Free TV and films over the internet could soon become a reality

Following on from the huge popularity of the BBC iPlayer, a brand new generation of web-based TV services will be arriving this year that will put an end to broadband internet users having to plan their lives around the TV schedule and will allows them to watch old classics or just catch up with programs that have been missed.

Internet TV promises to change the way people watch TV by allowing users to watch whatever they want whenever they want to watch it and will allow users to schedule their programs rather than have to watch a particular program at the time it is broadcast.

The trials by software giant, Microsoft of its MSN video player, which will enable users to watch more than 300 hours of classic TV from a leading independent producer All3media and also the BBC, is being seen as one of the biggest developments to be announced lately.

The new MSN video player will show an entire range of both recent programs and whole series of classic TV shows, which advertisers will be footing the bill for, instead of just allowing users to catch up on the previous week’s entertainment in the way the BBC iPlayer currently does.

The sending or ‘streaming’ of the most popular live TV channels on Freeview by TVcatchup.com to every broadband internet user in the country will also be paid for by advertising. There is a strong possibility that many corporate networks could be slowed down a huge amount during big sporting events as this new service is being hailed as an ideal watch-while-you-work service.

The requirement to be sitting in front of a computer system rather than a TV set is currently being seen as one of the only major drawbacks of using these new streaming services.

Source – Daily Mail