra service for all those poor, stupid ******* who bought an ONdigital/ITV Digital box.

If you don't like the BBC's digital terrestrial interactive efforts, then go and buy a dish or get cable. If you can't, or don't want to, then I suggest you try and be happy with what you've got, because it's more than the BBC has to give you anyway.

Honestly, some people don't know how lucky they are...

cwathen:

Think yourself lucky that you have got any sort of additional World cup service at all on DTT.

Telewest version is very simillar to yours on DTT. It's not ideal where the 3 extra feeds are on Channel's 951, 952 and 953 on my Digital platform rather than ideally through the red button on BBC One like on Sky. But it's certanly better than a text Based service all us non-Sky subscribers have been used to while Sky has had all the interactivity.

I'm not being picky here, but shouldn't that sentance read "Anyway agree" :

I think that's what it says...

I think what you meant to type (both of you!!) was "anyONE agree"

Not interactive, apart from the interactive 8-9 hour every day where you can ring in ...

You have to be glad of all the things they have given TW cutomers though:

Red buton on games - commentary, highlights etc
3 Extra streams on Channels 951-3
And Digital Text

It's quite a lot compared to what we get and is excellent!

They've done really well considering the time they've had to set this up. And they were attempting to do it before ITV Select finished by getting it to close down during matches, obviously out of prime time, but that would mean we wouldn't get match replays and stuff.

I think it's brilliant that they've gone to the effort. I don't know whether it's strictly possible to have the channels "hidden" so they can't be selected manually (although it does help those with Pace boxes), but I'd much rather do it through Press Red than a sort of disclaimer saying "poor sods with DTT have to select the channels manually rather than the swish system satellite have".

I'm not disputing the quality of the channels, I'm simply saying, why do they feel the need to pretend it's an interactive service. It might say BBCi but it's NOT interactive, it's just 2 extra TV channels.

They know as much as we do that DTT is not a serious interactive platform, and yet rather than admit this and say 'we have 2 extra TV channels on DTT' they still feel the need to be all arty farty and say 'we have a BBCi interactive service on DTT'.

Personally, I think plugging 2 extra channels would've sounded better than plugging it as interactive on DTT anyway.

If someone said 'The beeb are providing 2 extra TV channels for the world cup on DTT' and someone else said 'The beeb are providing a cut down interactive service on DTT' which sounds better to you?

It was just a general observation that I think the term 'interactive' is used far too readily, and in this case inappropriately used.

they call ANYTHING on digital interactie and you know that fine well.

At least there is video, it's a lot better than normal (think CBeebies Interactive!)