BBC Trust rejects Project Marquee proposal

The BBC Trust has rejected the corporation’s proposals to share its iPlayer service with other broadcasters, saying it is “too complicated” to assess.

In a statement released today, the Trust said it backed the basic principle of the Project Marquee – which would allow third parties to run their own version of the iPlayer – but complained that the plans didn’t offer enough “transparency” around how the commercial and public services propositions would be connected.

Diana Coyle, a BBC trustee, said: “We didn’t see how we could do a thorough assessment in the way that we normally do.”   However, the Trust didn’t rule out the proposals altogether but suggested that the BBC should spend time “devising a simpler proposal”.

The BBC had hoped to launch a VoD listings website with links to a range of online public service and commercial content on other broadcaster’s websites as well as licensing iPlayer technology to broadcasters on a commercial basis.

However, the Trust has urged the BBC to ditch the idea of a shared listings page and instead focus on licensing the technology to third party broadcasters on a “simple and fair” basis.

It also said it is prepared to consider a new public service proposal for the iPlayer as part of its ongoing review of the BBC.

However, the Trust’s initial rejection marks another setback for the BBC’s partnership proposals, which has also seen Project Canvas – its joint IPTV venture with ITV, BT and Five – run into difficulties following complaints from other parties including Sky.