The service will launch first on Virgin Media’s TiVo® service as part of the innovation partnership* agreed between the two organisations to create next-generation TV experiences. BBC Connected Red Button will be rolled out to other internet-connected TVs over the coming months.
BBC Connected Red Button enables you to:
BBC Connected Red Button arrives in around 1.2 million Virgin Media TiVo homes today and will be available on other internet-connected TVs over the coming months. With new functionality and features added to the service over time, Connected Red Button will redefine how audiences watch, engage and interact with BBC content on their TV.
The BBC has over 13 years of experience developing and evolving its red button services, which have brought viewers closer to the action at major events like Glastonbury, Wimbledon and Formula 1. BBC Red Button now attracts an audience of 20 million per month, peaking during this summer’s Olympic Games, where 24.2 million viewers watched up to 24 live streams via the red button.
With predictions that by the end of 2016 there will be almost 22 million connectable TVs installed in the UK, and that over 50 per cent of UK TV households will have a connectable primary set – either directly or via a set top box**, BBC Connected Red Button will give viewers even more reason to connect their TV, and provide a platform to make BBC TV, radio and online content more interactive and engaging in the future.
Daniel Danker, General Manager, BBC Programmes and On-Demand, says: “With today’s launch of BBC Connected Red Button, the BBC is seamlessly bringing the Internet together with live TV, while making the technology completely invisible. This is red button reinvented, and the beginning of the exciting future of television.”
Victoria Jaye, Head of IPTV & TV Online Content, says: “With BBC Connected Red Button, we’re starting with the TV audience who love our broadcast output and we’re curating online content on the big screen in ways that add value to their TV viewing. The audience can sit back and relax – the internet just made TV better.”
Cindy Rose, Virgin Media Executive Director of Digital Entertainment, says: “The BBC understands as passionately as we do how important connected television is for home entertainment. We’re delighted the BBC is working with us to launch another milestone in interactive services. Our commitment to this partnership of innovation means Virgin Media TiVo customers are the first to experience the latest interactive services at the press of a button.”
Notes to editors
* The partnership between Virgin Media and the BBC has already delivered full integration of BBC iPlayer into Virgin Media’s TiVo Service. BBC catch-up programmes are, as a result, even easier to access through the search, menus and EPG, made possible by the openness and flexibility of the TiVo platform. More information on the partnership here.
** Source: 3 Reasons LLP, Autumn 2012. This number projects sets technically capable of connection; numbers of actual connected sets will be lower, depending on broadband penetration, consumer behaviour etc.
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