Advanced Television

Catch Up

Gavin and Stacey sets iPlayer record

The Gavin and Stacey Christmas Day special has become the most watched scripted programme of the past 10 years as more than a quarter of the UK’s population has now watched it. The sitcom’s festive episode – the first new episode in a decade – initially drew 11.6 million viewers in the overnight ratings, and […]

January 3, 2020

Freeview Play nears 7m users

Connected TV service Freeview Play is marking the end of 2019 by claiming to be Britain’s fastest growing platform with almost 7 million users and over 9 million devices capable of receiving Freeview Play already in British homes. Freeview also reports a significant growth spurt for Freeview’s mobile app, launched earlier in 2019, which has […]

December 23, 2019

BARB plans reporting enhancements

The Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) – the organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom – is planning a number of initiatives for 2020 better to reflect changing methods of viewing. Justin Sampson Chief Executive, BARB, says the body will start the new decade by making decisions about which research […]

December 19, 2019By Colin Mann

Killing Eve biggest iPlayer show of 2019

The second series of spy thriller Killing Eve has taken out the competition to become BBC iPlayer’s biggest series of the year. The Golden Globe-nominated continuing battle between Eve and Villanelle achieved 40.4 million requests on the iPlayer catch-up service, over 10 million requests more than the next closest series. Police thriller Line Of Duty’s […]

December 18, 2019

Research: YouTube views overtake iPlayer

YouTube continues to dominate as the most watched online video service in the world, according to Q3 2019 research from Ampere Analysis. The Google-owned video portal is the most watched service in every country except China ( where iQiYi leads). For the first time since Q1 2016, YouTube attracted more viewers than BBC iPlayer in […]

December 17, 2019

iPlayer glitch hits Samsung TVs

A software glitch is preventing the BBC’s iPlayer app from running on many of Samsung’s smart TVs. Affected owners are being advised to download a software update, but the patch does not work on some older models – reportedly models released between 2o11 and 2015 – which will have to wait until the new year […]

December 12, 2019

Zappware powers A1 Bulgaria advanced TV

Bulgarian multiplay telco A1 Bulgaria has launched A1 Xplore TV, an advanced TV user experience powered by Zappware’s video back-office: an end-to-end solution. A1 Xplore TV viewers will be able to find and enjoy content easily through the Zappware Nexx 4.0 user experience. “Our goal is to constantly offer innovative services to our customers to […]

December 3, 2019

Planet V addressable ad platform from ITV

UK commercial PSB ITV has unveiled its new addressable advertising platform – Planet V. The fully programmatic, premium advanced advertising platform will launch at the beginning of 2020. Planet V will allow advertisers and agencies control over the purchasing of their campaigns across ITV’s premium VoD service, the ITV Hub, allowing them to optimise and […]

November 12, 2019

BBC, Sky content and technology partnership

Sky and the BBC have agreed a new partnership that will see the two broadcasters collaborate across content and technology. As part of the wide-ranging partnership, the BBC iPlayer app and connected red-button service are launching on Sky Q, Sky’s next-generation TV platform, offering Sky customers the full BBC iPlayer and red-button experience. Sky viewers […]

November 11, 2019

Report: ‘Streaming the new normal’

The latest quarterly State of Streaming report from global streaming media intelligence specialist Conviva reveals that time spent streaming continues to climb – up 53 per cent year over year – as consumers embrace on demand videos (63 per cent of all streaming viewing is on demand) on their TVs, PCs and mobile devices. This […]

November 5, 2019