Project Canvas Blank On Meek Rumours

The organisations behind Project Canvas have refused to comment on reports that a former Ofcom executive may be taking the helm at the BBC-originated Internet TV project, which plans to make Internet streamed versions of all major channels available through a set-top box.

A report from The Guardian this week claimed that Kip Meek, a former director at Ofcom and a board member of the controversial Phorm behavioural advertising project, will be appointed as chairman of the Project Canvas project which aims to bring interactive Internet services to TVs.

A spokesperson for Project Canvas told eWEEK Europe UK that the organisation would not comment on The Guardian story.

Online content through a TV

Project Canvas will allow viewers to watch online content, such as BBC iPlayer or the ITV Player, on their TVs via a £200 set–top box connected to the Internet. Viewers would have to have a broadband subscription but would not pay any additional subscription for the content.

According to the Guardian, Meek will be appointed as chairman this week and will play a key role in the appointment of a chief executive for the organisation, which will be a joint venture of the BBC, Channel 4, BT, Arqiva, and TalkTalk.

Meek has attracted some controversy in the past over his joint involvement with the ad-tracking company Phorm and the government’s broadband strategy.

Meek held the position of an independent “Spectrum Broker” under the previous government which involved providing advice on how radio spectrum should be allocated to help develop the UK’s mobile broadband infrastructure. Meek was also a non-executive director of government and industry body the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) and was also a board member of telecoms industry regulator Ofcom.

BT’s trials of Phorm were widely criticised by organisations including the EC over potential privacy issues.

One broadcaster, Five, dropped out of Canvas last week, citing a review of its digital content strategy. The company said it is still interested in being involved in Canvas but only as a content provider rather than a fully-fledged partner. “We continue to support the objectives of Project Canvas and despite withdrawing our interest in the venture we believe it will be a critical part of our strategy for reaching consumers in the future,” said Charles Constable, director of Strategy at Five.

Late last month, the BBC Trust – the BBC’s independent regulator – gave its support for Canvas. The organisation had provided provisional approval in December, but announced it would discuss its conclusions with industry stakeholders and the public before giving its final decision.

Project Canvas has attracted some criticism however. The Digital TV Group (DTG) – which represents more than 100 companies including BSkyB, Dixons, Freeview, Pace and Samsung – lodged a complaint with the BBC Trust in February, claiming that the project has not taken the views of all the industry stakeholders into consideration, and will therefore be unable to produce an open, industry-wide technology standard which all members can work to.