International Broadcasters go Online

The last week has seen announcements from two of the largest European broadcasters that they were making a major push into IPTV.
   Sky TV, a major UK pay TV and satellite service, said it would soon launch a new internet TV service, aimed at reaching those British households not already subscribing to their service.  The new service will be accessible from multiple platforms, and will initially offer movies on a video-on-demand platform, with sports and entertainment options to be added later.  In the early movies-on-demand phase, it will compete in the UK with Amazon subsidiary Lovefilm and the new Netflix UK service.
  German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle DW) also announced its plans to develop a new online presence, as well as an all-English language channel.  The new DW website is designed to function as a multilingual, multimedia news and information portal.

"The new website encompasses everything that DW has to offer - articles, audio, video and interactive content," said Deutsche Welle Director General Erik Bettermann. "dw.de is a source of reliable information from Germany and high-quality journalistic content in 30 languages. A refreshing color concept and modern design give the site a friendly face."

The new English language channel will be broadcast to North America, Africa, Asia, and Australia, and will integrate a strong news emphasis along with increased use of programming from German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.  It will most likely show up as a cable/satellite channel offering, as well as a streaming service.

Sources - Sky will launch an internet based TV service in the UK in the first half of 2012,  Engadget
New TV Program, Website from DW,  Mediacaster