According to reports on Digital Spy, BBC programme director for IPTV, Richard Halton has revealed that the IPTV joint venture Project Canvas is aiming for a 2010 launch date.
Project Canvas, which is being strongly resisted by Sky, is the BBC, BT, ITV and Five-led project which aims to develop a new standard for the delivery of on-demand TV content (often referred to as “catch up TV”) to broadband-enabled Freeview set top boxes.
The Trust has now set a deadline of September 1 for stakeholders to respond to the report, but Halton believes there is a “real opportunity” that Canvas boxes will reach the market in 2010. Speaking in an interview with Digital Spy, he said: “If Canvas is successful, then it represents a massive opportunity for content providers, particularly new players who will never get anywhere near the television because of the costs of doing something on a linear channel”
Halton’s optimise may prove unfounded as the project faces major technology integration challenges as well as stiff opposition from Sky, who see it as anti-competitive. What is clear however, is that Project Canvas would make Freeview a much more compelling consumer proposition. BBCiPlayer on Virgin Media for example, is already proving to be a major attraction.
But the difficulty may well come in the implementation – Project Canvas requires a new generation of Freeview boxes, which are likely to cost up to £200 and will require plugging into an ethernet connection. So households will have to ensure that they have a home phone socket close to their Freeview box. As a result a simple self-install seems unlikely for many households.
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