BBC’s interactive video venture goes live

The BBC has launched its live HD-quality video player, which allows users to pause and rewind live TV and provides interactive information to viewers.

After a period of beta testing, the player has been given the green light ahead of the London 2012 Olympics, for which the BBC is the exclusive rights holder in the UK.

Live video will be offered from each Olympic venue during every day of the Games, with a total of 24 streams available to viewers at any given time.

Senior product manager, Alex Perry, said: “We wanted to take this opportunity to build a video player that would offer the best possible desktop video viewing experience to do justice to that incredible breadth of live content and would also provide a lasting legacy to BBC Online and our audiences in the years to come.

“That means making the video available in high definition and then enhancing it with some extra functionality that in terms of added choice, rivals anything you would have experienced before while watching sport on your TV.”

The new BBC player also provides alerts for key moments that may have occurred or could be imminent to ensure nothing is missed by viewers, across the 24 simultaneous live streams.

It also has an information database for individual athletes, guides to specific sports and match statistics.

The beta trial took place during Formula 1 races and Euro 2012 fixtures, and features of the new service are available on a variety of platforms, added Perry.

“You can watch our video player on your desktop computer and certain tablets that support Flash. On mobiles and iPads you will be able to watch the video but without the extra functionality.”

Read the full Advanced Television article here.