BBC plan for TV online sees an Apple TV set-top box for IPTV

Rest assured: TV broadcasters are serious about taking themselves online: YouTube now offers TV shows through its service; Apple is speaking to the networks with a view to offering TV subscription shows streamed over the internet via iTunes; and the BBC has received approval for its plan to create a platform for Internet TV broadcasting.

This could be a blow to cable and satellite TV companies by making much of the content they keep behind their paid-for wall more easily available through other media. Increasingly, it’s not the entertainment on offer which differentiates these services, but the power, accessibility and robustness of the network carrying the fun.

This morning the WSJ tells us CBS Corp. and Walt Disney Co. are considering participating in Apple Inc.'s plan to offer television subscriptions over the Internet, according to people familiar with the matter, as Apple prepares a potential new competitor to cable and satellite TV.

That report also notes the Apple tablet, saying, “Apple is revamping iTunes as it finalizes its plans for a tablet device, which is meant to be a multimedia gadget, according to people briefed about the product.”

(Beyond video and music, Apple’s eBook plan also seems to be finding favour, for example, Titan Publishing’s Wallace & Gromit iPhone eComic has been downloaded over half a million times).

Reflecting the online space race over here in the UK, the BBC today won approval for a plan which could one day see UK shows arrive online in the USA.

Project Canvas is a service mooted for launch next year, which will offer streaming TV and radio through a set-top box hooked up to your broadband connection. It'll offer PVR-style pause, rewind and record options, as well as tying into the current video-on-demand services from its partners, such as iPlayer and 4oD.

Now approval has been won, the BBC will begin developing the specs it needs to create its own series of Project Canvas set-top boxes, leading the broadcaster to compete with other such offerings in the space, potentially including the Apple TV.