(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.

(cc) by-sa videocrab/flickr

A report by Coda Research Consultancy, released this week, predicts a four-fold rise in VOD viewing by 2015. Whilst the figures they predict are still relatively modest compared to traditional TV viewing (50m hours per day watched over VOD compared to 160m on TV), this does represent a huge shift in the traditionally-growing linear TV market - though some will certainly argue it is a natural progression from linear to on-demand, rather than a decline, since overall content consumption is expected to rise.

It's a pity that the report doesn't delve into the potential for truly of-the-web content to have an impact, assuming that passive consumption will remain the norm. I'd expect that more of a threat to traditional content is the potential for consumers to be more excited by interactive or truly non-linear online TV, rather than a new way of delivering the same straightforward video content.

All of this is predicated on Coda's assumption that Project Canvas will go ahead. Given that the BBC Trust has just begun consulting on the project, this might be early days - but I suspect that other services might fill the vacuum if Canvas didn't go ahead.

(cc) by DeclanTM/flickr

Science Fiction continues to be a big seller for video-on-demand, no doubt spurred on by early-adopting geeks, and Virgin Media has just announced its acquisitions of 275 hours of (archive) sci-fi and supernatural content for its VOD service. Cult programming does tend to punch above its weight in an on-demand world, where passion for particular programme brands wins out where on a traditional channel scheduling might get people to watch a wider range of shows, though often ones which they aren't as interested in. Broadcast reports.

In another piece of news, reported on New Media Age, Malcolm Wall, CEO of Content for Virgin Media is set to leave the company in April, in a move that renews speculation that Virgin will sell off its content arm, Virgin Media Television, to retrench as a platform provider. This probably isn't great news for digital, as Virgin has been pretty forward-thinking in its strategy, and, despite a few hiccups (not least the temporary loss of Sky One), has stuck in the business fairly well.