ABC iview is a

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

and catch-up TV service run by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

. Currently iview video content can only be viewed by users in Australia. As of 2016, ABC iview attracts around 50 million plays monthly and accounts for around half of the total time streamed by Australian TV video services.

History

After running for several months in

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labi ...

form under the name "ABC Playback", the service became available as a Flash website in July 2008. This was the next step after the video podcasting of ABC TV programs since July 2006. The iview Flash website was redesigned in 2009 and 2010, to cater for a large increase in content. An iOS app for

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operati ...

s was launched in December 2010, followed by a mobile version for iPhone in June 2012. An iview

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

app supporting phones and tablets on Android 4.0.3 and above was released on 18 December 2013. Over the following years, iview was released to a range of Smart TVs, games consoles and other devices.

Content and programming

ABC iview provides on-demand access to almost all the TV programs that are broadcast on the ABC's linear broadcast channels ( ABC TV,

ABC TV Plus ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment prog ...

, ABC Me, ABC Kids,

ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...

), as well as simulcast live streams of those channels and original content and programs acquired exclusively for ABC iview. Programs are categorised by these genres: * Arts * Culture * Comedy * Documentary * Drama * Education * Lifestyle * News and current affairs * Panel and discussion * Regional Australia * Sport In September 2015, the ABC added a dedicated Arts channel to iview. Some shows premiere on iview before they feature on broadcast television, such as ''

Rake Rake may refer to: * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (theatre), the artificial slope of a theatre stage Science and technology * Rake receiver, a radio receiver * Rake (geology), the angle between a feature on a ...

'' and the BBC's '' Class''.

Live streams

* In late 2010, a live stream of ABC News 24 was made available on the iview website, and then subsequently on iOS and Android apps. * On 1 December 2015, a simulcast live stream of the main ABC TV channel was added to the iview website, iOS and Android apps. * On 18 July 2016, the ABC added simulcast live streams for all the remaining broadcast channels (ABC2/ABC Kids, ABC3). *On 1 May 2018, the ABC added state-based streams (VIC, QLD, TAS, NT, NSW, WA, SA, ACT) of ABC main channel.

Devices and access

Website

Th
iview website
streams video at up to 4,500Kbps using HTML5 based technology.

Mobile devices

* Apple iPad (from 2010) * Apple iPhone and iPod Touch (from 2012) *

phones and tablets on Android v5.0 and above (from 2019)

Smart TVs

Sony Bravia Bravia (stylized as BRAVIA) is a brand of Sony Visual Products Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation, and used for its television products. Its backronym is "Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture". All Sony high-defi ...

* Samsung Smart TVs ("Orsay") (from 2011) and Samsung Tizen OS (from 2015) *

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

Viera Cast (from 2011) * LG Netcast (from 2011) & WebOS (from 2014) * FreeviewPlus certified ( HbbTV) devices (from 2014) * Hisense Smart TVs (from February 2020)

Video game consoles

* Microsoft Xbox 360 (2011-2018) * Microsoft Xbox One (from 2015) * Microsoft Xbox Series X/S (from 2020) * Sony PlayStation 3 (from 2008) * Sony PlayStation 4 (from 2015) * Sony PlayStation 5 (from 2020)

Media streamers

Foxtel IQ Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

(from 2019) *

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ...

4th generation and later (from March 2016) *

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX ...

TV (from December 2015) * Fetch TV (from 2013) * Chromecast devices

Offline viewing

Unlike the ABC's podcasts, programs on the iview service are not officially downloadable and are only available to watch for a short time after the program has aired on the ABC. In 2012 the ABC sent a legal notice to the author of an

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

program called Python-iView which enabled users to download videos from the ABC. Other download tools such as

youtube-dl youtube-dl is a free and open source download manager for video and audio from YouTube and over 1,000 other video hosting websites. It is released under the Unlicense software license. As of September 2021, youtube-dl is one of the most sta ...

continue to claim support for unofficially downloading from the site.

Unmetering

In late 2008 the iview website video player was updated to allow for unmetering ( zero-rating) by several Australian ISPs through network peering arrangements. The ISPs included Internode,

iPrimus iPrimus is an Australian telecommunications company and wholly owned subsidiary of Vocus Communications. iPrimus primarily focuses on fixed, mobile, and broadband services. Primus Telecom was the first telecommunications carrier to receive ...

, Westnet, Apex Internet and Adam Internet. iiNet was able to offer iview unmetered without the peering upgrade. In addition,

AARNet AARNet (Australian Academic and Research Network) provides Internet services to the Australian education and research communities and their research partners. AARNet built the Internet in Australia. In 1995, the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Co ...

, Cinenet, and Comcen since offer unmetered access to iview. ABC TV live streams and content not streamed using

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...

(i.e. through the iPad and Internet connected TVs) is currently not unmetered, however this may change in the future. In October 2016, Optus added ABC iview to their zero-rating offer for Optus mobile customers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abc Iview Media players Australian Broadcasting Corporation television Internet television channels Mass media companies established in 2008 Australian companies established in 2008 Australian streaming companies PlayStation 4 software Xbox One software