It's the end of TV as we know it

How far can you stretch a new Canvas?

It will take a decade or two for punters to get the hang of IPTV It's always surprising how many TiVo owners still watch broadcast TV - the habit is hard to break. The BBC reckons Canvas will seamlessly integrate broadcast and unicast (IPTV) content to migrate users smoothly between the two, as shown in this rather-shaky video:

It's interesting to note that the project is well aware that it must offer third parties the opportunity to make money, integrating shopping services and suchlike to squeeze more revenue from the viewer.

This is not just about more adverts and getting rid of broadcast schedules. IPTV can do much more - customised exercise videos, and cookery programmes, to name just two. Last year ITV invited viewers of Primeval to tweet to each other during the show, something IPTV makes trivial to implement if viewers want it.

ITV Digital tried on-screen chatting though its OnNet service on its porn channels. Back then it was just embarrassing to see the few who decided porn should be textually interactive. But with the BBC pushing Canvas we could all be doing it within a decade or two. ®