BBC ANNOUNCES PRE-PAY BROADCAST DEAL WITH GREENGRASS

BBC World to broadcast over the Internet on GreenGrass: looking at the new format/business model: From Colin Mann in Cannes (FROM www.advanced-television.com) comes this news:

Pre-pay broadcast network GreenGrass has revealed that BBC World, the 24-hour international news and information channel, is the latest channel to sign-up for its service. The channel will go live in the next few weeks, becoming available in high quality video to broadband subscribers around the world. The move supports BBC World's objective to reach as wide an audience as possible through both traditional and new media platforms. Until now BBC World has predominantly been available through traditional cable and satellite platforms.

GREENGRASS ALTERNATIVE TO DIGITAL TV NETWORKS:

GreenGrass offers broadcasters and rights holders an alternative to digital TV networks, enabling them to distribute and sell their programming via the web, direct to the 150 million broadband subscribers worldwide. BBC World will join news broadcaster ITN, motor sport channel Revs TV and a number of other channels that are participating in the beta trial of GreenGrass ahead of a full consumer launch in January.

GREENGRASS COMPLEMENTARY TO TRADITIONAL TV

Jeff Hazell, BBC World's distribution and business development director of sales and distribution, said: "We see broadcasting on GreenGrass as complementary to traditional television. Broadband access and wireless hot spots are now widespread, so people often have access to an internet-connected PC when there is no TV in their control. Our viewers can now catch up with the news while they wait at the airport or during breaks at work."

TAKING THE RISK OUT OF INTERNET TELEVISION:

GreenGrass co-founder and CEO Alex Taylor added: "GreenGrass will bring BBC World to viewers in great quality, wherever they are, without the commitment of a monthly subscription. We worked long and hard to bring a service to the market that took the risk out of Internet broadcasting, making it a viable proposition for operators such as BBC World. Judging by our initial success it looks like we have got the model right."

RED HERRING HAS THIS TAKE ON GREENGRASS www.redherring.comGreenGrass Launches Web TV

English firm offers pre-pay TV service over the Internet.
September 21, 2005 English webcaster GreenGrass on Wednesday launched a pre-pay TV broadcast network over the Internet in a beta trial featuring news content from ITN and auto racing from Revs TV.

GreenGrass said its service gives broadcasters a new way to distribute their content and reach a worldwide audience.“There are quite a few problems stopping broadcasters from going into Internet broadcasting in a big way,” said GreenGrass CEO Alex Taylor. “Streaming to broadcast over the Internet has an associated cost. If they start looking at monetizing their content, the subscription model doesn’t really add up.”He points out that subscribers could leave their stream going all day even if they weren’t watching, and the connectivity costs would keep going up to the point where the broadcaster would be streaming their content at a loss.

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