Virgin Media TiVo customers stand to get the closest to the action with this year’s Glastonbury coverage. The BBC’s six live feeds will be accessible on TiVo via the Connected Red Button whereas other TV platforms will only be able to access at least two.
The new Connected Red Button service will give viewers the option to access all of the live feeds as well as view archive content from previous festivals. At a media event earlier today, we were treated to a work in-progress version of what the Connected Red Button service will look like once Glastonbury 2013 rolls around.
Footage from last year’s festival was used to demo the Connected Red Button service. The self-explanatory Artists tab will led you jump to a specific band or artist if you want to watch, say Foals’ set. We were told by BBC developers that the Highlights tab, which would serve up curated clips and sets, might not make it to the final version.
It’s estimated that over 250 hours of live footage will be broadcast live by the BBC, with one live feed per each of the six main stages plus a seventh roaming camera crew capturing ancillary festival revelry.
While Virgin Media TiVo customers stand to get the best seats so to speak, you’ll also be able to access all six of the live streams online as well as from the BBC iPlayer Radio apps for iOS and Android.
A future update to the mobile apps will add a pyramidal Glastonbury logo to the rotating dial of radio station, that gives listeners a shortcut the live feeds. Within the iOS app, this icon will launch live streams within the app whereas on the Android app, you’ll be taken to a mobile-optimised version of the BBC’s Glastonbury site.
Mark Friend, BBC controller for multi-platform across radio and music said how lessons learned during the London 2012 Olympics inspired the company to up its game for the festival:
“Just as we did with sport at the Olympics, our ambition this year is to bring our audiences even closer to the music they love at Glastonbury, with access to all the BBC’s coverage – live and on-demand – at home, at work and on the go. Not only will this be the first truly digital Glastonbury, this will also be the first mobile Glastonbury – we expect mobile and tablet viewing and listening to reach unprecedented levels, particularly over the weekend.”
The BBC also said how it plans to cover future festivals including T in the Park and Reading/Leeds in a similar fashion.
The revamped BBC Connected Red Button is due to arrive on other connected TV platforms later this year.
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