The BBC is preparing to launch a new iPlayer version that will include both radio and television content and a personalised recommendation feature.

BBC's head of digital media technology Anthony Rose said: In a few weeks time, we are going live with an all new iPlayer that has radio and TV all in the same interface.

Work is also underway on a number of personalised facilities including a recommendation feature that will introduce new content to viewers based on their past choices. The recommendations will be based on genre clusters or "virtual channels" that the BBC is identifying by studying usage patterns.

Rose said that different personalisation techniques will be tested over the next two to three months and will then "have a shoot-out" to decide which are adopted.

Individual users on shared computers will be able to protect and build on their own profile with a personal log in, possibly by selecting an avatar.

The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 are facing opposition to their plan to launch a joint online television service, codenamed Kangaroo, from media groups concerned about its potential to stifle competition.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has asked for views on whether Kangaroo could damage competition in the nascent video on-demand market.

It will then decide whether to refer the proposed service to the Competition Commission or demand safeguards to ensure it does not damage competitors.

BSkyB and Virgin Media, who have their own on-demand platforms, have told OFT that the merger "raises concerns".

BSkyB wants to ensure that all the content carried on Kangaroo is also available to its video on-demand service. Graham McWilliam, group corporate affairs director at BSkyB, said: The shareholders of Kangaroo must not be allowed to leverage their unique position in television, built on public subsidy, into the on-demand space.

The fiercest criticism has come from Joost, the London-based web TV site founded by the entrepreneurs who made millions selling their internet phone service, Skype, to eBay. Chief executive Mike Volpi said the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 had so far failed to supply programmes to his service: We have asked many times. In the case of the commercial players negotiations have broken down over price. In the case of the BBC it's just been a flat-out no.

Volpi said: When you have a situation where so much good content ends up being potentially exclusive through a single distribution channel, it makes it very difficult for any player outside of those three to be competitive in the UK market.

The BBFC’s widely recognised and trusted classification system is moving to the world of downloadable films, programmes and video games. The BBFC has worked closely with the home entertainment industry to develop this voluntary regulatory scheme that will bring the benefits of the DVD classification system to the world of downloads and the internet. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Europe, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox have signed up and other key industry players, who have been involved in the development of BBFC.online, are poised to join the scheme.

Launched today, BBFC.online – as the new service is called – has been designed to give consumers the assurance they seek when choosing new media content. The scheme will see the BBFC’s famous ‘black card’, category symbols and Consumer Advice appearing on a wide range of ‘new media’ content, including video-on-demand and streamed video which is offered to the public through websites, set-top boxes and portable media devices.

There is currently little independent classification of downloadable or streaming video content, either on the internet or delivered by video-on-demand services and via set-top-boxes. This is in spite of independent research that indicates that 63% of adults (74% of parents) are concerned about downloading video material which does not come with independent content advice and labelling. In addition, 84% of adults (91% of parents) want to see BBFC film and DVD classification on downloadable/streaming films and other digital audiovisual content.

BBFC.online has been developed over the last 18 months, in close partnership with the video and new media industries and the British Video Association. There are already some 700 videos with ‘online certificates’ and this is likely to rise to about 1000 by the end of the month.

The major studios as well as e-tailers and VoD suppliers, are keen to ensure that online content is accompanied by clear and independent content information and age-restrictions using a system trusted by consumers.

The scheme will also require e-tailers and VoD services to have age verification or gate-keeping systems in place for parents to monitor and control underage viewing, and the effectiveness of these protocols will be monitored by the BBFC. Major e-tailers and VoD services are poised to join as soon as their services have been updated in accordance with the requirements of the scheme.

Speaking at the launch, David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said:

We are extremely pleased to have been able to work with the video industry to develop a scheme that will give online consumers the same assurance that our symbols and content information provide for cinema films, DVDs and video games. I am particularly pleased by the support and commitment from the industry for this voluntary scheme. Consumers considering buying into the world of downloads will be able to rely on our familiar symbols and advice, to decide which films or video games are suitable for them and their children. They will also be assured that the film makers and download services in the scheme are keen to ensure their customers get genuine independent information about the digital films or games on offer.

Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said:

The introduction of the BBFC system for online film downloads will provide some welcome clarity for consumers, to help them gain greater confidence that their purchases are appropriate before they commit themselves. I hope to see more studios sign up to the scheme.

