TVSquad

UK residents can already watch any show that's aired on the BBC over the last 7 days using the broadcast service's iPlayer software. Now the BBC plans to go one step further by offering a live stream of BBC One content on the internet.

The new service will be available sometime in the next few months and will be available only to viewers in the UK. You'll also need a broadband connection and you'll have to pay the same £139.50 annual license fee that you pay to watch television in the UK.

Critics have complained that it will be difficult for the BBC to make sure that viewers are actually paying their license fee, which means that television owners could wind up subsidizing free content for people who watch programs on their computers but do not own a TV. Right now there's not a huge number of people trading in their televisions for computers, but then there are aren't very many TV stations providing all of their content for free over the internet.

Ever since it was first demonstrated that you could control the Netflix "watch now" interface from Windows Media Center, MCE plugins for Netflix have been populating like bunnies. There are now three different plugins that let you browse or search your Netflix queue and watch movies all from the comfort of your couch.

Missing Remote has an in-depth look at vmcNetflix, MyNetflix, and NetflixMC. And it turns out that not all Netflix plugins are not created equal. Some are Vista only, while others will run on Windows XP Media Center Edition. Al three have attractive interfaces and most of the features that you'd expect. But only one vmcNetflix supports Windows Media Center Extenders like the Xbox 360.

If you're looking for Windows XP MCE support, NetflixMC is pretty much your only option for now. And if you're looking for support for media extenders, vmcNetflix is the way to go. But if you're looking for a more detailed overview, you should check out the full article at Missing Remote.

There is an interesting little bit over at the NY Times about research the Disney-ABC Television Group is working on. That research involves inserting multiple commercials into ad breaks for the online versions of their prime time shows. Well, you had to see this one coming, right?

It's understandable that they would want to increase the revenue from the medium. Just as it's understandable that if it's a success we'll see the other networks follow suit. But, they do need to be careful that they don't chase those fans they do have away by annoying them. Although, admittedly, I would not be one to complain about more Rachel Specter commercials.

Startup ZeeVee announced its new set media streaming device, the ZvBox today. Unlik the Apple TV, Windows Media Extenders, or pretty much any other set top box designed to let you watch PC and internet content on your TV, the ZvBox works with your home's coaxial cable network. In other words, you plug the ZvBox into your PC so it can use your internet connection, and plug the other end into a spare cable jack. It will find a TV channel not currently used by your cable provider and allow create a new HD channel you to tune in to on any TV in the house to access the ZvBox service.

So what content can you access? Pretty much anything you can watch on your PC, including YouTube, Hulu, iTunes, BitTorrent, and Netflix content. If your PC has a DVD player, you can access that. If it has a TV tuner, you can use ZvBox to watch live TV.. on your TV. Or more to the point, you can set up a PVR in the bedroom and watch recorded shows on any TV in the house -- assuming you have cable in each room in the house. If you're in a bunny-ears only household, the ZvBox might not be the best solution.

The ZvBox (plus the ZvRemote control and Zview software -- they like the letter Z) will be available in June for $499.

Yesterday we talked about NBC's plans for video-on-demand around the world. Today, we have news of their plans for getting all of their nutty fans together online. Possibly. It should be noted that the information comes from an anonymous source, known only to us as "NBC Insider," but after getting a look at the screenshots, they look highly believable.

What we're talking about is the NBC Viewing Party. In a nutshell, the service will allow fans to open a chat room and watch an episode at the same time, all synced up and everything. It's done with flash, so it should play nicely with Mac OS and Windows, and is reported to work in Firefox, IE, and Safari.

If you're like me, you probably get annoyed when you roll down your window and your beard blows up in your eyes... And if you don't have a ridiculous beard, but are still like me in your appreciation for a good teen drama, this might be relevant to your television scheduling.

It seems the overlords over at the CW have hatched a new plan. The last five episodes of Gossip Girl, set to begin on Monday, will not be available for online streaming. I know. OMG! Right? I'll pause while you text your BFF. Over at the New York Times, Paul McGuire, senior VP of communications for the network, is quoted as saying, "This is an experiment to see if this moves the [Nielsen ratings] needle at all."

