Yesterday marked the launch of FreeviewPlus to New Zealand, an exciting new service that gives 3.6 million viewers across the country the ability to tap into content that combines the ubiquity of broadcast television with the flexibility of on-demand viewing powered by Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) technology.
With the FreeviewPlus service, those with compatible TV sets or set top boxes will now be able to access more than 600 on-demand shows and movies, view a TV guide across multiple channels both eight days forward and backward for catch up on-demand content, and have the ability to search content by genre and title.
At the same time, broadcasters will now have greater control over their content delivery, streaming analytics, and ability to seamlessly deliver advertising with on-demand television content.
We’re excited to have worked with all three leading free-to-air broadcasters in New Zealand to get this service up and running and into New Zealand households. Not only does it mean that TVNZ, Mediaworks, and Māori TV are tapping into the knowledge that Brightcove has gleaned from HbbTV rollouts for every commercial free-to-air broadcaster in Australia, but it provides TV viewers with a consistent user experience across channels, which is something that is vital to ensuring significant adoption of the HbbTV service.
HbbTV really is the future of television.
Speaking of the future, we will be speaking and exhibiting at The Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) conference once again this year in Sydney. The conference is always an exciting glimpse in the future of film, television and the world of content at large.
I will be speaking about what HbbTV means for broadcasters, the challenges and lessons learned during the Australian rollout last year, and the opportunities that lay ahead for those content players and providers with the foresight to seize this brilliant technology.
My colleague, Mark Stanton, Technical Director for ANZ, will also be at SMPTE15 to talk about how broadcasters and video players can work smarter in the digital realm with their existing content.
If you’re heading down, make sure to visit the Brightcove booth at B-42 on the exhibition floor, from 14 to 17 July 2015 at the Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries.
Learn How Brightcove Powers HbbTV with Video Cloud