Freesat iPlayer beta to start 7th December

Posted by Katherine Hannaford on Wed 25 Nov 2009

Catch up on missed TV shows from the comfort of your living room

As reported earlier this month, BBC iPlayer is launching on the Freesat TV service. Today it was revealed the beta version will debut on the 7th of December, and will also be joined by ITV Player, a similar service from the TV network ITV.

While ITV Player will take a while to be added to Freesat (with the first half of 2010 looking likely), iPlayer will provide some much-needed TV catch-up for viewers who don't necessarily want to sign up to Virgin Media or watch it on their computer screens.

Unfortunately the beta version of iPlayer won't be available to the general public, with Freesat stating that "during the initial stage of Beta, selected journalists and partners will be able to access the service using a code." But, they're hopeful that "as many Freesat viewers as possible will be able to use the service by Christmas."

Freesat is a free TV service which requires either a Freesat set-top box or HD Freesat TV. To set up iPlayer, users will simply have to connect their box or TV to an internet connection via an Ethernet cable, ensuring they have over 2Mbps speeds to watch the TV in high definition.

Link: Freesat