BBC Broadcast signs three-year 'Teleport' deal with Telewest Broadband

BBC Broadcast will be working with Telewest Broadband to make it possible for millions of digital TV viewers to watch movies and programmes just like a DVD following the signing of a three-year deal with the broadcaster to provide encoding and navigational services as well as ‘barker channels’ for its new TV-on-demand service, Teleport.
The deal will see encoded programmes made available on the Teleport service that are ready to broadcast on the digital platform and the provision of navigational information for these programmes that will allow digital viewers to search for programmes that interest them.
BBC Broadcast will also make content and media plan ‘barker channels’, which are promotional channels that provide viewers with information and trailers about programmes on the service – used by a broadcaster as a marketing tool.
Teleport is a revolutionary new service for Telewest Broadband’s digital TV customers. The new service does not require any extra equipment and access to the service is included with all the cable company’s digital TV packages. Teleport gives subscribers a large variety of movies and programmes that they can watch on-demand and which can be controlled in a similar fashion to a DVD.
BBC Broadcast will schedule and create barker channels that will promote all aspects of the Teleport service, including Teleport Replay, which allows subscribers to search for popular programmes from the last week, and Teleport TV, enabling viewers to search for a wide range of TV series, documentaries and children’s programmes.
Viewers will also be able to ‘instant purchase’ from the barker channel through one click button on the remote control.
Philip Snalune, director of product management and marketing at Telewest Broadband, said: “Teleport puts the viewer in control of the TV schedule and, with BBC Broadcast’s barker channels and search facility, it will be a truly intuitive customer experience.”
In addition to promoting the service through barker channels, BBC Broadcast will also ingest and encode all the programmes that will be available on Teleport TV, allowing them to be played out on Telewest’s platform. Metadata will also be created for these programmes that will capture a programme description and genre based information allowing viewers to easily navigate to the programmes they want to watch.
Pam Masters, Managing Director BBC Broadcast, said: “I am delighted that BBC Broadcast is able to deliver these valuable services to Teleport viewers. BBC Broadcast’s unique skills and world-class infrastructure enables Teleport viewers to find the programmes they want to watch and really interact with the service."
(SP)