This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Media
OFT won’t investigate Project Canvas
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 20 May 2010
The Office Of Fair Trading has said it will not investigate Project Canvas, the previously reported collaboration between the BBC, ITV and BT, and others, to develop a standard platform for providing video-on-demand services to Freeview and Freesat viewers. The project has been criticised by some, most notably Sky and Virgin, who offer rival VoD platforms, who say that for so many broadcasters and net firms to collaborate is anti-competitive.
However, while the OFT did step in when the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 tried to actually go into business together and launch a jointly owned VoD service (what eventually became SeeSaw, but without direct BBC, ITV or C4 involvement because of OFT and Competition Commission concerns), they seem to have no problem with those companies and others collaborating on VoD standards, which means that tech companies can more easily make set-top boxes that will work with all network’s on-demand services.
The difference, the OFT says, is that Project Canvas is just a technology-based collaboration, and not an actual VoD service that will utilise BBC, ITV and C4 content archives. It was the market dominance those broadcaster’s archives could deliver that raised competition concerns with SeeSaw.
Virgin Media have already criticised the ruling, and Sky presumably will follow suit anytime now.
