Sony to launch Channel 5 on-demand TV

Channel 5 programmes will be available on demand via certain Sony televisions and Blu-ray players from early next year.

The broadcaster, now known as Five, has become the first in the UK to sign up to Sony's Bravia Internet Video service, which allows some Sony products to stream videos via a broadband internet connection.

Five said it had signed an agreement to "explore participating" in the service, while Sony said it was "initially on a trial basis". Computeractive understands that the trial will run for at least two years.

Sony described the deal as a "first step toward building an advanced TV viewing experience" and said that the Bravia Internet Video service would " free viewers from the limitations of TV scheduling".

Charles Constable, Director of Strategy at Five, said the channel "looks forward to working with Sony to explore and learn from the exciting opportunity to bring on-demand content to the television in the home".

The service will also be able to display videos from websites such as YouTube. Rival manufacturer Samsung today announced that YouTube videos would be available to view on all its Blu-ray players other than the BD-P1580 via a firmware update.