BT will launch BT TV on 15 October, a service that puts live television, streaming apps and premium content onto the same box and runs on the company's broadband. The bundle pulls together the three things BT now sells to households, broadband, TV and mobile, and customers can take all three together. BT calls it one of the few bundles that combines live sport, live TV and streaming in a single package.
Two boxes carry the service. The BT TV Box Pro can record more than 600 hours of programming and lets viewers pause and rewind live television. The BT TV Box Edge is aimed at people who mainly stream, and it stores on-demand and catch-up shows. A single search runs across the services on offer, so viewers do not have to hunt through each app separately.
BT is pitching the launch as an answer to app and subscription overload, and says customers get to choose how they watch. The company describes the arrival as a milestone for the BT brand and part of a multi-brand strategy, and says the service supports the future of UK television. Luciano Oliveira, Managing Director Products, Consumer at BT, said the aim was to remove the maze: "Finding something great to watch shouldn’t mean navigating a maze of apps, subscriptions and devices. We’ve designed BT TV to bring customers’ entertainment and sport together, making it easier to find what they love, and giving them the freedom to watch live, record their favourites and catch-up when it suits them. Combined with BT broadband, it gives customers a simpler, more complete connected experience from the provider they know and trust."
The announcement sets out no price or monthly cost for BT TV, and it names no broadband speed tiers or device compatibility details.
The launch follows BT's relaunch of BT Mobile in May, which was offered to broadband customers and presented as a joined-up broadband and mobile proposition. BT has also been running a security campaign around its broadband business since September.
For households weighing up whether to add another subscription, the pitch is consolidation rather than more content: one provider and one search alongside the broadband connection they already have. Whether that is enough to pull viewers away from the apps they already pay for will depend on details BT has yet to publish, starting with the price.
