BSkyB’s TV-on-demand service “Sky Player” will soon be accessible via Cello TVs and 3view set-top boxes. Non-Sky customers can sign up to monthly packages; existing Sky subscribers will receive free access.

March 25, 2010 — Sky content will soon be available via TVs from Cello Electronics and set-top boxes from 3view. Northern England–based Cello Electronics made a stir recently by offering the first TVs to be able to access BBC iPlayer. A statement released today suggests that new models will combine this feature with Sky Player, which claims to deliver the UK’s most comprehensive selection of video-on-demand content. Together, the two systems would provide users with access to a vast library of films, documentaries, and entertainment programmes.

Existing Sky customers will be able to access the Sky Player service for free, as they can already do via a PC; new customers will be able to sign up to a TV package as a monthly subscription — without having a Sky-branded set-top box installed. Similar functionality will be available via 3view’s set-top boxes, whose capabilities will include access to YouTube and Facebook, according to a company announcement earlier this month.

Expected to hit the shelves this spring, this 3view set-top box will be able to receive Freeview HD broadcasts as well as accessing the TV-on-demand services BBC iPlayer and Sky Player.