أغر؟´«أ½

This is a joint أغر؟´«أ½ and BT press release

Today the أغر؟´«أ½ and BT announced plans to bring the popular video-on-demand service, أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer, to BT Vision.

BT Vision will introduce أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer over the next five months, in a phased release starting in early December. All BT Vision customers will be able to access the service by April 2011. Once complete, the service can be accessed by selecting أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer from BT Vision's programme menu.

This will be the full أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer package, offering almost all of the TV and radio programmes available online through a simple and intuitive أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer-branded application, eventually replacing the أغر؟´«أ½ content on BT Vision's existing 50-hour "TV Replay" package, which offers a small selection of أغر؟´«أ½ TV programmes.

Daniel Danker, أغر؟´«أ½ General Manager for Programmes and On Demand, said: "October was a record month for أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer with a total of 139 million programme requests on computers, TVs and mobiles. Over 20 million of those requests were delivered to TVs. Licence fee payers love the option of enjoying أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer's high-quality experience and vast choice of programmes on the living room TV, and we're delighted to be able to bring the service to BT Vision."

Marc Watson, chief executive of television and online services, BT Retail, said: "We are really excited to be partnering with the أغر؟´«أ½ to bring the أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer service to BT Vision customers. The launch of أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer on BT Vision adds to the vast range of quality entertainment already available to our customers."

Notes to Editors

Technical information about the service upgrade

أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer on BT Vision will be delivered automatically as a service upgrade over customers' internet connections, replacing the existing أغر؟´«أ½ TV replay package currently available.

The software will be delivered as a phased upgrade, which will start in December 2010 and conclude by April 2011. As such, some customers will be able to access أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer service before others.

From the point أغر؟´«أ½ iPlayer application starts to be rolled out in December and until it is available to all, all BT Vision customers will be able to enjoy the selected 50 hours of أغر؟´«أ½ programmes available within TV Replay for free.

The "أغر؟´«أ½ Hits" package of classic أغر؟´«أ½ programmes, made available on commercial terms from أغر؟´«أ½ Worldwide, remains unaffected by this partnership.

SH6