We reported back in October that BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) would follow its Xbox carriage deal by taking its live and VOD TV on to the Fetch TV-badged IPTV boxes made by IP Vision.
Now here’s the first grab from the app IP Vision is beta testing and which it says will be rolled out within two months…
Little-known Fetch TV is hardly major-league distribution for Sky’s channels. But Sky is unable to do true pull-VOD on its main satellite Sky+ HD box until it begins offering download via their Ethernet ports later this year. So Fetch, Xbox, Windows Media Centre, the web-based Sky Player and smartphone apps are each part of a multi-pronged approach.
The Sky channels Fetch viewers can get with mirror those available in satellite customers’ bouquets, but Fetch customers can subscribe on contracts with just a one-month minimum term. That’s a significant experiment in opening up for Sky.
This all points the way Sky is going – long favouring its own satellite distribution gateway over others, it’s now tentatively embracing platforms like Freeview, channels from which Fetch TV delivers over an integrated DTT chip. Sky