Take A Look at Project Canvas
It is now possible to get an initial view of the likely user experience within Project Canvas, the on-demand TV partnership between the BBC, ITV, Five and BT.
The BBC Trust has yet to approve the project, but has decided it does not need to conduct a full market impact assessment. BSkyB has been a long-standing critic of Project Canvas and the project may yet face further regulatory or legal challenges once “Trust-approved.”
The website begins to justify Canvas thus: “There is no current agreed industry standard for internet-connected TV devices. An agreed standard, freely published, would allow any consumer electronics manufacturer to build devices: creating an open, competitive market. Adopting a technical standard is an essential pre-cursor to the Canvas project.”
The current free to air television platforms Freeview and Freesat “have been unable to evolve and keep up with technical innovation in the consumer electronics industry”. Further, “internet services need to have a commercial relationship with the TV platform to obtain a route to the shared screen”.
Delays to this, and the extension meanwhile of alternative systems, means that network connected television devices could ultimately prosper based on existing standards. Project Canvas was first proposed in Autumn 2008, and the target date for launch was this Christmas. By the time it finally launches (late next year?) upgraded receivers will be on the market from Freeview and Freesat too.
All partners in the project are set to have an equal share in the business. The cost is estimated at £115 million over four years.
Recent research from Screen Digest claimed that an open IPTV platform like Project Canvas could reach 3.5 million homes by 2014.