Game of Thrones premiere sets piracy record

HBO reported that 4.4 million viewers tuned in to the premier officially, another cool million were downloading the show illegally via torrents. That's a "mind-boggling" amount of downloads for one day, says piracy tracking blog TorrentFreak.

The US and UK were the top sources of torrent download requests, followed closely by Australia.

Game of Thrones was also the most pirated show of 2012, so these premiere figures come as no surprise.

Sky Go Extra download service to launch this week

Sky has confirmed that it will launch a new download service to allow subscribers to watch content offline on their smartphones and tablets.

The Sky Go Extra platform builds on the massively-successful Sky Go live streaming app and will offer unlimited downloads of popular movies and TV shows on to portable devices.

For £5 extra a month, existing Sky subscribers can download as much as their device will hold and each download will last for a month before expiring.

Up to four users per subscription will be able to make use of the service.

The broadcaster is also offering a two-month free trial to all subscribers in the hope of luring them away from the on-demand Netflix and Lovefilm platforms.

Sky's almighty array of new movies, which far outstrips any other UK provider's, will make Sky Go Extra an enticing prospect for subscribers who don't get much time to sit down in front of their TV sets.

Sky's Brand Director for TV products Luke Bradley-Jones said: "The way customers are thinking about the whole TV experience is changing again and it's ultimately all about the content - however people want to watch it."

The launch will make the complete Sky Go package much more iPlayer-like, with the ability to both stream live and download content for viewing at a later time on mobile devices.

BBC to allow mobile phone and tablet owners to download shows

The BBC is to allow people to download its shows to their mobile phones and tablets for the first time. It is hoped the move will avoid nightmare tales of holidaymakers accidentally racking up huge mobile phone bills while watching TV abroad. Now, they can simply download shows before they go Programmes to be made available for download from today on iPhones and iPads include Doctor Who. A version for Android handsets and tablets will be made available 'in the near future' The BBC also revealed new data about who was watching programmes on the move. It said children's content is particularly popular on tablets, as they are devices kids can sit and play with wherever. BBC Three comedy is popular on smart phones, and the corporation believes it is watched by young people while out and about or waiting for a bus or train. Daniel Danker, the BBC's general manager of on-demand programmes, said: 'This fundamentally changes one of the most annoying restrictions about viewing programmes. 'It means audiences are liberated from the constraints [of online-only viewing] and it fundamentally changes what it means to go on holiday.' 'With mobile downloads, you can now load up your mobile phone or tablet with hours and hours of BBC programmes, then watch them on the road, on the tube, on a plane, without worrying about having an internet connection or running up a mobile data bill.' Once downloaded, programmes will be available for 30 days, or within seven days of being watched. Up to 50 hours of TV will fit on a 16GB iPhone or iPad, or 25 hours of higher-definition content. Users must have a wi-fi connection to download BBC programmes, but will soon be able to select shows for offline viewing via a 3G mobile phone network. The iPlayer service has been a huge success, and the BBC says mobile requests for the iPlayer have leapt 142% in the past year to 30m a month. The iPad is now the second most popular way to watch the iPlayer, after the PC. The BBC has also made the service available via a plethora of other devices, from the Xbox 360 and PS3 games consoles to TV set top boxes such as the YouView service. source: dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2198028/BBC-allow-mobile-phone-tablet-owners-download-TV-shows.html#ixzz25V8KJsd4

Sky Anytime+ rolls out to everyone on any broadband package

Further to this previous post http://costablancasatellite.blogspot.com.es/2012/01/sky-anytime-to-offer-bbc-iplayer-and.html

Sky Anytime+ is now available to Sky subscribers on ANY broadband / ADSL package.

Previously the Sky Anytime+ service was only available to Sky Broadband users.

However, it has now been made available to ALL broadband users.

Sky Anytime+ allows you to selects a programme from the Sky library and download it. Within minutes you can be watching your selected programme.

Sky Anytime+ needs to be activated by contacting Sky, either via a phone call or by your "My Sky" account.

You will need to connect your Sky+HD box to your internet router, wait for your account ot be activated, and new tabs will appear on your Anytime menu.

Sky Anytime+ is designed for UK Sky users only. As per your Sky contract you should not be using your Sky card outside the UK and ROI. If you connect your Sky+HD box to the router and download via Sky Anytime+ then it is possible that Sky will notice you are connecting from a Spanish IP address and your subscription may be cancelled. It may be possible to route the SKy+HD box through a PC running a Hide IP address, like Expat Shield, to "fool" Sky into thinking you are connecting via a UK Internet server.