First came pirated copies of TV shows being traded over the internet by fans the BBC iPlayer service which lets UK residents watch any TV program that's aired in the last seven days. Now the BBC plans to stream BBC1 content live over the internet.

The new streaming service will go live sometime int he next few months. The BBC already streams content from several of its news channels live, but this will be the first time you'll be able to watch live TV from the BBC's flagship channel on the web.

You'll need a broadband internet connection to watch. And you'll also also need to pay the same £139.50 annual license fee that you pay to watch television in the UK. Critics complain that it could be tricky for the BBC to enforce that policy, which means that television owners could wind up subsidizing the content watched by people who own a computer but no television set. But officials charged with enforcing the TV licensing policy say they have ways to catch moochers. All of which means that we probably won't be tuning into BBC1 over the internet in the US any time soon.

thanks Omar!

Apple's iTunes customers have the option of buying TV shows for $1.99 per episode, or paying a flat fee for a full season. Now, most of the time, you save a few bucks by paying for the whole season at once. But there was this little writer's strike thingamajig this year, which kind of threw a monkey wrench into that equation. Some television series, like NBC's Heroes had just a handful of new episodes this season, which means iTunes season pass holders got the short end of the stick.

But Apple is apparently trying to remedy the situation. The company is sending emails to customers who have purchased season passes to shows with abbreviated seasons. In a nutshell, Apple says that any show that's still producing episodes for this season even after the season would normally have ended will be sent along to customers. Additionally, if there are fewer episodes of the show at the end of the season than you'd been expecting when you bought the season pass, you'll get a refund for the difference.

Apple is also giving at least some customers free credits that can be used to download 2 TV shows, music videos, or short films from the iTunes store.

NewsClipper is a news aggregation service that brings together videos from popular news sites like CNN, the BBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, MSNBC, and ESPN. You can sort videos by network, category, most recent, or most viewed. Future upgrades will include a search box and the ability to rate the videos you watch.

You can also add videos to a playlist and create your own virtual news channel with videos from various sources. Overall, it's an extraordinarily useful little site. But if it catches on, something tells us some of the TV networks providing its source material aren't going to be too happy. That's because CNN, for example doesn't offer users the ability to embed videos on their own sites. It's not clear how NewsClipper funnels the video stream, but you can grab embed code from any video on NewsClipper and add the video to your own site.

On the one hand, most videos feature plenty of branding so you always know where the video came from. So you could view each short clip as a commercial for a TV network. On the other hand, if you viewed the video on its original page, you'd actually be viewing other ads as well, which you don't see if you stream a video from NewsClipper. And that means that we expect the site to start getting cease and desist letters any day now. But we kind of hope it happens later, rather than sooner. In a perfect world, the TV news networks would partner with a site like NewsClipper and share any advertising revenue.

[via TechCrunch]

Livestation is a new streaming television service from Skinkers, a British startup with support from Microsoft. While the service is still an invite-only beta, the company widened its beta this week with a promise to send out invites to pretty much anybody who signs up for one at the Livestation web site.

So what exactly does Livestation offer? Unlike streaming video services such as Joost and Babelgum, which offer on-demand videos, Livestation serves up live streams from channels you've heard of, like the BBC. While that might sound pretty exciting, keep in mind, the software is in beta and there aren't a ton of content partners just yet. While we often poke fun at Joost for its lack of content, you're much more likely to find something worth watching on Joost than Livestation right now.

Currently Livestation offers up just a handful of television and radio news channels. What you get is based on where you live. For example, if you're in the UK you can watch BBC News 24, but if you're in the US you'll have to make due with the BBC World Service and Channel 4 radio streams, Al-Jazeera in English, and France 24.

But what Livestation lacks in content it makes up for with efficiency. The video quality is fairly decent, and there's virtually no buffering if you've got a high speed internet connection. There are no fancy controls like you find in Joost or Babelgum. Livestation isn't meant to replace your television set. It's just a simple way to watch streaming TV content without a web browser.

If you're a news junkie or if you're interested in checking out the player, you might want to pop on over to the LiveStation web site. If not, you might want to wait until the company signs a few more content deals.

Currently Livestation is available for Windows XP and Vista only, but a mac version is in the works as is support for "other platforms."

Like the idea of a single application that lets you find streaming television channels, but don't like having to watch them on your PC screen? MiraWorldTV is a plugin for Windows Vista Media Center that lets you find and watch dozens of television streams using a 10-foot interface. That means you can sit on your couch while you survive the writer's strike by watching brainless TV shows from around the globe instead of brainless TV shows from New York and LA.

