Net TV (or IPTV) is Coming - Project Canvas Approved Today

What is Project Canvas and Net TV / IPTV Going to Mean?

Oh dear. No, I'm not crying over BSykyB or Virgin who are unhappy about the prospect of a subscription free TV service that will let you watch mainstream schedules (BBC, ITV etc), alongside on demand TV, cable, satellite, YouTube, terrestial etc. Oh, and in HD. Oh, and let you do all your tweeting and facebooking too (should the living room laptop breakdown). For that is what Project Canvas promises, and the first consumers should see it in 2010 for a one-off set-top box price of around £200! No subscriptions.

No, my "oh dear" is that there is yet another reason to either mourn the purchase of that snazzy new Christmas TV gadget (HD receiver, recorder etc.), because it may be redundant within as little as 12 months. Or, if one is lucky enough not to have bought it yet, because this provides another reason to delay purchase and stick with last year's features.

When To Buy That Humax Freesat+ HD Recorder?

I've been wondering when to buy myself a Freesat enabled HD receiver/recorder (such as the Humax FOXSAT-HDR Freesat+ PVR) and ditch my Sky "pay once, watch forever" box. This announcement kills that idea for me. At least until the Canvas Specs have made their way into a software upgrade that shows it can do all the necessary tricks. I shall wait and see.

I'm not a TV addict, I love the internet more, and my online TV guide has had tempting little "watch now" links on the schedule for ages. I've just not wanted to click them and watch TV on my laptop (excepting FlashForward), but that time is ending.

Within a year or so, my Internet TV watching and my normal TV will begin to dissolve into a single activity, made seamless by integration on a single platform (the set-top boxes arriving alongside Project Canvas). My TV watching will become more and more Internet, less and less 'schedule.' Project Canvase will, without doubt, redefine TV in an even bigger way than happened with cable or freeview.

BBC News gives a quick summary of the announcement (Trust gives green light to net TV), from which the following is quoted. These are the conditions on the BBC's participation:

• The core technical specification must be published well in advance to allow manufacturers to adapt to the Canvas standard

• Other content providers must have access to the platform.

• Any quality standards for internet service providers must be applied on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory basis.

• A Trust review, 12 months after its launch, will assess the effects Canvas has on the partner's incentives to syndicate their content to other platforms.

• The platform must remain accessible without a subscription.

• The BBC must return for further approval if costs exceed those projected by more than 20% in any one year.

• The BBC must report on whether the proposed accessibility features, such as audio description, have been incorporated. The Trust will review the signposting of content and parental controls.

As you can see, the "conditions" placed on the BBC are hardly restricting at all, and I imagine will likely infuriate Virgin and BSkyB. If there's a legal avenue I expect they'll challenge this, but have no idea whether there is anything they can do that will change or delay this 'terraforming' TV development.

The full announcement from the BBC Trust is also available (BBC Trust gives provisional approval to Project Canvas).

No new set-top TV toys for me in the January sales then.

Any thoughts? Please leave a comment.

Mark