BT Vision to offer concert footage

BT Vision will offer material from over 500 bands, including Franz Ferdinand

BT is to make concerts available for download for its broadband customers this August.

The company has signed a deal with I-concerts and Eagle Rock, two of the largest media providers, to allow users of its next-generation BT Vision service to download concert footage.

The deal will allow access to material from over 500 bands, including Franz Ferdinand, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel and Sheryl Crow.

"These important deals will allow us to bring concerts that would otherwise be very difficult or impossible to find on broadcast television to a wide audience on attractive terms and with high quality picture and sound," said Dan Marks, chief executive of BT Television Services.

"Unlike many other current entertainment offerings, BT Vision will be offered nationwide and there will be no mandatory subscription."

This latter point could make a big difference to other players in the next-generation TV market, since pricing details are fluid and it is not yet known what the market will pay for such services.

Today's announcement builds on BT Vision's existing agreements with some of the world's biggest entertainment companies including BBC Worldwide, Paramount, Warner Music Group, National Geographic Channel and Turner Broadcasting.

Andrew Winter, director of TV sales at Eagle Rock, said that he was pleased with the deal and predicted "the beginning of a new way of bringing music concerts directly to consumers".