[LINK] Aunty puts five new channels online
stephen at melbpc.org.au
stephen at melbpc.org.au
Thu Jul 24 16:47:58 AEST 2008
Aunty puts five new channels online
Miriam Steffens July 24, 2008
http://www.theage.com.au
ABC viewers can now watch television online, with the launch of an
internet platform that streams five new ABC channels onto computer screens.
The service, called ABC iView, enables viewers to catch up on some popular
programs they might have missed and to watch the latest news bulletins.
It also has a children's cartoon channel, a documentary channel and ABC
Arts, with At The Movies, Painting Australia and other programs.
The digital push is designed to increase the ABC's audience. Its managing
director, Mark Scott, said he wants to triple the broadcaster's number of
TV stations and radio services over the next 12 years to increase
Australian content and cement Aunty's place in the digital media age.
The ABC's head of television, Kim Dalton, said: "As Australians spend more
time online and increasingly get some of their entertainment and
information via broadband, we want the ABC to be there."
The network's existing stations, ABC1 and ABC2, are not streamed online,
and it previously offered downloads of only some of its most popular
programs.
iView, which is modelled on the BBC's iPlayer service, is available to
households with a high-speed broadband connection.
The site delivers full-screen content through an in-built video player, so
users can watch the channels or select programs and create their own TV
schedule.
The service is free, but there are hidden costs. Program streaming guzzles
up internet bandwidth, so viewers could breach their download limits and
be charged extra fees by internet service providers.
Mr Dalton said the ABC was "very aware" of the problem and would warn
users of the file sizes they were about to watch.
He said the broadcaster was trying to convince internet providers to
exclude ABC channels from download limits and by last night iiNet had
agreed.
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Cheers people
Stephen Loosley
Victoria, australia
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