Hulu is almost the online video site I've been waiting for for years. It features a broad selection of content that's actually worth watching from major networks and studios. The video quality is pretty good. If the company could sign a few more partners and start posting entire seasons, not just a few episodes at a time, I'd be in heaven.

But that's because I live in the US. For TV fans in any other part of the world, Hulu is a non-starter. When you try to visit the page from another country you're typically greeted with an error message. But this morning Emily Turretini of WatchingTV Online discovered that she got a new message telling her that Hulu is working on "legal and business" deals to bring the service to other countries.

Users can also sign up to receive an email alert as soon as Hulu is available in their area.

[via NewTeeVee]

Tired of looking at that empty spot next to your TiVo, Windows Media Extender, Apple TV, and Xbox 360? Blockbuster's got just the thing -- another set top box capable of streaming internet and downloaded video.

There aren't many details about the box yet, but Blockbuster is reportedly set to announce it later this month. The box will offer hardware to compliment software the company already owns. Blockbuster acquired Movielink last year. The service provides users with the ability to rent or purchase digital movies which can be downloaded to a computer.

But PVR Wire readers aside, most people don't have their televisions connected to their computers, so a set top box seems like a good idea. You know, until you count up the other set top boxes you've got lying around. As Dave Zatz points out, it would probably make a lot more sense for Blockbuster to develop technology that would allow the company to send video to existing devices like a TiVo, video game console, or even a network enabled DVD player.

If online video service Joost were to fall in a forest and nobody was watching, would it make a sound? Wait, no, that's not right. What I meant to ask is, if Joost stops streaming videos outside of the US, will anybody care? It looks like we're about to find out, because that's exactly what Joost plans to do.

The streaming video platform that was supposed to change the way we watch television really hasn't. While more and more people are watching videos online, it's not particularly clear that many of them are using Joost to do it. In the UK, the BBC iPlayer has gotten a lot of attention for providing residents with the ability to watch any program that's been broadcast in the past seven days. And in the US, Hulu provides viewers with a chance to watch many TV shows and movies from Fox, NBC, and other content partners.

Apparently Joost has decided to pull out of the international market and focus solely on the US, because that's where the majority of its users are at the moment. But with a lackluster content library, and few high profile content partners, I think it might just be a matter of time before Joost folds completely. To make matters worse, I think Joost overestimated the consumer demand for a non-browser based online video solution. Flash and Silverlight have made it easy to not only embed videos in web pages, but to allow users to click a button and watch those videos full screen.

When all is said and done, I think that people like to watch TV on their TV sets, not their computers. While there's a growing number of ways to watch full length TV shows and movies online, I really wish it was easier to make those existing services work with Windows Media Center and other media center applications designed to bridge the gap between computer and television. If Joost had focused on media center integration or set top box software, maybe the company would have had a chance. But if I can't watch my videos from 10 feet away with a remote control, I'd rather visit Hulu in a web browser than launch a standalone application that gives me access to hundred of videos I don't really want to watch.

Update: It looks like a spokesperson for Joost denies that the company has any plans to layoff employees or go US-only.

[via Mashable]

Almost a year ago, Flash developer Paul Yanez put together a web-based application that looks and feels like Joost, but displays online video from other sites like YouTube, Veo, and MySpace. But if you want to actually watch Joost content, you still need to download and install a standalone application to access Joost's peer to peer network. There's no web player... yet. But Joost CEO Mike Volpi tells Portfolio Magazine that a web based player is in the works.

It's not entirely clear at the moment how the player will work, or how Joost hopes to set itself apart from other services like YouTube or Hulu. The former has the lion's share of the online video market, while the latter has a much wider selection of popular full length TV episodes and movies than Joost. But considering the fact that only 6 million people have downloaded and installed the Joost client, while more than 10 million people watch YouTube videos every single day, it's clear that Joost had to do something.

What do you think, is Joost grasping at straws here? Or does the company's recent test of live streaming video and its plan to launch a browser-based player make sense as a competitive business strategy?

[via Silicon Alley Insider]

Online video platform Joost is may offer full length TV episodes, but Joost is more of a video on demand service than a live TV service. But that could change, starting today. NewTeeVee reports that Joost will offer live streaming video of the NCAA's March Madness tournament.

