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Channel 4 and TalkTalk join Project Canvas
17 Dec 2009 | 13.30 Europe/London
Project Canvas can now boast of two major new partners. Broadcaster, Channel 4 and ISP, TalkTalk have joined the project which is aimed at creating a television platform which combines Freeview (and possibly pay per view) broadcasting with internet video content.
Channel 4 and TalkTalk join the BBC, ITV, Five and BT meaning that all public service broadcasters (the main terrestrial brands) and the country’s two largest ISPs are now signed up to developing the platform.
Project canvas key for free-to-air future
In a statement confirming the move, TalkTalk predicted that internet-connected television is broadcasting’s next major development and that Project Canvas is central to the long-term future of subscription free viewing.
Channel 4 has also confirmed the move with Gill Pritchard, Director of Strategy, claiming it cements the broadcaster’s history of support internet entertainment.
“Channel 4 has always been at the forefront of on-demand viewing and was the first broadcaster to make its content available on an on-demand basis when it launched 4oD in December 2006,” she said.
“IPTV is set to become the next generation of TV and if Channel 4 is to continue to enhance its importance in a fully converged world it is key to be part of driving Project Canvas. We believe that Project Canvas is an important development that will bring considerable benefits to all viewers, increasing the accessibility of on-demand content for everyone, not just the technologically savvy.”
Welcome by some, not others
The broadcaster and ISP were welcomed to the Project Canvas fold by the platform’s project director, Richard Halton, who predicted it will help “secure the future of free-to-air broadcasting”.
One company which will not be welcoming the news is Sky. It has repeatedly called for the BBC Trust to end the project, citing that it is wrong a publicly funded body should be playing a major role in developing a new television platform.
The Project Canvas team have fought back claiming that it is an open platform which Sky is more than welcome to join.
If cleared by regulators, Project Canvas could launch next year in time to have a box ready for the high street before Christmas 2010.
Channel 4 and TalkTalk join the BBC, ITV, Five and BT meaning that all public service broadcasters (the main terrestrial brands) and the country’s two largest ISPs are now signed up to developing the platform.
Project canvas key for free-to-air future
In a statement confirming the move, TalkTalk predicted that internet-connected television is broadcasting’s next major development and that Project Canvas is central to the long-term future of subscription free viewing.
Channel 4 has also confirmed the move with Gill Pritchard, Director of Strategy, claiming it cements the broadcaster’s history of support internet entertainment.
“Channel 4 has always been at the forefront of on-demand viewing and was the first broadcaster to make its content available on an on-demand basis when it launched 4oD in December 2006,” she said.
“IPTV is set to become the next generation of TV and if Channel 4 is to continue to enhance its importance in a fully converged world it is key to be part of driving Project Canvas. We believe that Project Canvas is an important development that will bring considerable benefits to all viewers, increasing the accessibility of on-demand content for everyone, not just the technologically savvy.”
Welcome by some, not others
The broadcaster and ISP were welcomed to the Project Canvas fold by the platform’s project director, Richard Halton, who predicted it will help “secure the future of free-to-air broadcasting”.
One company which will not be welcoming the news is Sky. It has repeatedly called for the BBC Trust to end the project, citing that it is wrong a publicly funded body should be playing a major role in developing a new television platform.
The Project Canvas team have fought back claiming that it is an open platform which Sky is more than welcome to join.
If cleared by regulators, Project Canvas could launch next year in time to have a box ready for the high street before Christmas 2010.