(cc) by-nd henrybloomfield/flickr

ISBA, which represents the interests of the British advertising industry, has thrown its weight behind Project Canvas, the 'son-of-Kangaroo' next-gen Freeview boxes that will allow full video-on-demand and some interactivity. Essentially, they appear to believe that a commercial alternative is necessary to prevent the BBC's iPlayer becoming the only game in town for VOD (read: no advertising!). Whilst the BBC will be involved in the project, being a significant driver, (likely especially from the technology and development side), the project is a joint venture between them, ITV and BT (through its Vision department).

The concept still has to go through a review by the BBC Trust, and there's still the very real possibility of a Competition Commission review which will ask many of the same questions as they did about Project Kangaroo, so it's early days - but if it gets the go ahead the timeline is pretty quick, with an early 2010 launch posited.