FetchTV content portal to launch on Panasonic Connected TVs

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011
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  • New app will make pioneering FetchTV VOD service available on Panasonic VIERA Connect TV sets sold in the UK and Ireland from this Autumn
  • Owners of Panasonic VIERA Connect TV sets can access FetchTV’s full VOD offering as well as specialist linear channels on a pay-as-you-go or mini-subscription basis

LONDON — IP Vision, the leading provider in the UK’s nascent hybrid DTT/IPTV over-the-top (OTT) TV sector, announces that the FetchTV™ content portal will be available this autumn via an app as a service to consumers on Panasonic’s (NYSE:PC; Tokyo:6752) VIERA Connect compatible TV sets sold in the UK and Ireland. Viewers will be able to access a range of FetchTV’s specialist TV channels as well as thousands of hours of on-demand content that comprise the FetchTV content portal.

The FetchTV app will form part of Panasonic’s VIERA Connect service. Launched earlier in 2011, Panasonic VIERA Connect offers an innovative personalised home entertainment experience, enabling users to access a wide range of applications within seven main categories: videos, music, sports, social networking, news and lifestyle, health and fitness, and games. The new FetchTV app will be demonstrated today by Panasonic at the IFA Consumer Electronics Show in Berlin.

The FetchTV app has been customised for Panasonic VIERA Connect service in order to provide the best possible user experience by simplifying the content discovery process. Viewers can watch trailers, sample services and select and view FetchTV content, all via a single, easy to use application. The FetchTV application will also be made available via Panasonic Blu-ray players at a later date.

Via IP Vision’s agreements with leading content providers, the FetchTV content portal will offer Panasonic VIERA owners on-demand access – on a pay-per-view or mini-subscription basis – to the latest movies and TV shows from Walt Disney, Paramount Pictures, National Geographic, Playboy and others.

David Bloom, IP Vision’s Commercial Director, said: “Connected TV is the next logical step for IP Vision as a company and FetchTV as a service and represents a new era of convenience for TV viewers. It instantly offers enhanced choice of content for the consumer, enabling viewers to pick and choose the best of broadcast and the best of online, while enjoying it all on state of the art display technology”

“We are extremely delighted to offer the FetchTV content portal on Panasonic’s VIERA Connect TVs as our first partner in this fast growing space and we are committed to ongoing innovation in order to continue to engage new audiences,” he concluded.

Multiple-award-winning FetchTV, the UK’s first commercial hybrid OTT/IPTV service for consumers, is also available on the function-rich, competitively priced SmartBox 8320HD PVR as a fully integrated TV entertainment platform providing access to Freeview HD/SD broadcast television as well as catch-up TV and premium Video on Demand content.