The BBC Trust has told the BBC to go back and provide a more detailed proposal for its Canvas open IPTV VOD idea, after some companies who fed in to the trust’s seven-week consultation complained the specification lacked clarity. It means the next step – a second consultation – will be delayed, but a new timetable has not yet been published. The trust wants more information on…
— The choice of technical standards for Canvas
— The way in which the BBC will work with industry bodies
— Control of the electronic programme guide
— Governance arrangements for the joint venture
— The use of editorial controls
The BBC wants Canvas to be an industry-wide scheme to jointly deliver VOD to pay-TV refuseniks with broadband-connected set-top boxes and TVs; ITV (LSE: ITV) and BT (NYSE: BT) are already on board. The proposal was published in February but has left some in the industry scratching their heads on what exactly Canvas will be…
For instance, there was spartan detail around a mention of “payment” for some content, it’s unclear whether it will deliver internet video from sites like YouTube and though the proposal aimed to “create a standards-based open environment for internet-connected television”, BBC IPTV director Richard Halton said in March: