IBC 2009 – Amsterdam. Ioko, the technology aggregator behind the Sky Player online video platform, is to make the service available to other broadcasters within the News Corp group.
Sky Player combines catch-up TV with a selection of channels from the Sky programming packages. Available channels include Sky Sports, Sky Movies, Sky News, History, National Geographic, GOLD, Eden, MTV, Sky1, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
The news comes just days after Erik Huggers, the BBC’s director of future media and technology, told IBC delegates that the BBC would make its iPlayer technology available to broadcasters overseas, in the wake of James Murdoch’s criticisms that the BBC too often acted to distort the broadcasting marketplace.
“The offerings are very different. The iPlayer is for public service broadcasters that don’t have concerns about monetising their content,” John Griffin, chief sales and marketing officer, Ioko, told Broadband TV News. “This is a proposition for pay-TV platforms”.
Ioko will shortly upgrade the existing Sky Player platform to allow subscribers to set recordings for their Sky+ receiver. Although the facility is already available through the web, Sky Players brings the additional functionality of being able to view shows online. The long-awaited Xbox service, also powered by Ioko, is expected to go live within the next few weeks and is being demonstrated on Stand 1.D26.
