Microsoft is launching a free video service in the UK that will be focused on streaming full-length television shows. Dubbed the MSN Video Player, and powered by Flash and Windows Media Video, the service will go into a six-month trial version next week. While it’s quite surprising that Microsoft is not using Silverlight, there are whispers that this will change if the service ever moves out of trial. The move comes right before the company kills off Soapbox, its would-be YouTube competitor that never made it out of beta, at the end of next month.
The MSN Video Player will launch with over 300 hours of content both old and new from BBC Worldwide and All3Media, including shows such as Shameless, Peep Show, League of Gentlemen, Hotel Babylon, The Young Ones, Hustle, Dead Ringers, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Jack Dee Live at the Apollo, and The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Programs will not, however, appear on the MSN service right after airing. Users will have to wait until the online catch-up TV window on broadcasters’ own websites expires, which can range from a week to six months.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Ars Technica
