December 2009

As expected, the BBC governing body, the BBC Trust, has provisionally approved the BBC's further participation in Project Canvas, an initiative on which the corporation is partnering with UK public service broadcasters, ITV, Channel 4 and Five, and UK ISP's, BT and Talk Talk, in order to attempt to develop a common standard and interface for the delivery of online catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer, the ITV player and 4oD, as well as other Internet-based services (including VOD and interactive TV widgets), to broadband-connected Freeview and Freesat set-top boxes (note: the partn

MobileTribe--a company which describes itself as an enabler of cloud-based converged services across multiple screens and which recently announced the launch of a service that it bills as bringing online social networking to the Roku over-the-top-TV platform (see the article published on itvt.com, December 7th)--on Tuesday announced that the service now supports YouTube. The company previously announced support for Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, Google, Flickr, Picasa and Yahoo.

Current Media--the company founded by former vice president, Al Gore, and his business partner, Joel Hyatt, that operates Current TV, an interactive TV channel that has hitherto been devoted to short-form informational programs, dubbed "pods," around 30% of which are contributed by viewers via its Web site (note: the channel, whose distribution partners include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon, AT&T, BSkyB, Virgin Media, and Sky Italia, also invites viewers to help determine its programming schedule by voting for video submissions on its site)--has put plans to enter the Canadian market on hold, according to a report Tuesday by

Warner Music Group on Tuesday announced a deal with Hulu, the free, ad-supported broadband video venture co-owned by The Walt Disney Company (ABC), NBC Universal and News Corp. (Fox). According to the company, the deal--which follows a deal between Hulu and EMI Music that was announced last month (see the article published on itvt.com, November 18th)--will see it providing Hulu with music videos, artist interviews, live concert coverage and behind-the-scenes footage from its various artists and labels (note: WMG's labels include Atlantic Records, Rhino Records and Warner Bros. Records).

Digital TV client software provider, ANT, said Monday that it has partnered with set-top box manufacturer, Humax, to bring what it claims is the first Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) set-top box to market. According to the company, Humax has chosen the ANT Galio HbbTV platform for its new iCord HD+ satellite set-top, which began shipping to German retail outlets earlier this month. The box is billed as allowing viewers to access a range of hybrid services including ARD Mediathek, Tagesschau, ARTE, Internet radio, Maxdome and Wikipedia.

Hulu, the free, ad-supported broadband video venture co-owned by The Walt Disney Company (ABC), NBC Universal and News Corp. (Fox), contacted [itvt] Monday to let us know that it has beta-launched a Captions Search service that it says allows users to search the captioning of "thousands of videos from hundreds of shows" (including, for example, "Glee," "Modern Family," "30 Rock" and "The Colbert Report") on its platform.

Paris-based video-sharing site operator, Dailymotion, on Monday announced the launch in the Apple App Store of an iPhone/iPod touch app that incorporates both content channels and capabilities for creating and uploading videos. According to the company, the app allows users to search a library of over 12 million videos and to surf 14 themed channels, including Music, Film & TV, Funny, and Sports & Extreme, as well as lists of viral videos. It also lets users share videos with their friends, Dailymotion says, and access and manage their Dailymotion accounts. In addition, it allows iPhone 3GS users to record and upload videos straight from their handset to their accounts.