By Patrick Avenell

SYDNEY, NSW: Sony Computer Entertainment has today claimed responsibility for an upswing in interest in the ABC’s iView feature. The Japanese entertainment specialist said the new IPTV feature for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) now accounts for almost 30 per cent of all visits.

In a release to media, Sony reported that iView experienced a surge in visits in the first week of PlayTV sales, with visitors to the site jumping from 263,000 to 318,000. This equates to a rise of just over 20 per cent over the seven days. Furthermore, Sony states that 115,000 visits to the site were through the PlayStation 3 console.

Talking about this is Sony managing director Michael Ephraim.

“It’s great to see that offering catch up TV services through PS3 has not just moved eyeballs from the PC to the TV, but importantly has grown the audience for the ABC iView service,” Emphraim said.

“The incremental nature of the increase in ABC iView viewers proves that there is strong consumer demand for IPTV services and a willingness to embrace more flexibility and choice in accessing network content.

“We’re thrilled to work with ABC TV to be the first to offer this service to the 690,000 Australian consumers who currently own a PS3 and will continue to lead the charge in delivering catch up services into the home on the TV in 2010.

“Whilst the numbers tell the success story, we have also installed an additional 15,000 PS3 consoles into Australian homes since the arrival of our TV on demand offers and we’re also receiving some fantastic feedback from consumers.

“PS3 owners are enjoying playing catch up on over 100 diverse ABC shows streamed to their big screen TVs in the optimised format that only PlayStation can deliver.

“We expect that in the lead up to Christmas, more and more Australians will see PS3 as the only real contender for pride of place in their living room as the full home entertainment solution for the whole family, where the game is just the start of the PlayStation experience.

“Our new TV on demand services, which also now include PlayTV and access to Freeview free to view digital channels, combined with Blu-ray playback, picture storage and display, VidZone free music video streaming and so much more, enables PS3 to bring more entertainment on demand to the living room than any other device on the market.”