BBC Revamps its BBC World Service Interactive TV Application on Freeview

The BBC has redesigned the red-button interactive TV service that allows viewers on the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial platform, FreeviewY, to access the corporation's flagship international radio service, the BBC World Service. Until recently, the Freeview implementation of the service presented viewers with a blue screen that was both static and inconsistent with the BBC's branding color scheme (i.e. blue, as opposed to red, gray and black). According to a post on the BBC Red Button team's blog, "this was all the visualization possible within our meager bandwidth allocation." However, the blog post continues, "thanks to a recent reshuffle of services on the digital television multiplexes, we can extend the full Red Button radio interface to listeners of the BBC World Service in the UK--around one and a half million of them at the last count."

According to the BBC, the new version of the Freeview red-button application provides viewers/listeners with live information about the BBC World Service, including what's on now and next, the full program schedule, the latest world news headlines, and highlights of upcoming programs. The corporation says that it was important for it to provide the World Service with a more sophisticated interactive TV application because the service offers a full and varied schedule of programming: "The BBC World Service comprises live world news with investigations, documentaries, debate and discussion, and daily business, science, arts and sport," the Red Button team's blog explains. "It's a big mix, so we try all we can to help listeners around our schedule to the programs that interest them most."