ONdigital Teams With BBC For Internet On TV

A system which allows viewers to click straight from programming or advertisements to the internet, while a TV picture remains in the corner of the screen, is under development by ONdigital. The company has recruited e-business consultants Rubus to help design the infrastructure of the portal, while BBC Resources will help design the look and feel of the service.

The system will use boxes described as “around the size of a large paperback book.” ONdigital chief executive Stuart Prebble says it will offer “The easiest and most cost effective way of getting onto the internet: no dish, no cable, no computer. Simply a television and an ONdigital subscription.”

The box will connect initially using a conventional telephone line and 56k modem, but ADSL capability will also be built in. Availability of the box, the brand name of which is yet to be revealed, will initially be restricted to ONdigital subscribers.

This is not the first time BBC Resources has collaborated with ONdigital, as it helped create the look, branding and website of the ONrequest joint venture pay per view service (see ONdigital’s PPV Service Unveiled).

ONDigital: 020 7819 8000