BBC Connected Red Button on Virgin Media TiVo hands-on video

BBC Red Button has had a serious overhaul and the new-look version of the interactive service is heading to Virgin Media TiVo customers now.

Now, when you’re watching BBC channels on TiVo a press of the red button will take you to a sub-menu of scrollable icons that is layered on top of what you’re already watching. From here, you can jump to another BBC channel or programme, access shows on-demand or bring up news and weather reports.

In this hands-on demo below, Daniel Danker, BBC general manager of programmes and on demand takes us through the basics of the new-look BBC Red Button, called ‘Connected Red Button’ by the BBC.

Blending broadcast channels with on-demand programmes and local news reminds us a lot of YouView and to an extent what LittleBigOne has been doing in the Digital Region.

Virgin Media TiVo is the first platform to benefit from the BBC Red Button upgrade. In time, new Freeview HD boxes connected to the internet should get the upgrade as should Free Time from Freesat boxes. BT Vision, YouView and eventually Sky should have access to the new service in the future in 2013 as the update rolls out.

As the new version of BBC Red Button hits other TV platforms, we’ll update our main story on BBC Red Button.

This specific version of BBC Red Button for Virgin Media TiVo runs on Flash and replaces the old MHEG software. New versions of Red Button will run on either Flash or HTML5 depending on which platform they’re being written for – YouView for example uses Flash and Free Time from Freesat uses HTML5.