Once you install MiraWorldTV, you'll notice a new button open up next time you run Windows Media Center. Click on it and up will pop a screen filled with tiles representing television stations with online streams. You can click on a tile for more information or to start playing the video stream in the background or in fullscreen mode. You can sort channels by category, country, or you can save your favorites for easy access later.

The only problem is that the content is pretty bland for the most part. This isn't the developer's fault. MiraWebTV doesn't host any content. It just provides links to freely available internet streams. The most exciting channels we've found so far are the BBC World News, some Japanese pop music videos, and nature documentaries from the Discovery Channel. But if you're the sort of person who likes to complain that there's nothing worth watching on TV, MiraWorldTV can give you a few more things to watch... or complain about.

[via Missing Remote]

At some point we're going to stop calling all of these internet TV platforms "IPTV" and just start calling them TV. Of course, one of the main differences between live TV and Joost is that Joost isn't well... live. But it looks like that could change early next year.

PaidContent:UK reports that Joost will start offering live streaming television programs to US customers during the first quarter of 2008. While most of the content available through the peer-to-peer software right now is on-demand, Joost officials say the platform can also transmit streams at the same time as they are broadcast on television. Once the program is finished, users will be able to watch an on-demand version.

If Joost can pull this off, and if the company can sign enough content partnerships with networks and sports associations like MLB, Joost could eventually provide the ability to watch TV on any computer without first installing a TV tuner. Better yet, since you're not limited to local broadcasts, you'll be able to watch television programs from around the world.

On the other hand, something tells us most networks are still going to want you to watch their programming live on television or via their own websites where they have more control over the advertising.

LiveStation is designed to bring live radio and television to your computer by using a peer-to-peer network. Think of it as a Slingbox, except without the box or Joost except live, or maybe a hybrid of the two. The LiveStation player is a free download. All the player needs to work is a broadband connection. There are several different broadcast channels available in the player and web streaming is live so you can catch a basketball game or news event as its happening rather than the delayed video streams that many other websites offer.

Currently LiveStation offers limited channel options with more planned to be added as they are able work out deals with broadcasting companies. While some channels are offered for free others require a subscription (although that subscription may be included in your current television package) and some other video may be available on a pay per view basis. LiveStation is currently available as a free trial before its public launch. If you're interested in giving it a try you have to sign up on the site with admission tickets being given out periodically in phases.

[via EmilyChang]

If you want to rent a video, you can go to pretty much any video store and walk out with a movie of your choice. It doesn't matter what studio produced that film.

But if you want to watch streaming video of network television programs, you either need to visit the network's website or find a site that streams pirated copies.

It looks like that could be changing. Increasingly we're seeing networks offer up programming on sites like MySpace, Yahoo!, and AOL. You know, pretty much anywhere but YouTube.

Today ABC and this blog's parent company AOL have announced an agreement to stream ABC programs through AOL's video portal. You'll still be able to watch recent episodes at ABC.com, but if you want to watch free, advertising-supported videos from ABC, CBS, and several other channels, you can visit AOL. While we work for AOL here at Download Squad, our dream is that one day streaming video will be more like video rental stores. You'll be able to visit the portal of your choice and watch all the video you want.

ABC will offer about four episodes of popular programs at a time on AOL's video site. AOL and ABC will split the advertising revenue. Meanwhile, NBC and News Corp are preparing to launch their own video portal, possibly within the next few weeks. NBC also plans to launch a service that lets users download free programs that can be watched within one week of their original broadcast date.

Pretty much every TV network and its sister offers up a way to watch popular shows for free online. Just hop on over to a network website and you'll find a way to watch recent episodes of everything from Heroes to Girlfriends. The episodes are typically free, but include advertising. And not an assortment of commercials like you get on broadcast TV. No, we're talking about a single ad which plays about 8 times per episode. Not that we have a problem with the repeated redundant repetition of a sponsor's message.

You can also download many of the same shows for a fee from services like iTunes and Amazon Unbox. But NBC is preparing to launch a new service that's a combination of the two. NBC Direct will let you download videos to your computer for free. They'll include advertising, and you'll only be able to watch for up to a week after a program's original air date. But you can download a video and watch it on the go when you don't have an active internet connection. No buffering needed. It actually sounds a bit like the BBC's iPlayer.

The move is a little surprising. Or at least the timing is. NBC recently announced that it was terminating its contract to sell movies through Apple's iTunes service. But the company struck a deal to offer shows through Amazon Unbox. The new download service could eat into revenue from Unbox video sales. Perhaps the network is hoping that advertising can be more profitable than video sales.

