BigPond to offer SBS TV programming by download

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 27 March 2007 10:34

Your IT - Home IT

Telstra's ISP, BigPond has struck a deal with SBS to make SBS TV programming available for download.

Initially the service is restricted to a single programme, the new comedy series 'Wilfred' that follows the adventures of a cantankerous canine and his unlucky-in-love mistress Sarah.

Interestingly the downloads will be available in advance of the free to air broadcast: three hours after the broadcast of each weekly episode, the following episode in the eight week series will be available for download, advertisement free, from bigpond.com, at a fee of $2.95. For BigPond customers there is a 20 percent discount and the download will not eat in to their monthly quota.

"This is the first time SBS has offered paid-for downloads of its broadcast content," Richard Finlayson, SBS director of commercial affairs, said "SBS, along with Renegade - the producers of Wilfred, want to give Wilfred the widest possible distribution. We recognise that technology is shifting the time and place of media consumption and this deal is a great opportunity to better understand the future of consumer preferences."

An SBS spokeswoman told iTWire that SBS would probably make additional content available if this initial foray was a success. Unlike the ABC, SBS does not offer any video content via its website, but the spokeswoman said the site was undergoing a major overhaul and vide would likely be a feature down the track.