SVT Play is the brand used for the

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 ...

service offered by

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksdag (national ...

, more specifically to the streaming services offered on the SVT website, svt.se, and its counterpart for mobile phones. The brand was introduced in December 2006, when the existing

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

service got a new name. In September 2007, SVT launched their own channel on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. From late 2007 until end of 2008 SVT Play was also available as a channel on Joost. SVT claims that the service offers more than 2,000 hours of television. Most programmes produced for or by SVT are published on SVT Play after they have been broadcast and are then available for 30 days. SVT have also launched "channels" dedicated at different audiences under the "Play" name. The first such channel was Play Bolibompa which launched in late 2007. It was followed by the news service Play Rapport which launched in May 2008.

History

At launch, the streams were available in Windows Media and

RealVideo RealVideo, or also spelled as Real Video, is a suite of proprietary video compression formats developed by RealNetworks – the specific format changes with the version. It was first released in 1997 and was at version 10. RealVideo is supported ...

. Since 2007, SVT Play started using

Flash Video Flash Video is a container file format used to deliver digital video content (e.g., TV shows, movies, etc.) over the Internet using Adobe Flash Player version 6 and newer. Flash Video content may also be embedded within SWF files. There ar ...

for shorter clips. In September 2007, SVT launched a trial to provide streamed content in standard television resolution using Move Media Player. In the summer of 2008, the German series ''KDD'' became the first foreign acquisition available on SVT Play. During the 2008 Olympics, SVT made all Olympic broadcasts available on the web in three Play channels, on simulcasting with SVT1, one simulcasting with SVT24 and a special web channel called Peking+. In August 2008, SVT Play became available on an IPTV platform for the first time, as the service launched on

Telia Digital-tv Telia may refer to: * Telium, plural Telia, structure of the reproductive cycle of rusts (plant diseases) * Telia Company, Swedish telecommunications company ** Telia Digital-tv, Swedish TV platform **Telia Norge, Norwegian telecommucations company ...

with newscasts and Olympic broadcasts available. On September 22, 2008, SVT launched a service called "Play Prima" which provides drama series from SVT in high resolution (with bitrate of up to 2,4 Megabits per second). Since June 2010 SVT Play uses streaming with adaptive bitrate (between 320 and 2400 kilobits per second) and "Play Prima" was discontinued. In early 2009, SVT relaunched the SVT Play web application. A beta version of the new web player was launched on January 20, 2009.

Availability

The service is accessible through most web browsers, a downloadable smartphone app, and selected over-the-top television platforms such as Apple TV. However, most content that isn't news or current affairs is restricted only to those in Sweden. The live simulcasts of SVT's channels on SVT Play are only available in Sweden but SVT Play has dedicated live streams of some individual programmes that may be viewable outside Sweden.

References

External links

* {{VOD services Sveriges Television 2006 establishments in Sweden Internet properties established in 2006