Five becomes first UK broadcaster to offer live streaming football via iPhone app

UK public service broadcaster Five has partnered with online video specialist Livestation to offer live streaming of Europa League football via Apple’s iPhone.

30 September 2009

The application allows live viewing of every one of Five’s Thursday-night fixtures throughout the 2009-10 season, plus highlights of each week’s competition, for a one-off fee of £3.99.

The app, beta tested earlier this month, works via both wifi and 3G connections. It goes live in time for this Thursday’s (1 October) tie between Celtic and Rapid Vienna at Parkhead.

Five’s Head of Digital Media, Jonathan Lewis, heralded the app as the most inexpensive way for UK football fans to watch European games live on mobile.

“We’re offering a genuine service to football fans. The app, which delivers the highest video quality seen on mobile so far, is attractively priced and means never having to miss a minute of the live action when you’re on the move.

“It also exemplifies Five’s strategy to extend the reach of our long-form, ad-supported video content to as many platforms as possible, with the aim of generating additional incremental advertising revenues.”

Five already has the most ambitious content distribution strategy of any UK commercial broadcaster. In addition to its online catch-up TV service Demand Five, it is constructing content driven vertical portals, including Holy Soap and FiveFWD, that are aimed at precise demographics.

In addition, Five has become the latest partner in Project Canvas, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV and BT to deliver broadband-connected television to the living room. It is also the first broadcaster to announce plans to explore participation in a similar VOD service from Sony Bravia.

For more information about the app, follow this link:



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For further information, contact:

Five: Paul Tyrrell on 07971 020514 or Andrew Sholl on 07736 364 656 Daniel Adams at Livestation on 020 7579 8358 or daniel.adams@livestation.com


Five’s Europa League coverage
The Europa League is the exciting successor to the UEFA Cup competiton, Five has live and exclusive terrestrial rights to the tournament from the group stages to the final in Hamburg next May. The coverage is presented by Colin Murray, with expert analysis from former top players Pat Nevin and Stan Collymore and former England manager Graham Taylor. Peugeot Motor Company has secured exclusive sponsorship rights for the competition for its Peugeot Van Range.



About Livestation
Livestation is the online destination for global TV and radio news, offering international channels from Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, BBC, C-SPAN, Deutsche Welle, euronews, ITN, France 24, Press TV and Russia Today. The Livestation service can be accessed via a browser or via a desktop player which integrates with the latest and most popular social networking trends, offering users the ability to share, chat, and take control of their viewing experience. Livestation is also offering some of its partner channels on the iPhone. For more information please visit www.livestation.com or email leads@livestation.com

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Tags

live streaming, Football on Five, Europa League, Five, iphone