blinkx, the video search engine, has launched BBTV which stands for Broadband TV.  BBTV allows users to watch online television and search for related information about the video on the web.

The transmission is based on hybrid peer-to-peer streaming and leverages blinkx’s speech recognition technology to convert audio tracks to text.  The transcribed text powers the ability to search for information on web about the content being watched.  The BBTV users can find information about the video content such as actors, places, objects, spoken words or names  on Google, IMDB or any other related web site.

The other great thing about BBTV’s watching experience is the ability to jump to any section of video by clicking on any word within the transcribed audio track.

Currently, blinkx has a tie up with Dogwoof, a UK based film distributor for independent films and world cinema, for a movie channel.  They are planning to add more channels in the coming days.  blinkx is also working with other media and entertainment sites to leverage the BBTV platform.

The content BBTV will be monetized through contextual ads served using blinkx’s ad serving platform, Adhoc.

blinkx does have powerful video search technology which it is using to make the online video watching experience different from similar offerings by providing a layer of relevant information.  However, the key for blinkx will be to add more and more channels and content to its service so that the users don’t need to go to other sites for watching TV.

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