Video Breakthroughs

A backwards-facing EPG may not be unique but it is rare and the seamless movement between broadcast and on-demand programming sets YouView apart from nearly all other Connected TV platforms. It is a hugely powerful concept and Richard Halton, CEO of YouView, demonstrated how easy it is to go backwards in time, click on a show and launch an on-demand session. A day/date timeline at the top of the guide and shading are used to distinguish the past from the present/future.

For the BBC, YouView is considered a good investment. “We have a track record of investing in platforms that make cutting edge technology available to as many people as possible,” Mark Thompson, Director General at the broadcaster, declared. He pointed to the clarity and simplicity of the YouView offer as defining features, plus the sophistication of the technology and the enormous amount of content that will be available. “This is a very compelling platform and the BBC is proud to be a part of it,” he added.

With YouView just around the corner there should be a sharp focus on hybrid broadcast broadband (HBB) services in the UK next year, and if the marketing is anything like as successful as it was with Freeview then the concept of on-demand content on TV, and backwards facing EPGs, should become well understood by many more consumers. But YouView is far from being the only game in town and it could even face competition from the existing free-to-air (FTA) platforms in terms of attracting those viewers who primarily just want some catch-up TV content or even some specialist linear channels on their living room set.

It is widely expected that the ISPs behind the YouView project, TalkTalk and BT, will provide set-top boxes to their broadband customers, which is a logical extension of the model BT already uses to bundle BT Vision (hybrid Freeview DTT and IPTV) with existing services. And while YouView could represent a good value alternative to Pay TV, or provide a toe in the water for free-to-air homes that want some additional content, it still has to force its way into a market that is well catered for in terms of the primary service on offer: free-to-air linear TV.