BBC World Service launches its first live IPTV service with news bulletins from BBC Russian on Dozhd TV

BBC World Service has launched its first Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service with live bulletins in Russian.  BBC Russian’s 10-minute IPTV news bulletins are to be broadcast Monday to Friday via Russia’s 24-hour live IPTV channel, Dozhd TV, and also will be available via the website bbcrussian.com.

While BBC World Service offers its TV programming online, the BBC Russian IPTV news bulletins are a first for the World Service as content produced as IPTV operation, from production to distribution, with no traditional transmission infrastructure.  Streamed direct from London to Moscow via a high-speed internet connection, these broadcasts allow BBC World Service to offer broadcast-quality bulletins without the costs of a traditional TV transmission.

Since moving all its output online, bbcrussian.com has increased its reach by about 160% year on year according to figures for January 2012.

Moscow-based Dozhd TV broadcasts live 24 hours a day as an IPTV channel as well as via satellite, cable, mobile TV, and internet-enabled TV.  BBC Russian will air on Dozhd TV – tvrain.ru – Monday to Friday with a look at the day’s top story, and a full 10-minute bulletin of the day’s main news.  The bulletin will then be available via the website bbcrussian.com.