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BBC News: A free satellite television and radio service from the BBC and ITV is being launched across the UK.

Freesat is available to 98% of homes, including those that are unable to receive Freeview through a TV aerial.
It will carry 80 digital TV and radio channels, including free high definition programmes, with that number due to rise to 200 by the end of 2008.

Users will make a one-off payment for a dish, set-top box and installation, but will not pay a monthly subscription.

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The Register: The UK’s top broadcasters have fessed up to working together on a single system for distributing TV online. ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC’s commercial tentacle said today that they aim to launch the joint service on an unspecified date next year.

Details are scarce in yesterday’s announcement, but we’re promised “an exciting collection of over 10,000 hours of the very best of the UK broadcasters’ current and archive programming”. We’ve known about the project, codenamed “Project Kangaroo”, for some months now. The launch name hasn’t been revealed yet.

A Channel 4 spokeswoman said it will likely be similar to 4OD, where catch-up streaming is free, and download to rent or own are paid for. She said the existing 4OD PC client offering will be superceded by software built for the new system.

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Engadget: While details on this one don’t seem to be completely fleshed out just yet, whispers are that the BBC could be working with ITV, Channel 4, and potentially other players in the future to bring about a “download service that would pool TV content” from the major UK broadcasters.

Currently, there’s a swarm of on-demand offerings from just about every major broadcaster (4OD, for instance), and this collaborative effort would essentially do for VOD what a prior agreement did for digital TV in Britain.

Reportedly, the download service would be built around a P2P infrastructure of some sort (at least initially), but it was noted that it could expand into a “digital TV service” in the future.

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AV Zombie: The prospect of free-to-air high definition TV broadcasting in the UK moved forward this week with the announcement by the BBC that it plans to launch the Freesat platform early 2008. The venture has been approved by the BBC Trust and will be conducted as a joint venture with ITV.
The proposal is for as many as 200 TV channels to be available, most in standard definition but a selection in high definition, all without the need for a subscription. A range of reception equipment will be made available, both SD and HD, receiver only and PVR. (…)

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TechDigest: Apple iTunes may begin selling TV shows to Europe from the spring, according to Luxembourg’s economic minister Jeannot Krecke, who said that Apple had been in talks with Luxembourg authorities for several months.

“Apple is going to extend its electronic retail activities in Luxembourg by launching this coming spring its iTunes video platform for the sale of videos in Europe,” Krecke told Agence France Presse.

And in other iTV news, the BBC is looking to make a little history today possibly becoming the first traditional TV station to offer all of their programming on demand and over the Internet.

The BBC’s new iPlayer service will lets viewers watch all of the BBC’s programmes from the previous 7 days, and even lets them store shows on their PC for up to 30 days. A final decision approving the service will be made May 2nd.

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DotGizmo: Introducing Apple TV: a media extender that basically makes it possible for you to acces your iTunes content on any modern display (HDMI, DVI or component video connection is required).

You can use either a wired or wireless network and either a Mac or a PC.

The extender has a built-in 40GB drive that can store up to 50 hours of video.

The unit will start shipping in the States during February for $299 (around €230).

See more at Apple.com

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Apple’s latest big move, a device code-named iTV, has divided the technology world…

BBC: Apple hopes people will buy the gadget to get the movies and other media they buy from the iTunes store via their PC on to other devices around the home – especially the TV. (…) Analysts, Apple advocates and industry watchers are divided on whether Apple can buck this long-standing trend. By launching a movie-download service and accompanying hardware it is taking on many more competitors than it did with iTunes and the iPod.

(…) “It made a success of those despite being late to launch an online music store and portable music player”, said Ian Fogg, senior analyst at Jupiter Research.
(…) Analyst Aleksandra Bosnjak from research firm Ovum said the movie download market was getting so crowded that there were bound to be casualties. “There are too many players and too many contractual co-dependencies for all to survive,” she said.

(…) For Apple, making a success of selling the iTV box is critical to its future prosperity. This is because Apple needs people to enjoy their digital media – be it images, music or movies – on the company’s hardware. Apple makes little money on the sales of songs via iTunes. It makes far more from iPod sales.

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Engadget posted pictures of the new products and services Steve Jobs announced today. Biggest surprise being “iTV”, the Apple home entertainment device that will ship early 2007. It looks like a small Mac mini and features wireless networking, USB, HDMI, component video and several audio connections.
We can’t spot a slot for DVD, HD DVD or Blu-ray discs and it is unclear if these devices will have an internal hard disk for recording?

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