Sony has rejected to join up with super telly team-up YouView – claiming the service which will unite many of our on-demand services is “too UK specific”.
The Tokyo co. has snubbed the union with the BBC-backed IPTV service in favour of expanding on its Playstation Network, stating “YouView is a UK-specific project and aimed at PVR-based products, which doesn’t fit with Sony’s global network and objectives”.
UK broadcasters such as ITV, Five and Channel 4 along with service carriers BT and TalkTalk and a number of TV manufacturers are coming together for the former “Project Canvas”: a freeview/on-demand crossover service set to launch later this year, with a full push coming in 2012. The project’s “frontman” is The Apprentice boss and entrepreneur Sir Alan Sugar.
This comes as the second blow for YouView in the last two months, following French set makers Technicolor unexpectedly and unexplainably pulling out of the deal back in mid-May. Rejections have also come from LG and Panasonic who are developing their own internet portal telly services.
Sony’s snub couldn’t have come at a worse time for YouView.
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