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Dr Who episodes to premiere on iView

ABC fast-tracks new episodes of Dr Who to iView ahead of their TV premiere.

Geronimo!

ABC will premiere the first episode of season seven of Doctor Who – ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ on iview Sunday September 2 from 5.10am AEST immediately after its UK launch on September 1.

The new series then starts on ABC1 the following Saturday September 8 at 7.30pm EST, and is also repeated on ABC2 from Tuesday September 11 at 9.30pm EST.

ABC1 Controller Brendan Dahill said, “For Doctor Who fans, it is a fantastic opportunity to see new episodes within hours of them premiering in the UK – each episode will be available on iview on Sundays.

“ABC’s iview is the most watched catch-up service in Australia with 48% of online Australians aged 16+ having accessed iview,” said Dahill. “The new iview app for iphones and iPod Touch, launched on June 26, has seen a phenomenal 434,000 downloads recorded to date – with 210,000 downloads recorded in its first week.”

Each episode will be available for 14 days on iView.

21 Responses

  1. All tv networks need to take note of this. This is precisely how to combat online piracy and keep your viewers with your brand. Bravo to both the ABC and BBC for working together and making this possible!

  2. Cool.

    However how about we get a HD iView player?

    So it doesn’t look like garbage on my giant TV.

    Catching up on stuff like Media Watch on iView. I do notice how bad the picture quality is. They really need to see about upgrading that.

  3. Nice to see that the ABC and BBC could finally come to an agreement and cut Australian fans a bit of slack (sorry Kiwis but at least its only a couple of weeks this time). This won’t hurt ratings in fact it should help – it would be naive to think Whovians and other “Who” fans weren’t already watching this show on the net – at least now they can do it and be loyal to their home channel.
    Now we just need to get the good Doctor to visit Aus and the Moff (or Chris Chibnall or whoever runs the show next) to film out here. Good to see too that Pond Life (the five mini eps are able to be viewed by Aussies too).

  4. Bravo to the ABC for trying this. It’s going to be interesting to see the various numbers. Perhaps this the first step to online viewings being incorporated into ratings?

  5. We need to make a point of watching it on iView that first day. They’ll surely be watching closely.

    It’s obviously easier for a commercial-free network to do this, and for a show with such net-savvy fans as Doctor Who, but good on them.

    Apart from anything else, they spend a lot of money licensing the show, so glad to see they’re maximizing the investment.

    Any word on ABC’s plans for HD iView? It’s inevitable once bandwidth catches up.

  6. Great news, just a pity the iview quality wasn’t just a bit better. I’ll just have to watch “Asylum Seekers of the Daleks” again a week later!

  7. The ABC leading the way again and leaving the commercial networks for dead. Seven and Nine still pretend that the internet doesn’t exist. If only there was a third commercial network that targeted a younger, tech-savvy demo, engaged with them, listened to feedback, understood their desires, and attempted to meet those desires. Alas, there is just 7 and 9.

  8. Well done ABC.
    Sept is a big month for returning UK and US series… this is one less thing I’ll have to get from the dark parts of the web… well, I might have been able to wait a week for Dr Who… but this is perfect.

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