Channel 4 4OD to hit PS3

Sony and Channel 4 are in talks to bring 4OD to the PS3. That's what an unnamed source from Channel 4 told TV trade mag Broadcast. 4OD If the move goes ahead, Channel 4 will be the first UK commercial broadcaster to offer content through the PlayStation platform. In October last year, 4OD became the first UK channel to …

[LuMan]

Let's hope so.

BBC iPlayer is a great addition to the PS3. I use it loads for catching up as it's more convenient than sitting in front of my PC or staring at my laptop screen. If Ch4 do the same thing it may inspire other providers to join in and offer content conduits through similar devices (XBOX, Wii).

We have to sit through adverts anyway when watching anything other than BBC, so watching a repeat of a programme, complete with ads won't be too much of a hardship (as long as we don't have to pay for access, as with Sky).

Yep, thumbs up from me.

[Andy Senyszyn]

An Edge?!

"For Sony, the move would give the company an edge over Microsoft's Xbox and Sky Player combo, offering customers more content with the probability of lower cost."

Yeah, great - Skins, Cutting Edge and Alan Carr on 4OD or Premier League Football, Cricket, Rugby, decent movies, cartoons and loadsa other shite on Sky...

...content is king, and I'll stick with me sport thanks.

[Wize]

But...

"While there's the possibility that 4OD could form part of a PlayStation Plus subscription, the best option those of us with shallow pockets could hope for is a free download with unskippable ads – pay the dosh or face brainwash."

Why the ads or subscription? I can get 4OD via their website without ads or payment. Not tried it yet, but the PS3 has a web browser which might work on the 4OD stuff. Why would I want something second best?

[Anonymous Coward]

No so fast there buddy.

The website version has ads. You can't skip them either. Sorry to ruin your rant there.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bout time.....

I'm supprised Sony haven't capitalised further on the plaform.

[Code Monkey]

Great news!

Do C4 still have good programmes? As most of my telly watching is iPlayer on the PS3, I've lost touch

[ukuser]

Media PC

But a computer ffs, they play all the free media out there, with free codecs n far superior ease of use with no worries of the flash ever being unsupported because the said company doesn't want to pay to support it, try watching even video Jug or youporn on ur consoles to see the common error "not supported"

+ there are litrally thousands of streams not just the handful you can get on these kiddie toy, media centre wannabe's.

[paul 97]

Why Pay

Most people who have Playstations also have computers and will use 4OD over the internet if there is a fee.

Sony do know how to screw things up - so it wouldn't surprise me if they are stupid enough to charge for it.

[David Simpson 1]

native

You can already access YouTube on the PS3 which has the full stock of 4OD, nice to have a native app though.

[evilbob thebob]

Always playing catch up?

Isn't that the point of the service?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do they need specific apps?

If the PS3 and Xbox supported more common technologies for web browsing then the user could simply navigate to the iplayer/4od/itv catch up service and watch through that...No development or talks would be needed, just an icon pointing to the url.

[ukuser]

Media PC

But a computer ffs, they play all the free media out there, with free codecs n far superior ease of use with no worries of the flash ever being unsupported because the said company doesn't want to pay to support it, try watching even video Jug or youporn on ur consoles to see the common error "not supported"

+ there are litrally thousands of streams not just the handful you can get on these kiddie toy, media centre wannabe's.

[Anonymous Coward]

OK then....

"For Sony, the move would give the company an edge over Microsoft's Xbox and Sky Player combo, offering customers more content with the probability of lower cost."

I think it's certain this will be a lower cost. As the Xbox/Sky Player combo is a double-dip subscription service.

PS3 already gets BBC iPlayer for free, to everyone, and 4OD will be similar.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hooray!

Good news indeed, I just hope they up the quality settings a touch as 4OD looks terrible next to the iPlayer!

[Fuzz]

quality?

I try not to watch anything on 4oD if I can help it because the picture quality is so bad. iPlayer stuff is very watchable especially the 720p streams and the new 3Mb/s sky player is better quality than itv on freeview. Channel 4 need to catch up on this.

[probedb]

Proper app?

Here's hoping it's a proper app rather than a link that takes you to iPlayer which it currently is on the PS3.

[Anonymous Coward]

Whats betting

that i have to upgrade the PS3's firmware to enable this and therefore, loose linux in the process.

[Anonymous Coward]

No...

...it'll appear automagically!

[David Paul Morgan]

Good news.

Not everyone has a pc-style device linked to their hd/widescreen TV, but odds are, if they like blu-ray, then the PS3 is right there.

I'm fortunate to have the virgin TV service, so never have to stream content via a PC.

Sony should bite the bullet and get its developers to write the s/w & provide a dongle to turn the PS3 into something like a Humax device (yes, i know they already do a dongle, but they could market the whole package as a media sever that also plays a few games!)

As each programme provider generates a stream, hopefully Sony/PS3 will have it too in future.