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BBC Trust 'to approve Canvas' The BBC Trust is reportedly poised to greenlight controversial web-to-TV project Canvas – a move that will no doubt anger commercial players in the UK pay-TV sector. The Trust will tomorrow publish its provisional conclusions on the BBC Executive's application to join the joint venture project, including a public value assessment and market impact assessment. However, UK newspaper the Financial Times this morning reported that these conclusions would support the project, which will bring internet services such as the iPlayer to the television set. As well as the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Five, BT and TalkTalk are already behind the plan. However, satcaster BSkyB has vociferously opposed the project. At C21's FutureMedia conference last month, BSkyB director of on-demand Griff Parry said that despite the BBC's revised proposals for Project Canvas, it is still not an open platform and remains closed to smaller players. Likewise, Virgin Media TV's commercial director David Cuff described the BBC's plans to create a UK-based alternative to web video giants like YouTube as "xenophobic." He added that its plans for Canvas were "scary," since he didn't know what the effect the BBC giving the technology away might have on Virgin's own set-top boxes. Despite such criticisms, set-top boxes using Canvas software are expected to be available late next year for about £200, the FT reported, and Canvas is likely to become the leading platform for internet services on television. Ed Waller 21 Dec 2009 © C21 Media 2009 
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