C4 unsure about Canvas participation

Monday, June 22 2009, 09:25 BST

By Andrew Laughlin and James Welsh

The online aggregation of broadcast television content available on demand, including its presentation through organised platforms such as that being developed by Project Canvas, is "not a slam dunk", Channel 4 head of online products Richard Davidson-Houston has told Digital Spy.

Davidson-Houston revealed that C4 is "talking to lots of people" about future partnerships. However, he said that this links into the debate about whether a single entity should aggregate all VOD content through an overall EPG.

"This is interesting because if you aggregate VOD then someone gets a share of it. As long as ITV does their thing, the BBC is doing theirs and we are doing ours, then that's all well and good. But if someone aggregates all of the above, then they are obviously going to take some of the value. It's such an interesting moment to see who goes first. No one can aggregate VOD without the content; Hulu can't, neither can YouTube or anyone else. It just seems to me that all the broadcasters must be thinking; 'should we, shouldn't we?'

He added: "One of the key questions is whether there is a consumer problem. Are consumers finding it difficult to find Britain's Got Talent or Inbetweeners on demand? Not really. Would it be even easier if aggregated? Possibly. Can we aggregate just using metadata through some sort of fantastic EPG? Yes. It's a very interesting moment that will play out over the next six months, but VOD aggregation is not a slam dunk."

Davidson-Houston also pointed out that the BBC, ITV and BT joint venture Project Canvas taps into another "interesting question" about a possible future "open platform" for IPTV. For him, though, the most pertinent thing about Canvas is "whether it actually happens or not" after the failure of Kangaroo.

"Canvas is definitely an interesting prospect. Would Channel 4 go for it? I don't know. It's certainly on agendas here," he explained. "It comes back to the VOD aggregation question. There is obviously a massive appetite for VOD, but its early days and there are all these major questions: is aggregation important? What platforms will be used? How will security be maximised? What about rights and piracy? So it's a great place to be working right now."

In terms of future initiatives for Channel 4 online, Davidson-Houston said that the "next wave of development" will mean bringing social features into VOD.

"The main benefit of social media is that you can connect with friends who are saying what they're doing and that's a way to guide you. As usual, iPlayer will be doing this fairly soon. I don't know what they're planning but you would have to be absolutely mad not to look at existing social networks. It's not going to happen this year for us, as I know my budget and I know that I can't afford it, but it just seems the inevitable next wave of development."

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitaltv/a161390/c4-unsure-about-canvas-participation.html