BBC iPlayer content available to Search, Browse and access from Catch-Up EPG on Virgin Media's TiVo

One of the best features about Virgin Media's TiVo is the 7 day Catch EPG, allowing easy access to VOD content previously shown on four of the five terrestrial channels. However, the EPG didn't allow you to access content from the most popular UK VOD service of all - BBC iPlayer. Until now.

As revealed early this morning by Virgin Media Staff employee and Cable Forum poster BenMcr, the Catch-Up EPG will soon link directly to related content on BBC iPlayer.

Virgin have since been dispatching messages to TiVo boxes informing customers of this, and the fact that BBC iPlayer content will also appear in the On-Demand menus as well as in TiVo's search results. Links and messages have also appeared in TiVo's Discovery Bar.

At the moment, the links to BBC iPlayer from the Catch-Up aren't visible (not for me anyway, they should be available pretty soon now), but I can locate iPlayer content on the On-Demand menu:

The impending arrival of iPlayer content on Virgin's TiVo follows the BBC's earlier decision to enforce their syndication policy which prevents platforms from creating their own versions of the BBC iPlayer. This meant that for TiVo, Virgin had to use the BBC-endorsed Flash-based App and all access to iPlayer content had to be via that App. However, Virgin had hoped to restore direct access from the Catch-Up EPG to iPlayer content and it appears they've now got their wish.