BBC iPlayer has finally arrived on Sky's catch up service, granting Sky+ customers the chance to watch the best of the Beeb's programming on demand, without having to plug in a laptop or switch to another set-top box.
From today you can access Auntie's broadcasts by pressing the TV Guide button on your remote, then the red button to access On Demand. Slide across to the Catch Up tab and you'll see the iPlayer app, alongside similar apps for Channel 5 and ITV, which launched earlier this year.
You'll need to be set-up for On Demand for all this to work, with your Sky box plugged into your broadband router. If you don't have access to Sky's on-demand library yet, you can get it by visiting this page and clicking the 'add to basket' button.
There's HD video available, but to get to it you'll need to navigate to a specific 'BBC HD' section in the app's 'Channels' section.
It's hard to know how much high-definition video we'll actually see nestling in this app in the future, I suspect we'll just have to wait and see, but a healthy amount of HD goodies is going to be essential if Sky wants this partnership to seem like more than a token addition.
The addition of iPlayer brings a much-needed boost to Sky's on-demand offering, as well as giving Sky the chance to play catch-up themselves -- iPlayer is already sitting pretty on rival devices like Virgin's TiVo box or the Xbox 360.
Where's 4oD?
The only major UK channel now absent from Sky's line-up is Channel 4. Sky has confirmed that 4oD will be joining iPlayer and ITV Player, but when I asked this morning, there was no advance on an 'early next year' launch date. For now, Sky customers will just have to sit tight.
Do you have Sky+? If so, let me know what you think of the catch-up service -- and whether you think there's enough HD programming -- in the comments below or on our Facebook wall.
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Comments 3
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anonymous 30 October, 2012 13:14
Does it allow you to stream the programs or do you have to wait for it to download the full show before you can watch it?
Harry1984 30 October, 2012 15:06
@anonymous 30 October, 2012 13:14
You can start viewing almost immediately (Top Gear took 30 seconds). Usually as long as about 1% is downloaded. HD programmes take a little longer to become available.
The service is good, although whereas on the bbc iplayer website some programmes can remain availlable for up to a month, with this Sky+ app, it seems you can only search and view programmes shown within the last 7 days. It's a bit annoying because I often catch, say episode 6, of a long-running show and then serach for the previous episodes. That aside, the interface is good and the selection of HD programmes seems already decent enough.
cylon6 31 October, 2012 01:34
There is a LOT of content on there but it's well hidden.
Search is how I find a lot of shows, but I think many don't realise you can tab across and find stuff in the On Demand section. It's staring people right in the face and yet it's not that obvious. Searching this way reveals that the first 4 episodes of Hunted are all available untill November 29th, several episodes of The Thick Of It, New Tricks going back to episode 2 I think and various other examples of several episodes of a series being available outside the 7 day period.
Also not all HD will be in the HD section. Remember that BBC HD is the channel where some programmes from BBC2/3/4 get a simulcast on the HD channel. Many BBC1 programmes are in HD, search for the programme and you should see the SD & HD versions next to each other in various categories.
It's a great service now and I'm sure with minor tweaks it will get even better. Picture quality is broadcast standard for ordinary downloads and HD downloads look great. It puts other players in the Catch-Up section to shame.
It really is that good.