Lavinia Carey, Director General of the British Video Association said:

“The online world is still an ‘open frontier’ and the industry is determined to get its own house in order with this new type of business. Our involvement and input into the development of BBFC.online has shown how seriously we take this. We chose to work with the BBFC because of the universal recognition of their system across the UK, and their commitment to supporting both consumers and the industry in making the most of the online world in a safe and recognisable environment.”

The BBFC also note:

1. The BBFC.online scheme includes console-style games which are supplied to the customer via download.
2. The research referred to is available on www.bbfc.co.uk entitled Downloading Classification Study February 2007 and was carried out by TNS.
3. The BBFC’s legal advice is that works supplied by ‘non-physical’ means (eg by streaming or download) are not covered by the Video Recordings Act 1984.
4. Membership of the Scheme is voluntary and by subscription and there is no cost to consumers.
5. BBFC.online is ‘Platform Neutral’ – it is designed to cover all forms of digital content delivery (eg web, set top boxes, hand-held devices and mobile phones).
6. BBFC.online complies with the self regulatory model advocated by ATVOD.

BSkyB has launched an enhanced version of its Sky Anytime PC on-demand service, now known as Sky Player.

The relaunch incorporates live channels, including Sky Sports, Sky News and third party channels The History Channel and National Geographic. Sky director of on-demand Griff Parry described the new-look service as "Sky TV online".

Sky will promote its pay-TV service to non-Sky customers by offering them the chance to buy episodes of shows like Lost and highlights from Sky Sports. Existing customers get paid-for and free content on Sky Player, depending on which Sky package they have. The new service also offers free shows that can be watched as they download.

James Murdoch, BSkyB chairman, has accused the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, of an abrogation of responsibility in backing the launch of a service now making inroads into pay TV.

He claimed the BBC was using its market power to squeeze competition in the broadband TV market with its iPlayer service. He described the service as a big step and pre-emptive intervention that was squashing a lot of competitors. I'm not saying it's a bad product but I am saying it does crowd out competition and innovation.

The BBC itself has been surprised by the success of a new service that enables viewers to download BBC programmes screened over the previous seven days. Last month, iPlayer handled 17.5m requests for downloads.

TV executives say pay TV channels are already suffering because viewers are using the download service to see what they missed on BBC. Another download service, Kangaroo, to be launched later this year, will offer BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and add to the pressure on the pay TV channels, they feel.

The BBC Trust rejected Mr Murdoch's criticism of the iPlayer and said that it had been subject to a rigorous pubic value test that included a market impact assessment carried out by Ofcom

Universal Pictures will launch its PictureBox subscription-on-demand service on BT Vision, with the service going live on May 5.

Subscribers to the service will be able to view films from a selection of 28 titles available at any given time, with the line-up being refreshed with new titles every week.

Information on pricing has yet to be revealed.

Thanks to a content platform developed by BT, ITV will now broadcast their on demand service to viewers located around the world.

The platform will be using the BT Mosaic service; this will allow ITV to share their content with various networks and different devices. This service will also give ITV the option of allowing other broadcasters to opportunity to access the archive.

It is believed that other broadcasters would be able to censor programmes so that they fit into and fall well within the regions laws and customs which is said to be an important factor.

There are already over twenty thousand programmes that have digitised and ready for distribution to consumers.

Joost, the online television service launched with a fanfare last year by the founders of internet telephony firm Skype, is preparing for a major retrenchment after failing to attract enough users and top-flight broadcasting rights.

The company is expected to rein in its global ambitions to focus solely on the US market.

Joost has been overshadowed by the success of the BBC’s iPlayer, and in America, Hulu, a collaboration between NBC and News Corporation.

It has struggled to convince media and sports companies to sell it global rights, which are normally parcelled out to broadcasters country by country.

The BBC iPlayer, which provides a free seven-day window for viewers to watch shows they missed the first time round, is recording up to 500,000 programme downloads a day.

In the summer, it will be joined by Kangaroo, a portal shared by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, to show older content, which will be funded by advertising.

Constrained by the technical limitations of its satellite television service, DirecTV has watched from the sidelines as cable operators and phone companies' high-end TV services have rolled out increasingly popular video-on-demand features.

The company is now preparing to launch its own VOD service this spring.

Called DirecTV On Demand, the service, now offered in beta, is designed to deliver VOD content to customers in two ways: via automatic transmission of selected movie titles, which will be stored on subscribers' digital video recorders and then ordered up for viewing whenever the subscriber wants; and via Internet downloads of additional content, including TV shows, streamed to the subscriber's set-top box.

