itvt

–NBC Universal’s PictureBox Service to Launch on BT Vision

BT Media & Broadcast, which is part of the UK incumbent telco’s
Global Services division, says that it has developed a digital content
store, based on its BT Mosaic service, for the UK’s largest commercial
broadcaster, the Independent Television Network (generally referred to
in the UK by the acronym, “ITV”). The store allows ITV to offer its
vast television library on-demand to Internet users and other
broadcasters, and thus enables new business models to supplement the
broadcaster’s staple of advertising revenues. Once ITV’s content is
digitized, BT says, the BT Mosaic service lets the broadcaster quickly
edit its programs in file format for distribution to consumers across a
range of networks and devices. In addition, the company claims, the
service will allow ITV to provide other broadcasters with access to its
programming archive, enabling those broadcasters “to respond to trends
in their own markets and edit programs that fit with their local customs
and laws.” “BT Mosaic will enable ITV to reinvent its channels to
market to reflect the way consumers–and other broadcasters–interact
with content both in the UK and globally,” ITV’s technology director,
Richard Cross, said in a prepared statement. “The BT-developed
content store is the core platform that will enable ITV to flourish in the
new, globalized, digital world. BT worked collaboratively with ITV
and invested significant time and effort in developing this innovative
service, and we are excited by the prospect of working together to give
new audiences worldwide access to years of ITV’s high-quality
television.”

BT claims that its service architecture features a user-friendly workflow
interface which makes management of complex, multi-function
technologies simple, protects investment against future shifts in
technology, and integrates into ITV’s wider business processes to
ensure that HR, legal and commercial considerations become more
streamlined. To date, BT has digitized 20,000 ITV programs: those
programs–which include cult series like “Inspector Morse” and “The
Saint,” and specially edited features like “The Cold Feet Guide to
Parenthood”–are already available on ITV’s Web site.

In other BT news:

• The company has signed a deal with NBC Universal that will see it
  launching the latter’s PictureBox SVOD service on its
  Microsoft-powered IPTV service, BT Vision (currently has around
  200,000 subscribers), on May 5th. The service, which is also available
  on the UK’s Top-Up TV and Tiscali TV platforms, will offer 28 titles at
  any one time, including new-release and library movies from NBC
  Universal and other content providers. Films covered by the deal
  include “Atonement,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “The Constant
  Gardener” and “King Kong.” “I am delighted to have reached an
  agreement with NBC Universal to make the PictureBox service
  available on BT Vision,” Marc Watson, BT Vision’s commercial
  director, said in a prepared statement. “PictureBox represents a
  significant development for BT Vision, and we are confident that the
  combination of current and library titles, refreshed on a regular basis,
  will prove highly popular with our customers.” (Note: according to a
  report in the Hollywood Reporter, NBC Universal plans to launch an
  SVOD service, dubbed TV Box, that will be devoted to its TV
  programming. Belinda Menendez, NBC Universal’s head of
  international TV, told the publication that the new service–which like
  PictureBox will be marketed internationally–will be the “television
  version” of PictureBox.)

• Earlier this year, the company signed a deal with Disney-ABC
  International Television to bring a range of the latter’s current and
  classic TV series to the BT Vision platform. BT said that the deal
  would make over 650 episodes (of such shows as “Lost,” “Desperate
  Housewives,” “Ugly Betty,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Ghost Whisperer,”
  “Dirt,” “Alias” and “Criminal Minds”) available for rental on the
  platform in a post-DVD window. The programming is available either
  on a pay-per-view basis or as part of BT Vision’s £6-per-month TV
  Pack and £14-per-month Value Pack offerings.