Personal video recorders are changing the way people watch scripted television shows and movies. But for the most part people like to watch sports and other live events, well live. The odds of taping Lost and then walking down the street the next morning only to have the plot spoiled by a front page newspaper story are fairly slim. But that's exactly what happens if you record last night's basketball game with plans to save it until the weekend.

So while video on demand is absolutely the right business model for most online video, the ability to provide live streams of some content seems crucial. Now let's see how many people actually turn to Joost instead of, you know, a television set for their March Madness coverage.

[via NewTeeVee]

Online video site Hulu officially launches tomorrow. The site which was founded as an online content distribution clearinghouse for NBC and News Corp TV shows, movies, and clips, has added a ton of content partners over the last few months. And when it emerges from private beta tomorrow, there will be a few more, including:

• Warner Brothers
• Lionsgate
• NBA
• Wine Library TV
• NHL
• CNet
• MGM

All told, the site will have a few dozen content partners, about 100 movies and full length episodes from about 250 TV shows.

I've been relatively impressed with Hulu so far. The video quality is good, and it's relatively easy to find the content you're looking for by searching or browsing. But as the content library gets larger, I'd like to see Hulu improve its site navigation a bit or browsing is going to become nearly impossible.

[via NewTeeVee]

I'm still not convinced that there's a huge market for set top boxes that let you use your TV to access content from the web and computers on your home network. I'm not saying these little boxes aren't cool, I'm just not sure people are clamoring to pick them up. But if you're looking for a media streaming device there's no lack of selection. There's the Apple TV, a whole slew of Windows Media Extenders, and you can even use an Xbox 360 to watch content from your PC running Windows Vista.

But in terms of feature for the price, it'd be hard to find a better bargain than the new Popcorn Hour A-100. This $179 box supports YouTube, Flickr, Shoutcast, BitTorrent, and a slew of other internet protocols. It can handle MPEG 1/2/4, WMV, H.264, MP3, AAC, and WMA audio and video files in addition to most standard image and subtitle formats.

The box itself has S-Video, Composite, HDMI, and Component outputs, and 2 USB ports for plugging in an external hard drive. There's no hard drive included. There's also no WiFi support. You'll need to connect the A-100 into your home network via the Ethernet Jack, which will probably do a better job of streaming HD video anyway.

[via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Showing why the issue of streaming and download revenue for television programs is so important to the WGA, this report details that online viewing of network primetime shows is up a staggering 18% over last year. That total now accounts for 43% of the total population, or nearly 80 million people. And of those 80 million, 20% say they watch online weekly. God knows I do. There's only so much time at night when I'm at home, so it's nice to be able to spend my lunch hour watching Prison Break or Brothers & Sisters online.

In this "On Demand" era, the idea that we can watch shows anywhere we can get an internet connection (Hi there, Starbucks!) at any time just makes sense. And hey networks, once the strike ends, why not stream your entire primetime lineup rather than just some of it? And With 16 million people watching programs weekly online, what does that do for the ratings of those shows? How is all this new media going to be properly tracked?

Here's a suggestion for weathering the writer's strike: check out some international TV content. MiraWorldTV is a Windows Media Center plugin that lets you browse through a nice long list of internet TV streams and watch them from the comfort of your couch.

The application is quite well designed and integrates beautifully with Windows Vista Media Center. You can browse TV streams by category, country, or mark your favorite channels for easy access later. When you click play, MiraWorldTV will attempt to load up your video stream in the background. Or you can choose to play the video in fullscreen mode.

The only problem with MiraWorldTV is that the plugin developer has no control over the content. And that's kind of a big problem when it comes to usability. Some of the video streams are high quality and look great in full screen mode (on a standard definition TV anyway), while others look like they're optimized for dialup connections. And some of the streams we couldn't get to play at all.

Content ranges from Discovery Channel nature documentaries to BBC World News with some Japanese pop music videos thrown in for good measure. I can't guarantee you'll find something worth watching, especially since there's no electronic program guide. But if you're tired of complaining about how there's nothing to watch on TV, MiraWorldTV might be worth checking out.

[via Missing Remote]