Tiscali Turns Homechoice Into Tiscali TV
Telecoms giant Tiscali has today launched its Tiscali TV service, following the acquisition of Homechoice’s IPTV service last summer.
Over 40,000 Homechoice subscribers will today become Tiscali TV customers, able to access the offer of broadband plus TV for £14.99.
For the launch, Tiscali TV has secured major deals with Film4 On-Demand and 4oD to offer their on-demand content to subscribers. 4oD content including programmes such as Grand Designs, Shameless, You Are What You Eat and Black Books will be offered as part of Tiscali TV’s ‘Big Pack’ subscription. 4oD US series such as Lost, Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty will be available on a pay-per-view basis, costing 99p an episode.
Tiscali TV has also added Channel 4 content to its ‘Replay or Catch-up’ service allowing subscribers to watch selected Channel 4 content up to seven days after broadcast for free.
As part of the launch, Tiscali TV’s first original commissioned content will go live on the pre-school channel, Scamp, whilst the service has also signed a major deal with Playboy TV UK to offer a selection of its adult channels.
Tiscali TV is currently available in London and Stevenage but will be available outside London in Birmingham, Edinburgh and Newcastle during April and May, and in areas of Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool by mid-year.
By the end of 2007, Tiscali says its TV offering will be available to over 10 million UK homes. The roll out will continue through 2008 and the TV service will be available to Tiscali’s entire unbundled local loop network by the end of 2008.
The Tiscali TV pack offers consumers over 30 digital TV channels including all of the free digital channels from the BBC, Channel 4, Five and ITV, including E4, BBC Three, fiveUS and ITV2.
Its ‘Replay or Catch-up’ service allows subscribers to watch over 80 hours of key Channel 4, BBC and FX programmes up to seven days after they have been broadcast, and access to a further 100 hours of on-demand programming including complete series of Dr Who, Friends, Sex and the City and Prime Suspect.
Tiscali TV is free to all subscribers who buy the 2Mb broadband product in Tiscali TV enabled areas. Subscribers can also access over 1,000 movies on-demand to watch instantly with prices ranging from £1.99 to £3.49 per movie.
The Italian-based company claims to be offering the UK’s best value ‘triple play’ package. For £19.99 the customer will get 2Mb broadband, the TV pack, line rental and free weekend telephone calls.
The company will also launch a new set-top box in July 2007, with a 160Gb, HD enabled PVR, allowing subscribers to record any shows they choose and watch in HD if they have an HDTV.
“Tiscali TV will give our subscribers real value for money, choice and flexibility – things that are core to our brand values,” said Mary Turner, chief executive of Tiscali UK.
“We believe there is a real gap in the market for our TV product. The success of Freeview has shown that customers want more than five channels but don’t necessarily want to pay a high monthly subscription. Our TV service gives customers broadband plus the channel choice they want and free on-demand programming, all for the price you would pay for a standard broadband connection.”
Tiscali: www.tiscali.co.uk