Virgin Media Player (formerly 3Player) is a

live streaming Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but n ...

and on demand video service available in Ireland, provided by Virgin Media Television (formerly TV3 Group), a subsidiary of

Virgin Media Ireland Virgin Media Ireland is Liberty Global's telecommunications operation in Ireland. It is the largest digital cable television provider within the country. As of 31 December 2014, the company offers broadband internet, digital television and d ...

, for programmes broadcast on the company's television channels (

Virgin Media One Virgin Media One, also called Virgin One, is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Ireland (part of Liberty Global), operated through its subsidiary Virgin Media Television. The channel was known until 30 August 20 ...

, Virgin Media Two and

Virgin Media Three Virgin Media Three, also called Virgin Three, is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Television. The channel was first launched by Northern Irish broadcaster UTV Media on 1 January 2015 as UTV Ireland; it primari ...

). Retrieved 29 July 2013 The service was launched on Saturday 8 October 2011. as 3Player replacing TV3 Catch Up service. On 30 August 2018, as a part of a corporate-wide rebrand of the TV3 Group as Virgin Media Television, the service was rebranded as Virgin Media Player.

Content

Virgin Media Player is a largely a free online catch-up service which lets viewers watch a variety of programmes for up to 28 days after they are broadcast on Virgin Media Television branded channels. Most programmes are available for 28 days from the day they were broadcast. Due to programme rights restrictions however other programmes, mainly ITV productions are only available for 7 days. The majority of TV3 and 3e's broadcasts are available on the service. Both channels are also available live as they broadcast on this service. As of May 2013, Virgin Media Player users are now asked to register their details. TV3 Group is encouraging users of its 3player catch-up service to register as part of a push to gather more information on its online audience. The change is part of a broader reconfiguration of its website that sees the introduction of new hourly online news bulletins from today. Registered 3player users will be able to create playlists of their favourite shows and use their logins to pick up where they left off across all devices.

Format

The service utilises HTML5. This allows viewers to access the service regardless of their operating system.

Availability

The service is available to those resident in the Republic of Ireland. The service is available on PCs and Mac format desktop and laptop devices. It is also available via Sony Bravia internet enabled TVs and certain Sony

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

players. It became available on

PS3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

on 22 December 2011. 3player was made available to

UPC Ireland Virgin Media Ireland is Liberty Global's telecommunications operation in Ireland. It is the largest digital cable television provider within the country. As of 31 December 2014, the company offers broadband internet, digital television and d ...

customers through their televisions from 25 May 2012. 3player is available to Sky+HD Customers that are connected to On Demand with a broadband connection since 15 January 2014. 3player was released on the Xbox 360 on 2 April 2014 and Xbox One on 24 February 2015

References

External links

* {{VOD services 2011 establishments in Ireland 2010s in Irish television Video on demand services Virgin Media Television (Ireland)