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Seesaw - iPlayer's backcatalogue with adverts plus 4OD and Demand Five

Seesaw is an online video player that will have access to all the back catalogues for the BBC, Channel 4 and Five, as easy to use as the BBC iPlayer. The service is free to use in the UK and paid for by video advertising.

Seesaw is an online video player that will have access to all t
Published on by on UK Free TV

I've been using the Seesaw Beta system over the weekend and I thought I would do some screen grabs so you can see what's there at the moment.

It's clearly a beta, there are lots of really obvious minor bugs that will take a while to sort out. The performance of the Flash player on a single processor Windows 7 machine (that plays 720-line HD OK) was unusable, but things are probably not optimized.

Everything runs through the a normal web Browser. I'm using Chrome.

The only really odd thing is having the BBC logo right next to adverts. If you live outside the UK, this is quite normal. But in the UK the BBC's brand is hidden behind the UKTV ones: Dave, G.O.L.D, Yesterday and so on. Here the BBC logo comes right after the ads.



Here's the front screen. The central picture is a video preview too.



Here is what you get if you choose "Comedy".



And selecting a comedy programme shows the first episode of the first series. You can see the other episodes in the same series listed below. The image is a static holding image.



When watching a programme you have the usual navigation, sound, subtitle and video size elements.



Sometimes the Flash player has kittens and the video darkens and you see this.



Here is the oldest programme on the system at the moment, from 1967 Doctor Who's Tomb of the Cybermen.



I must admit I did watch ALL of Jon Pertwee's last story Planet of the Spiders.







Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom


Your comments are always welcome. Please use the form below to add your thoughts or questions to this page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

Andy Greenhalgh
Tuesday 2 February 2010 10:40AM
Is it planned - post launch - for SeeSaw to expand the channel list beyond the current BBC iPlayer backcatalogue plus 4OD and Demand Five ?
Briantist
Tuesday 2 February 2010 11:10AM
Andy Greenhalgh: I think that ITV are in on it as well, and it's the entire back catalogues from the BBC, Channel 4 and FIVE, or as much as they can get the rights to.
John
Saturday 20 February 2010 3:26PM Biggar
Do you think you will be able to get it on PS3 soon, so far it does not work
Briantist
Saturday 20 February 2010 4:36PM
John: I would suspect not, the whole system appears to be moulded around Flash delivery, unlike the BBC iPlayer that can deliver content in many different formats.
Neil R
Sunday 21 February 2010 4:00PM King's Lynn
Why no ITV as it is already better than the rather poor ITV player IMHO
Briantist
Sunday 21 February 2010 8:46PM
Neil R: ITV are in talks with Hulu. Hulu - Watch your favorites. Anytime. For free.
Rajiv
Tuesday 6 April 2010 8:30PM Preston
I would like to watch tv online could you please tell me how...?
Briantist
Tuesday 6 April 2010 8:52PM
Rajiv: Click on the channel icons in the panel on the right that says "Watch and Listen Now".
cavan adolphe
Tuesday 8 June 2010 6:37PM
I wish to view a channel 4 programme - 8pm 7/6/2010.
How do I go about it?
Briantist
Wednesday 9 June 2010 6:26AM
cavan adolphe: You can watch Dispatches on 4OD here - Dispatches - 4oD - Channel 4 .
Ahmad
Sunday 7 November 2010 11:39AM
Why it is not possible to watch BBC TV from Turkey whereas you say that BBC is everywhere that you are. I think you're TV is too limited and I never get it easily.
Mike Dimmick
Sunday 7 November 2010 9:07PM Reading
Ahmad: this is a UK-focused website. Producing TV has to be paid for by someone, and in the UK, the BBC is funded by UK licence payers. To reduce the cost to them, the programme's producers sell programmes overseas, but to be able to do this successfully, they require the BBC to restrict their broadcasts to the UK only. For foreign-made programmes shown by the BBC, the restrictions are so that the programmes can be sold to broadcasters in your country.

There may be a BBC World TV station, probably on satellite, showing some BBC content, but it will be a selection, not a copy of BBC One.
john gundry
Wednesday 22 December 2010 2:43PM Somerton
When is film4 going HD
Briantist
Wednesday 22 December 2010 3:02PM
john gundry: It's been HD on cable since 20th July.
German TV sucks
Friday 11 February 2011 8:03PM
Hello,
Even though I live outside the UK I would willingly pay the license fee as a "subscription" allowing me access to UK television via the internet.
A simple option to create an online account with See Saw or whoever to whom I would make an annual online transaction, just like any other subscription site.
I really wonder why this option does not exist!
There are tens of thousands of ex pats who would pay the license fee as a subscription.
Opening the availability for overseas viewing would allow See Saw to make a lot of money!
Briantist
Friday 11 February 2011 8:05PM
German TV sucks: I understand that the BBC are in the process of making the "Licence Fee" available outside the UK, with full access to the UK TV and radio services.
Jack
Thursday 10 March 2011 9:19PM
to "german tv sucks"

There are ways of accessing UK-only content through programs like Vidalia w/Torr plugin. Its slow, but works until you're able to pay, just google it.
nara steeples
Sunday 24 July 2011 2:52PM Sheffield
nara steeples
Sunday 24 July 2011 2:52PM Sheffield
nara steeples
Sunday 24 July 2011 2:53PM Sheffield
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