A television revolution?: 3,000 hours of shows offered for free on new on demand website!!

A television revolution?: 3,000 hours of shows offered for free on new on demand website

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 12:02 PM on 18th February 2010

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A new on-demand video website pooling content from rival broadcasters has launched in a move that could revolutionise how people watch television.

More than 3,000 hours of BBC, Channel 4 and Five programmes can now be accessed from a single website.

SeeSaw puts programmes including Doctor Who, Hustle, Shameless and Neighbours side-by-side under one brand for the first time.

U.S. shows are due to be added to the library later this year, when the site is set to start charging for some of its content.

Downloading programmes is currently free, although there are adverts at the start and possibly also in the middle of the shows.

One-stop shop: SeeSaw provides content from BBC, Channel 4 and Five

SeeSaw's controller John Keeling said: 'It's like having an enormous buffet... you can either just snack on it and catch up on what you've missed or gorge yourself with an entire season - it's absolutely at your fingertips and your control.'

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Mr Keeling, who has 20 years experience in the industry working for Sky, MTV, the Disney Channel and UKTV, added:

'This is the tip of the iceberg, it feels to me like it did 20 years ago when I was at Sky and multi-channel TV was just beginning and you saw satellite dishes sprouting on people's homes like mushrooms

'This way of watching television will be on TVs from this year. One of the fastest selling electronic goods is an HDMI cable which connects a laptop to the back of the TV and bingo, you're online and your TV has become an enormous monitor for your laptop.'

David Tennant and Freema Agyeman from Dr Who. Viewers can watch episodes of the series from the 1970s

Unlike other on-demand services like BBC's iPlayer or Channel 4's oD, which only offer their own content, SeeSaw has deals with BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and Five.

ITV has so far not signed up as it continues to consider its options after the recent appointment of a new chairman and chief executive.

The broadcaster is believed to be considering an exclusive deal with SeeSaw's U.S. rival Hulu.

However, some archive ITV programmes such as Doc Martin and Kingdom are on SeeSaw thanks to deals with independent production companies.

Its service is similar to YouTube, although it has more recent BBC shows and offers them in their entirety.

The website mostly hosts archive TV from the past decade, including comedy shows like The League of Gentlemen, Trigger Happy TV and Little Britain.

But it also features older content such as The Young Ones and classic episodes of Doctor Who.

The site is the brainchild of Arqiva, a technology firm based in Hampshire that operates the UK's broadcast transmission masts.

It uses technology bought from Project Kangaroo - an on-demand service set-up by BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 which was blocked on competition grounds.

Shows from the BBC archives including episodes of Hustle (above) and Michael Palin's Around the World in 80 days will be on offer

Analysts are cautious, warning that it is entering an already crowded catch-up TV market.

Michael Cornish, from film and TV streaming site blinkbox.com, said: 'It will be interesting to see how they persuade consumers to turn away from the more established, channel-branded catch-up services like BBC iPlayer, 4OD or ITVPlayer.

'Blinkbox believes that within five years, over half of all UK viewing - whether film or TV shows - will be on-demand: radically altering customer behaviour, presenting challenges and opportunities for advertisers, and proving the most radical thing to have happened to filmed entertainment since the launch of the DVD.'