In the future, TV will come to your telly using broadband, dishing up on-demand content alongside live shows. All for free, and all in high quality. At least, that’s what the BBC is planning.
It’s just announced its partnership with ITV and BT to “promote a common industry approach and consumer offer to deliver on demand TV over broadband”.
The long and short of it will be the development of a standard system for broadcasting telly over the internet. It means manufacturers will be able to make TVs and set top boxes that suck shows from the web, acting as a sort of next-gen iPlayer.
The plans include provision for HD too, so it’s pretty future-proofed.
ITV executive chairman Michael Grade announced the move, saying: “This proposal will bring catch-up from the PC to the TV set in your living room, and all for free. This makes convergence a reality. It will also future-proof our free-to-air platforms, Freeview and Freesat. We are delighted to be working with the BBC, BT and other ISPs to bring this idea to fruition for viewers.”
So it’s all systems go for next-gen telly then. Assuming the plans get approval from the last hurdle: the BBC Trust.
TBC | £free | BBC (via Pocket-Lint)
