The BBC have said that services like their iMP (integrated media player) could "revolutionise broadcasting". The comments were made as the corporation reported back on a four month trial of its new TV download platform, which allows viewers to download copies of recent BBC shows and watch them on their PC.
5000 people took part in a trial of the new platform between November and February, with participants watching an average of two shows a week via the service - increasing their weekly viewing by an hour. Perhaps unsurprisingly shows like Eastenders and Little Britain were watched the most, although a number of more niche BBC 3 type shows also fared well, suggesting a TV download platform might help boost the exposure of newer or more alternative programming.
The pilot also showed that a lot of online viewing took place between 10pm and 11pm, ie after the traditional peak viewing slot for normal TV, which is 7pm-10pm, which either suggests people visited their PCs between their TV viewing and bedtime, or they normally struggle to find anything to watch in the news dominated hour that follows peaktime.
Further tests of the iMP platform will now take place before dates are confirmed for a wider roll out of the service.