DirecTV also can track customer activity on its Internet-connected set-top boxes, the Journal report noted, and use the data to help it sell targeted ads.

DirecTV is expected to offer about 3,000 shows and movies, most of which will be delivered over the Net; the company will use the automatic transmission for exceptionally popular programs and movies.

ABC will launch Australia's first internet TV service allowing viewers to watch programs in full-screen quality.

The service, called ABC Playback, will be trialled this month and become available to website users mid-way through the year.

It will feature three internet channels, including one showing repeats from popular programs featured on ABC1 and ABC2.

The second will show documentaries and natural history shows, while the third will be an ABC web shop.

The broadcaster also announced it would soon start work on a 24-7 news service titled the Continuous News Centre, which would consolidate its digital news.

Broadband firms are restricting customers’ usage because of the unprecedented success of the BBC’s iPlayer, the online viewing service.

The news will raise fears that Britain’s broadband network is struggling to cope with the growing demand for TV programmes that can be viewed online after they have aired.

Thousands of broadband users face breaching their usage limits as a result and will have to fork out more for superior packages.

The iPlayer – which was launched in December and allows you to watch your favourite programmes on your computer – has attracted 17m people in its first three months. However, it has increased internet traffic by 66%, say some broadband providers.

They have a limited “bandwidth” so, with more people using high-speed services, are having to impose restrictions on speeds, and use download limits and “fair usage policies” to control traffic.

iPlayer programmes tend to be around 300 megabytes (MB) in size though longer one-hour shows like David Attenborough’s Life in Cold Blood can take up 600MB.

However, many low-end broadband packages have monthly download limits of one gigabyte (GB) – equal to about 1,000MB. Downloading just two iPlayer shows a month could therefore mean you use up your limit and have to pay extra for additional downloads.

Sorry, sane adult thinking not allowed until 9pm ...and I knock off at 5

The continuous promotion by the BBC of its iPlayer over recent weeks, and Channel 4's On-Demand service, has given rise to questions about how this ingenious facility is to be regulated so that the predominantly young people, at whom it is aimed, may be protected from offensive and harmful content, as the Broadcasting Code requires.

Ofcom, in its Draft Annual Plan for 2008/09, has drawn attention to the gap in regulation of downloading and says: These developments are exposing differences in the regulatory frameworks because many of the rules applicable to content delivered by traditional broadcasters do not apply to very similar or identical content delivered over the internet.

Ofcom says: We will encourage all content providers to promote and make available information about potentially harmful or offensive content in a form that is easy to understand. At the same time we will encourage the promotion of internet filters, firewalls and PIN access to television services that are easy to use and are effective in helping people manage their access to the media.

In the letter to Culture Secretary, Andy Burnham MP John Beyer said:

Our concern is with regulation. I have recently been in correspondence with Ofcom who tell me that the Communications Act 2003 excluded downloaded material from its regulatory oversight. Given that this Act requires Ofcom to have special regard for the protection of under-18s from offensive and harmful material we wonder whether the Government has any plans to remove the exclusion so that Ofcom does have regulatory oversight of material downloaded from the websites of broadcasters who are normally subject to their regulation.

You will not need me to point out that the ability to download programmes anytime makes the "watershed" completely redundant. We are aware that Broadcasters continue to defend offensive and harmful material shown after 9.00pm because of the watershed. This is also one of the reasons for Ofcom failing to intervene on content when many people feel it is necessary.

We would certainly value your advice on how children and young people are to be protected from harmful and offensive material in the downloading environment especially as neither Film nor Broadcasting was included in the brief given to Dr Tanya Byron.

Beyer is calling for an immediate review of the regulatory oversight of Ofcom and is recommending that it be extended to include programming that is downloaded from broadcasters who are normally subject to its jurisdiction.

Google and Yahoo! have endorsed a set of British guidelines designed to protect children from adult content.

Drafted by Broadband Stakeholder Group, the British government's advisory on broadband access, the agreement calls for content providers to label material that may be unsuitable for children and young people or which some members of the public may find offensive."

The Good Practice Principles on Audiovisual Content Information apply to commercially produced or acquired content, but not to online advertising or user-generated content on websites such as YouTube.

The BBC, AOL, Channel Four, Bebo, Micrsosoft and Virgin Media are among the other companies officially listed on the labeling initiative. While the document has no legally binding effect on any of its signatories, it shows the major corporations coming forward to focus on the issue.