[Keith]

There has been a new FAST channel launched on iPlayer, the History Channel (not to be confused with the American channel of the same name, or the Sky-branded channel that uses the American one's branding).

On the iPlayer app, there is a warning on top of the page,  'Contains beahviour which could be imitated'. I'm not sure exactly what that is implying or where else that could be used - I'm not going to be imitating the Japanese armies of WW2 which looked to be on when I just checked.

There's another warning when pressing play that some archive content may contain offensive/outdated language.

twitter.com 

I wonder if this sort of iPlayer channel could be a pilot for if/when BBC Four closes, assuming that's still planned. Personally I'd still prefer an accompanying TV guide of sorts to know what's currently showing, how far into that item it is and when the next item starts. Good to see them trying out next things though.

[AverageOrangeTurnip]

I agree a TV Guide would be a good idea. When the idea of BBC Three going online was talked about years ago now, I always thought it was a shame it wasn't just like the TV station but only on iPlayer. Good to see the BBC experimenting with showcasing their catalogue.

[Happy2001]

I wonder if this sort of iPlayer channel could be a pilot for if/when BBC Four closes, assuming that's still planned. Personally I'd still prefer an accompanying TV guide of sorts to know what's currently showing, how far into that item it is and when the next item starts. Good to see them trying out next things though.

Whether a pilot or not, it's the second FAST channel launched in the past few weeks.
www.bbc.co.uk 

BBC iPlayer - Non-Stop Cartoons!
Toon in, kick back and relax to 100% cartoons all summer long.
  Source: www.bbc.co.uk

[James2001]

Surely they're not "FAST" channels, seeing as the A stands for "ad supported", which these definitely aren't.

[UTVLifer]

Surely they're not "FAST" channels, seeing as the A stands for "ad supported", which these definitely aren't.

Well I guess they are FST channels then - or live streaming.

[TIGHazard]

It seems these work by taking the existing iPlayer streams? On the current show "Around the World in 80 Treasures", there was brief snippet of ident and there's a BBC Four DOG on screen.

[tmf9]

It seems these work by taking the existing iPlayer streams? On the current show "Around the World in 80 Treasures", there was brief snippet of ident and there's a BBC Four DOG on screen.

That is typically how FAST channels work, they give the illusion of being linear channels but really just take the on demand versions and stream them in a linear like way. That's why most FAST channels don't have DOGs or other kinds of graphics unless they're burnt into the programme.

[Brekkie]

Didn't realise that but makes sense given the more tailored nature of the ads.

[Stooky Bill]

Whether a pilot or not, it's the second FAST channel launched in the past few weeks.
www.bbc.co.uk 

Annoyingly this only seems to be available on some devices, doesn't work on my Fire TV stick which is a shame

[Keith]

Annoyingly this only seems to be available on some devices, doesn't work on my Fire TV stick which is a shame

My Manhattan T3-R didn't like loading the history channel when I tried it the other night, and promptly crashed whilst attempting to play.