Connected TV and Online Streaming – Page 9

networkonair Launches

Yesterday (29th July 2020) saw the launch of a new subscription online streaming service, networkonair, available in the UK and Ireland.

Priced from £3.99 a month, the service allows viewers to rent curated archive content from ABC Television, which was broadcast to the Midlands and Northern England from 1956 to 1968. Called ‘Nights In’, each curation lasts for 4 to 6 hours, and includes newly recorded links from David Hamilton, an original ABC continuity announcer. A selection of other series accompany to curated ‘Nights In’.

Users have 28 days to watch the content from purchase, with the content itself available for a limited time only.

Freeview Channel Changes

From tomorrow (29th July 2020), some Freeview services are changing.

Ketchup/Yaaas (streamed service on devices connected to the internet) will be separating, becoming Ketchup on the existing channel number, and Yaaas on channel 212. This returns Ketchup and Yaaas to their original format, prior to merging as one portal.

A new channel Country Music Entertainment, will be launching on channel 98, and will be a 24/7 country music service. This channel will be on the Greater Manchester multiplex, so coverage will be restricted to the Greater Manchester area, but viewers others parts of UK with internet connected devices can access the streamed version via channel 271*. The streamed version is also in HD.

The Freeview website also states that new channel Merit is changing the way it is broadcast. The change is unclear, but this normally means the service is switching to a different multiplex.

In most cases, a partial retune or add new channels function should make the necessary adjustments for these changes to take affect on your device, but a full retune may still be required in some cases. Some devices may adjust automatically. Consult your device manufacturer if unsure.

*Update (29th July 2020): Thanks to Country Music Entertainment for letting me know about the streamed version of the channel.

Global Expansion Planned for Britbox

BBC Studios and ITV have revealed plans for how the jointly owned streaming service is to expand globally.

The plans see the platform expanding to up to 25 countries, and seeks to expand the footprint of the service across Europe, Asia, Middle East, South America and Africa.

The service launched initially in the USA and Canada, before launching in the UK in November 2019, boasting the largest collection of UK boxsets. The service is expected to launch in Australia later this year (2020).

Disney+ Performs Poorly on Samsung TVs

A new study from enhanced TV agency Terravolt suggests that users are unhappy with the performance of Disney’s streaming service Disney+ on Samsung’s TVs with the Tizen operating system.

Among the issues reported are long loading times for preview images, jerky scrolling, and an un-intuitive keyboard which can over-complicated the log-in process.

The problems do appear to be isolated to the Tizen powered Samsung Smart TVs, although it is unclear whether the problems are caused by the TVs, or the Disney+ app itself.

Surrey Cricket to be Broadcast on Facebook

Surrey County Cricket Club have partnered with Facebook to broadcast the club’s home games on Facebook Watch for free. The matches will be available on the clubs Facebook page.

The first broadcast is today (22nd July) with the London Cup between Surrey Women and Middlesex Women. Matches in the NatWest T20 Blast and the one-off Bob Wills Trophy will also be shown.

The tie-up provides an alternative way of cricket fans to enjoy the action, with matches currently being played behind closed doors to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Netflix Sees New Subscriber Surge

Thanks to global lockdowns, Netflix has seen a surge in subscribers. In the three months to July, 10.1 million new subscribers joined the service. So far, there have been 26 million subscribers for 2020 as a whole.

Compared to 2019, Netflix saw 28 million new subscribers across the whole year. 2020 looks set to exceed this. However, the company has warned that new subscriptions will slow, particularly as lockdown restrictions ease.

Netflix is an on-demand streaming service, with shows including Tiger King, Ozark, and Bank Heist proving popular during lockdown.

Pluto TV Joins Virgin Media

Pluto TV has joined Virgin Media, allowing users to access the on demand service through a dedicated app on the V6 box. It has not been confirmed if the service is available on the previous generation Tivo boxes.

Pluto TV is owned by ViacomCBS, and is a series of thematically created streamed TV channels, many created around a particular series. The service can be accessed on a wide variety of platforms.

Full details of the Pluto service can be found on the dedicated page here.

New Codec to Cut Streaming Data Use

A new video encoding standard, H.266, has be unveiled, and promises to cut data use by at least a half. Negotiations and development have taken 3 years.

The codec, also known as Versatile Video Coding (VVC), should make it possible for slower internet connections to stream in higher quality, as well as paving the way for streaming services to offer even higher quality 8K content.

The longer term aim us that cameras and smartphones will be able to automatically play and record footage in the new format. However, this will require new chips to be developed.

H.266 has been designed to half the bit rate required, when compared to the current H.265 standard. H.265 uses half the bit rate of its predecessor H.264, with the latter still widely used.

DAZN Enters Beta Test Phase

Pay per view service DAZN has resumed plans for an international roll out, which has been delayed since 2nd May 2020 due to the current worldwide circumstances.

The first stage of the roll out is a beta testing stage, which is to begin with the boxing match between Vergil Ortiz Jr and Samuel Vargas on the 24th July. Access is being made free of charge to registered users.

As yet, no full launch date for the service has been announced.

BBC Premier League Record, Success for Hamilton on Disney+

Attracting a peak audience of 5.7 million, the BBC has set the record for the most viewed Premier League game with their broadcast of Southampton vs Manchester City. The previous record was set by the Manchester United and Manchester City derby game in 2012, which was viewed by 4 million.

Although not normally a rights holder for live premier league games, the BBC is showing 4 games live due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Disney’s switch of the release of the musical Hamilton to its Disney Plus platform appears to have been successful, with data from Apptopia showing the app had been downloaded 513,323 times over the July the 4th weekend. The recording of the Broadway musical was scheduled for cinematic release.

Additionally, there have been 71.5 million worldwide downloads of the Disney Plus app since launch. This figure excludes India or Japan, where the service has been integrated into existing apps.