YouView launch 'delayed to 2012'

YouView, the BBC-backed joint venture aimed at bringing video on-demand and web services to Freeview, has reportedly been delayed until 2012.

The YouView platform was initially scheduled to launch in July of this year, along with a range of associated set top boxes, PVRs and integrated TVs.

Around £6m has already been spent by the joint venture partners - the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Arqiva, BT and TalkTalk - on the project's development.

However, insiders claim that it is unlikely YouView will go live until 2012 due to a lack of agreement on the core technical standards, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Discussing a YouView prototype set top box, a senior TV executive said: "It just doesn't work when you turn it on and keeps crashing. You would think that after at least 18 months of development and at least £6m worth of investment from each shareholder, the box would actually work when being shown to its owners."

It is also thought that YouView - previously called Project Canvas - has failed to reach agreement with industry body the Digital TV Group on the core technical standards, which is holding up product testing.

BBC director general Mark Thompson believes that emerging TV platforms such as YouView will herald an "intense battle for the living room" over the coming years.

However, industry experts are increasingly concerned that YouView risks becoming obsolete if the platform fails to launch until 2012.

Ian Maude, head of Internet at Enders Analysis, said: "The later YouView leaves it to launch, the market opportunity will shrink, with consumer demand being soaked up by other services and web TV applications.

"If they can't get it out before the Olympics, which is looking less and less likely, I wouldn't bother. It's a badly kept secret that the team are considerably behind schedule and have yet to agree terms with the DTG."

The BBC declined to comment and YouView chief executive Richard Halton refused to give a firm commitment on the project's launch window. He said: "We want to get YouView right and don't want to rush the development. We will understand our launch position better by the end of March. We are not ruling out any launch date either way."