YouView launch delayed by up to six months

YouView faces technical difficulties which may delay its launch by up to six months, according to reports. The highly-anticipated VoD venture – backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT, Talk Talk and Arqiva – might not make its debut until the end of the year, if not, 2012.

The service, which promises to “change the way you watch TV forever”, was due to be launched this summer but a number of technical problems and rumoured disagreements between the partners will mean a long delay for consumers, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

It comes as a further setback for the project, which has had a turbulent past. Project Kangaroo, YouView’s predecessor, was blocked by the Competition Commission in 2009.

Sources believe the partners underestimated the technical barriers surrounding the on-demand service, while others have said that a launch date of summer 2011 was an over-optimistic deadline.

YouView has always been fairly vague about an expected launch date, although hoped to launch within the first six months of the year.  The partners now say its schedule is under review.

Meanwhile, most of the other major players in the VoD and connected TV market are pushing ahead with their own offerings. The recent Consumer Electronics Show in the US saw technology companies such as Samsung unveil their latest line of smart TV products.

2011 has been dubbed ‘the year of connected TV’ for some time, with YouView initially expected to be the catalyst for consumers and their understanding of connected TV opportunities.  However, with this setback, YouView could miss the boat altogether.

When it eventually launches, YouView will be just one of many hybrid services combining broadcast television, PVR services and video-on-demand. Pricing – a YouView box is likely to set customers back £200 – and the lack of an open browser have already been cited as potential drawbacks for the service in the past. And if the BBC proposals go ahead, which call for public service television content to be made available through a generic BBC iPlayer application, YouView will have little advantage over other connected television services.

A spokesman for BT said: “We hope to launch this Summer, however the most important consideration is to get the service right.”