It is no secret that Project Canvas wants to expand its partners, especially after the broadcaster Five pulled out of the scheme due to the channel being put up for sale by RTL.

It seems that while one partner walks away, there is another potential new partner waiting in the wings and Orange, the broadband and phone service provider, is keen to get involved.

It was only last year when the firm looked into buying the technology from Project Kangaroo.

Orange is the only main UK broadband provider with no on-demand service, despite Orange TV being available in France, so getting its feet under the Project Canvas table would give the firm access to a viable online TV service.

Providing a TV service is essential for bundled packages, but as of yet Orange has made no official announcement.

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Orange interested in Project Canvas

As plans go ahead to launch the multi channel backed online TV platform Project Canvas, it seems that the cable TV provider Virgin Media is still considering filing a complaint against the scheme with the regulator Ofcom.

Virgin Media believes that Project Canvas will be anti competitive.

This will form the basis of the firm’s argument against the scheme, which recently was given the green light by the BBC Trust.

Project Canvas plans to take the current free to view digital TV services, Freeview and Freesat, to a wider audience online.

This is made possible through the success of the iPlayer, by improved broadband connection speeds and the introduction of connected TVs.

It would seem that the viewer will be getting more choice in how they watch TV, but will this platform damage competition?

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Virgin Media may appeal against Project Canvas

Just as things are beginning to look up for the multi-channel online TV partnership, Project Canvas has lost one its main partners.

The terrestrial channel, Five, has pulled out from the project, leaving a big hole to fill.

For Five this must have been inevitable, as the channel lost almost £40 million last year and has been put up for sale by owner RTL.

This sale puts pressure on Five which, as partner in Project Canvas, would have to find an equal share of the development costs.

These are estimated at around £116 million for the first four years and this is something that Five is unable to commit to, at the moment.

The sale of Five will become clearer by the 19th July when RTL will announce the two main contenders to buy the channel.

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Project Canvas loses Five

Just because Project Canvas will be a cutting edge online TV platform, this does not mean that it is going to become a free for all, as the management of the service has announced plans to use the Marlin DRM solution to protect its content.

The Marlin DRM system was developed by Intertrust, Panasonic, Phillips, Samsung and Sony, but it will be made available to all the members of the alliance, no matter if the content provided is considered to be premium or for subscription purposes.

The use of digital rights management may seem a little strange on a platform that is considered to be an open platform, but at the end of the day, the broadcasters want to prevent their content from being distributed around the world free of charge.

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Project Canvas content protection plans

Netflix and Relativity Media announce a long term agreement through which major theatrically released films owned by Relativity will be licensed directly and exclusively to Netflix for streaming to its subscribers during the “pay TV window.” Traditionally, these films have flowed through Relativity’s studio releasing partners to output deals with premium TV channels.

The deal marks a continued shift in the distribution of major motion pictures in the U.S. Under the agreement, an increasing amount of popular contemporary movies previously encumbered by pay TV agreements with premium channels such as HBO, Showtime and Starz will become available to be streamed from Netflix months – and not years – after their release on DVD. It will be the first time that studio quality theatrical feature films will be streamed via subscription by Netflix instead of being broadcast by the traditional pay providers, and it opens up a new revenue stream for such movies.

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Netflix and Relativity Media to Stream First Run, Studio Quality Theatrical Movies to Netflix Subscribers