It really has been a busy few days, but one thing I was pleased to see happen was that Project Canvas – now YouView – will not be investigated by Ofcom.
This is the IP connected TV service, that Sky and Virgin Media had both been very keen to stop. Their problem was basically that it’s a competitor. Even as Sky develops its own Anytime+ service which will be rolling out to some users very soon, they realise that they’re limited in what they can offer and to who. Constrained by the lack of a return path, and the inability to use the vast bandwidth they’d need if every one of their customers wanted to stream different programmes at different times, they instead thrown their legal might behind trying to get it stopped.
Of course, even if they had managed to slow things up, it’d be pointless. Apple TV is out already – even if it has basically nothing available to UK users aside from film rentals. And Google TV is just around the corner. YouView will compete in this field. Who doesn’t want a box that offers Freeview+ service, is IP connected to allow viewers to watch the BBC iPlayer, ITV player, 4OD and so-on, as well as offering the ability to buy programmes?
You can see why Sky feels threatened.
That’s why it’s even more entertaining to read that now it’s happening, that Sky wants a piece of the action! But if it’s happening anyway, it’s probably better for them to be on the inside. Personally I think it’ll be very exciting and allow lots of people to monetise their programming in interesting new ways. And that includes audio by the way.