NBC is also working with News Corp to launch a new online video service called Hulu. While it's not entirely clear whether Hulu will feature full length episodes or just video clips and exclusive content, it now seems like NBC is a bit all over the place when it comes to its streaming/downloadable media strategy. But since nobody quite knows what the future holds for the medium, maybe it's not a bad idea to have all the bases covered.

Everyone knows its America's number one pastime, and now Google has announced their entrance into the TV ad market.

There has been a lot of speculation recently surrounding the fact that Google's been nosing around the TV market to extend their offline ad experimentations, and it was just a matter of time before the news officially dropped. With this new TV Ad trial, Google hopes to improve user experiences and bring value to both advertisers and publishers. They are currently working with EchoStar and Astound Cable to deliver ads to viewers, as well as helping advertisers and programmers buy, schedule, deliver and of course measure ads on television. We also dropped news this morning about how Google and Dish Networks will be announcing a deal to serve ads over their network.

The ads will be purchased through an automated interface auction model, pricing based on a CPM basis with ads then targeted by demographic, time of day and channel. The ads will be delivered with all reporting and statistics done through set top box technologies. The boxes will report on how many times an ad was viewed and whether it was watched in completion.

So needless to say, if more advertisers buy into Google's technology and take the statistics into consideration when planning campaigns, we might never see boring, useless commercials ever again! Then again, it sure does feel a little like big brother is watching us.

Move over casting couch, welcome to the new generation of user generated TV. Kyte.tv is rumored to do what Blogger did for blogging, by taking standard TV channels into the hands of the people. Kyte.tv will enable any user the ability to create and publish their very own TV channels that can be accessible everywhere.

The team behind the service, Decentral.tv, has raised capital from the likes of the same team that backed Skype, to start the next television channel revolution. Channels will be viewable on personal computers, standard televisions and mobile devices with Kyte Mobile. After creating a Kyte.tv account, users will be able to take a video of photo with a mobile device and send an email to their account for transcoding care of Adobe's Flex 2 application. After this process is complete, your channel will broadcast the images for anyone to see. Kyte.tv will also have the ability to stream imagery to create a real time video with compatible devices.

Kyte.tv will be open to the public around April. For now you can visit the site, and try your luck at signing up for news about their upcoming launch. Remember to cross your fingers for an invitation code to test this service out.

[via NewTeeVee]

MeeVee is all about personalized navigation and patented metadata generation technology, which results in a comprehensive personalized TV search. MeeVee helps users find the programming they are looking for from new services, like internet based broadcasts. Through the online service you can program alerts, create customized TV listings, and check out recommendations. We covered MeeVee last April, and now they have recently announced some new features. When you personalize your MeeVee guide, the service will let you know about your upcoming shows, as well as online videos that match your interests. The Network and Community tabs will show you the new videos. There is also a new entertainment portal and blog central where you can keep up on all the latest news, gossip and all the latest from the entertainment world, making for one giant entertainment portal.

Look out for some BBC shows like Doctor Who to be available for download through BBC on demand. This new program will also users to watch or download popular television shows on their computers through a special application. The shows will be available up to a week after their initial airing. After this initial launch, the BBC will be releasing a desktop application called iPlayer which allows users to download and watch programs from seven days prior. When downloaded through the iPlayer, a program will be available for 30 days for viewing on computers. There is also talk about keeping episodes stacked, whereby users will be able to watch them up to a week after they originally air. Parental controls are also being researched and are to be worked into the plan.

TVU Player is a free Windows app that lets you watch a variety of broadcast TV channels over the Internet. Unlike a number of web sites I've seen that promise free TV, TVU Player actually has some channels you might be interested in watching: ABC, Fox, CNN, Cartoon Network, ESPN. All told, about four dozen channels, including a number of foreign channels. It's live TV, meaning that you get exactly what you'd get if you turned on your TV right now, including the commercials. So where do the TV streams come from? The software doesn't say and the TVU web site doesn't give any clues, but this review at Web TV Hub suggests that there are people out there using TV capture cards to capture the video and then stream it to TVU, and then people who watch also rebroadcast it a la BitTorrent or Skype. (I can't resist pointing out that this is the exact idea I had about three years ago but didn't have the gumption to pull off myself.) The software isn't perfect, taking some time to buffer a channel before you can watch it and having not entirely reliable streams, but as a proof-of-concept or a last resort for people outside the U.S. to enjoy our *cough* glorious American TV offerings, it is pretty cool. Of course, there's no telling how legal TVU Player is, since it clearly operates without the consent of the TV networks it broadcasts, but does include those networks' advertisements. So, the usual caveats apply, but TVU Player is definitely worth checking out if you're a TV fan.