Press release from ABC
2011 will see a rapid expansion of Australia’s favourite catch-up tv service ABC iview, with the launch of a free iPad app, and a joint project with Samsung Electronics Australia to bring ABC iview to its range of internet-enabled televisions and Blu-ray players.
The catch-up TV service has also had a rebrand, with a fresh new contemporary look.
The launch of the ABC iview app for iPad has been highly-anticipated throughout the year – and will give users access to more than 160 programs in December, from ABC1, ABC2, ABC3 and ABC for KIDS, live streaming of ABC News 24 and iview exclusives.
Features developed for the app include a Watchlist – which allows users to bookmark series to follow, sending a push notification alert when new episodes become available; and support for AirPlay – which allows users to play video over WiFi directly from an iPad to an Apple TV.*
In addition, an ABC iview app for iPhone is in development for 2011.
The launch of ABC iview on Samsung’s IPTV service is slated for the first quarter of 2011.
The service will give access to the full range of ABC iview content, directly to all Samsung televisions and Blu-ray players that offer Samsung Apps via Samsung’s Internet@TV service.
“We’re delighted to be working with ABC TV to deliver to our customers all of its great on-demand content through the ABC iview app,” said Brad Wright, CE Group Product Manager, Samsung Electronics Australia.
“Samsung Apps is the world’s first TV apps store and allows users to enjoy a broad range of content and applications at any time, all through their TV.
From an ever growing range of games and reference apps, through to communicating with friends via Facebook, Twitter or Skype apps, the arrival of ABC iview signifies our continued focus on growing local on demand TV content we can offer Samsung customers.”
Director of Television, Kim Dalton says the phenomenal growth of ABC TV’s online broadcasting service this year reflects Australia’s growing love affair with all things digital.
“2011 will be the year of mobile television in the truest sense.
"Audiences now expect choice and ABC TV is setting the national benchmark in delivering it to viewers. We have a wonderful slate of programming for 2011, and through ABC iview, it will be the most accessible content in the country.”
ABC iview has more than doubled in useage since the beginning of the year with the average monthly unique browsers this year increasing to 595,000 (235,000 last year) and visits increasing from 708,000 to 2 million.
ABC iview’s traffic peaked in August with 793,000 unique browsers, 2.4 million visits and 3.2 million plays of programs. (Webtrends) The top programs in November were Rake, Spooks, The IT Crowd, QI, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and Good Game.
ABC TV’s Controller of Multiplatform, Arul Baskaran, says the vision for ABC TV is simple – to be the most relevant source of screen content on all platforms.
“With a focus on public value and access, our strategy is to how best to use these platforms to offer more choice to our viewers and best complement our TV content.”
ABC TV is currently developing out of the browser versions of ABC iview so that by the end of 2011, it will be available on the leading manufacturers’ internet-connected television services.
ABC iview can also be accessed online, through Sony’s IPTV and PlayStation3 services.
Download the free ABC iview app here – http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/abc-iview/id401778175?mt=8