iPlayer on cable "an important step"

Ashley Highfield, the BBC's director of future media and technology, has said that iPlayer should launch on Virgin's digital cable service in the spring.

Highfield, who led Telewest's interactive content division before joining the BBC, made the comments in a blog post about getting content delivered over IP displayed on regular TV sets.

"Some of the solutions for getting IP to the TV set still fail the "can my mum do it?" test," he said, referring to comments made on a previous post. "I want a solution that my mum can install... and to this end, getting BBC iPlayer onto the Virgin cable TV platform in the spring will be an important step for us."

He added of the wider IP-to-TV problem: "Working with, rather than against, the existing set-up in the typical home is probably the quickest route to mass market adoption of IP-delivered TV. So, a simple, open upgrade from your current TV to an IP enabled one... or a simple upgrade from either analogue TV or your first generation DTT/Freeview box to an open hybrid DTT/IP box are forefront of our thinking right now. How the BBC can help make such an open market in the UK a reality (as we did with Freeview and DAB) is an important challenge."

Click 'next' for a preview of iPlayer on cable...Check out the video below, which was uploaded to YouTube in December, showing a preview of how iPlayer could look on Virgin Media.