BBC's Project Canvas To Be Delayed Till 2011

The Head of future media and technology at the BBC, Erik Huggers, has announced that the Project Canvas will be delayed by almost a year as it is stuck in the approval process.

The much vaunted Project Canvas is a collaboration effort between BBC, ITV, Five and BTV and is designed to provide on-demand content to Freesat and Freeview services.

Huggers said that the project was being reviewed by the BBC Trust and expressed his eagerness to get the approval as soon as possible.

The joint video-on-demand service will allow the user to view programs from a number of program makers through a set top-box which will be internet-enabled as well.

The estimated cost of Project canvas is set at £6 million over a period of 5 years. Incidentally BBC has spent almost £1 million on developing the platform for the service.

However, the project has been actively criticised by Sky Networks which claims that BBC is utilizing public money to establish a dominating presence in the video-on-demand market with the intention of uprooting its competition.

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The network, in a statement, declared that BBC-driven Project Canvas should not be given a green light. The network also claimed that the membership in the venture has remained exclusive.

Meanwhile, Huggers is looking for a Christmas launch of the service if the BBC trust approves the project early.