Project Canvas Slammed By Virgin Media Boss
Project Canvas has been beset by problems since its inception, and now to add to them Virgin Media chief executive, Neil Berkett has slammed the BBC for its handling of Project Canvas. At the Cable Congress held in Brussels he said that the consultation on the UK based catch up tv service was “a shameless whitewash in terms of any form of governance.” He continued that the BBC Trust is “incapable of regulating the BBC’s activities in an objective way”. His attack follows criticism from rival satellite broadcaster Sky TV.
Virgin Attack Project Canvas
He continued:- “The BBC Trust has stubbornly ignored all requests to address our concerns by imposing safeguards to prevent the BBC emerging as de facto gatekeeper of the digital world. This is a blatant demonstration that the Trust is incapable of regulating the BBC’s activities in an objective way.” He also raised concerns that if Canvas becomes a single branded interface, controlled by the BBC, it will “significantly distort the market, restrict consumer choice and chill private sector investment.”
Virgin Media meanwhile is continuing with its own online tv project based on software with a Flash based user interface from TiVo. The aim is to roll this out by the end of the year, which funnily enough is when Project Canvas is set to launch.
In reply to the accusations, the BBC Trust said its assessment of Canvas has been rigorous and given ample opportunity for comment. It gave the project its provisional approval at the end of last year, subject to a further period of consultation. It is then expected to grant final approval for the BBC run project plan to ‘control’ the video on demand market which will include the iPlayer, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT and TalkTalk.
It is hard to know what the real problem is when all the criticism coming the BBC’s way is from rivals in Sky and Virgin who are likely to lose a big chunk of the market if Canvas is adopted. For me the project will help revolutionise tv watching and guess what? It will be free.
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[...] Project Canvas has been beset by problems since its inception, and now to add to them Virgin Media chief executive, Neil Berkett has slammed the BBC for its handling of Project Canvas. At the Cable Congress held in Brussels he said that the consultation on the UK based catch up tv service was View the Original article [...]
[...] national markets. The criticism is similar to that received by Youview (formerly Project Canvas) by Virgin Media and [...]