We’ll be interested to see how this evolves as the year progresses.October 8 – UEFA and players’ union FIFPRO are pushing the Red Button whistleblowing app as the go-to platform for players to report possible match-fixing incidents. So Red Button, it seems, isn’t being usurped by young digital upstarts, it’s evolving alongside.

“Audiences will be able to experience this first-hand during the Olympics, where they’ll be able to watch 24 live channels, in HD, available exclusively online but delivered to the TV in a way that blends the media and makes the technology truly invisible,” says Danker.

Audiences will be given full control over when and where they watch Olympic events – PC, mobile, tablet and connected TVs, the latter encompassing smart TVs, games consoles (PS3) and the BBC Red Button. Last month we wrote about the BBC’s plans for the first digital Olympics. “Press Red, save it for later and access the recipe on your computer, tablet or mobile when you’re ready to cook.” “Or you’re watching a cooking programme and you see a recipe you’d like to try,” he continues. “Press Red and instantly bring up iPlayer to catch up on the episode you missed. “Imagine you’re watching Eastenders and realise you missed the previous episode,” ponders Danker. This means that Red Button is getting connected – it will bridge broadcast TV with the Web. With that in mind, earlier this week Danker outlined the BBC’s plans to mix the best of Red Button as we know it, with BBC Online. So scarce, in fact, that this year we’ve seen a phased reduction of broadcast Red Button services, as part of our Delivering Quality First strategy.” Why? “Because it relies entirely on broadcast technologies, Red Button competes with other channels for spectrum, writes Daniel Danker, General Manager, Programmes & On-Demand at the BBC. Whilst it has already transcended its TV roots by landing on Virgin Media, it inherently has limitations as things stand. Now, the BBC is looking to bring the Red Button well and truly into the modern digital era. Today, the Red Button gets you alternative broadcasts, say, during sporting events, or text-based information on the day’s biggest sports or news stories. But what about the BBC Red Button?įirst introduced in 1999 as BBC Text, the Red Button constitutes part of the BBC’s digital TV offering, replacing its analogue Ceefax service. When discussing the BBC’s digital services, iPlayer and its website will likely feature highly in the conversation agenda.

Push the red button website