UK incumbent telco, BT, has signed an agreement with Video Performance Ltd. (VPL), a UK music industry organization that licenses the broadcast and public performance of music videos. The company says that the agreement will enable customers of its planned IP VOD service, BT Vision, to access hundreds of music videos from independent record labels (note: the indie sector currently accounts for around 25% of the UK’s music video output). The videos will include videos from cross-over artists, such as The White Stripes, and hard-to-find and classic videos that seldom receive airplay on traditional television. In recent months, BT has signed deals for BT Vision with three other providers of music videos and music-related content: Warner Music, i-concerts, and Eagle Rock. "Broadband is exciting because of the richness of services it delivers," Dan Marks, CEO of BT Television Services, said in a prepared statement. "This agreement with VPL means that BT Vision customers will see cutting-edge music videos. There will be a fantastic choice from over 900 independent labels, such as Beggars Banquet, Sanctuary, XL recordings and Gut that will be offering BT Vision customers a diverse range of videos from the likes of The Raconteurs, Basement Jaxx and The Pixies. These will be brought to customers on-demand, in the comfort and convenience of your own home and all available nationwide with no mandatory subscription."
BT has also signed content deals for BT Vision with BBC Worldwide, National Geographic Channel, HIT Entertainment, Nelvana, Endemol and the Cartoon Network (note: the latter two companies are expected to develop interactive content for the service). Last month, it announced that it had secured the rights to carry 242 FA Premier League soccer games per season on the service. BT Vision–which is expected to launch in the fall, following trials that are scheduled to begin in the spring or early summer–will be based on Microsoft TV’s IPTV Edition middleware and on hybrid digital terrestrial/IPTV set-top boxes from Philips, that will have a hard drive, capable of storing up to 80 hours of programming and that will be capable of delivering high-definition video. The boxes will include a DTT receiver, because BT is positioning the service as a supplement to Freeview, the UK’s free-to-air DTT platform, rather than as a standalone pay-TV service (its content will be offered on a pay-per-view basis, rather than via a monthly subscription). The boxes will work in conjunction with a new device, called the BT Hub, which will support wireless networking and allow up to five different calls to be made in a household simultaneously, using VoIP technology. According to the BT Vision Web site, the service will allow consumers "to use instant messaging, chat and video telephony all through your TV. You’ll be able to control your BT Vision service via the Internet whenever you’re online," the site promises.
In related news: Eric Abensur, head of broadband at telecommunications provider, Orange UK, has confirmed to the UK newspaper, The Guardian, that his company plans to launch a service similar to BT Vision later this year. The service will be based on a broadband-connected set-top box with an internal hard drive, and will offer VOD, seven-day catch-up TV, and linear channels from Freeview.
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