ONdigital’s U.K. Internet Service to Launch in Fall

[London, ENGLAND] U.K. digital TV broadcaster
ONdigital announced
Tuesday that it will launch a full TV-based Internet service
later this year.

ONdigital’s Chief Executive Stuart Prebble said that in
the first six months of 2000, ONdigital has been transformed
from being a multichannel TV company to one with an interactive
platform packed with new media services.

“Now we will take interactivity to an entirely new level. I can
announce that from this autumn we will make the Internet available
to our customers through their TVs — no dish, no cable and no
PC,” said Prebble.

The move to the full Internet by ONdigital, which has already
begun offering e-mail to its users, will greatly broaden
the base of Internet usage in the U.K. At June 30 it had
740,000 paying subscribers and expects to have 1 million by
next year and 2 million by the end of 2002.

The new Internet service will be called ONnet, fronted by
a portal designed by BBC Resources in conjunction with
content partners Abbey National, Bigsave.com, BlueSq,
Cahoot, Co-op Travel, Iceland and thomascook.com.
Prebble said ONdigital was also negotiating with nearly
100 other companies for content.

Most significantly, ONdigital plans to link TV shows with
Web sites, creating an instant-buying facility that will
enable consumers to purchase products they see on television.

“This facility, which we call cross-linking, will transform
the way people watch and interact with their TVs. It unleashes
the true potential of digital TV,” said Prebble.

One of ONnet’s key features will be full access to the Internet
instead of the walled garden approach of other TV-based
platforms. Physically, the enabling electronics will be
packaged as a paperback-sized box, bringing the Internet
into the home without the need to spend hundreds of pounds
on a personal computer.

Clearly on a roll among U.K. media suppliers, ONdigital
has exclusive rights to UEFA Champions League, Football
League and Worthington Cup in sports broadcasting,
while having also signed up The Adult Channel, TVX,
TV Travel Shop and Simply Money to its platform. It
says, too, that Nickelodeon, The Paramount Comedy Channel
and ITN News will be joining over the next 6 months.

Millions of British TV viewers still have access to only
five broadcast channels — giving ONdigital plenty of
scope for expansion.