ABC Internet catch-up service heads to new Sony TVs

ABC's iView service will soon be available on Sony 2010 Bravia range of televisions and Internet-connected Blu-ray players. iView is already available via an Internet-connected PlayStation 3.

ABC is one of three Australian stations to offer content over Sony's recently launched Bravia Internet Video IPTV platform, along with SBS and Channel 7.

iView is an on-demand service that allows users to watch shows broadcast on the ABC online for a limited amount of time. The Australian broadcaster has recently added closed captioning for shows on iView, and will premiere the first episode of the new Doctor Who series at midnight Friday on iView before it is broadcast on Australian free-to-air television.

All iView content on Bravia TVs and Blu-ray players will be metered (counted towards the user's download quota), even if the user is subscribed to an ISP that has an existing agreement with the broadcaster. ABC did not respond to replies for comment at time of writing. 

iView content is currently unmetered by service providers including Internode, iiNet, Adam Internet, iPrimus and AARNet.

The Bravia Internet Video capability, offered on selected Sony 2010 Bravia TVs and Blu-ray players, gives users access to YouTube as well as content from local partner Yahoo!7, SBS, Billabong and now ABC. While the platform is capable of displaying 1080p content, existing content will only be offered at a maximum resolution of 720p.

The move comes as the IPTV battle begins to heat up, with content providers, service providers and consumer electronics manufacturers all attempting to take a slice of the emerging market. While TPG has packaged a primitive form of IPTV with its Internet services, competing ISP iiNet is set to launch the FetchTV service, with unmetered access to per-view high definition movies, documentaries, entertainment and news for $30 a month. Telstra has also launched a competitor to the TiVo box and its own Foxtel service, while it is set to offer BigPond TV video-on-demand in Samsung's forthcoming 2010 television range.

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