Five rejoins Project Canvas

Five has confirmed its return to Project Canvas, following its recent acquisition by Richard Desmond’s Northern & Shell.

Channel Five

This brings the number of partners for the joint IPTV venture back up to seven, with the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, TalkTalk, BT and Arqiva all members.

Desmond had expressed his interest in returning the broadcaster to the project ever since he bought the company for £103.5m last month (nma.co.uk 23 July 2010).

He said Project Canvas is set to “shape the future” of broadcasting and open up “new and exciting” possibilities for viewers.

“This is important to the future of Five and having an open internet-connected TV platform fits closely with our plans to bring brilliant new content and interactive services to viewers,” said Desmond.

Project Canvas director Richard Halton said, “Five has already made a major contribution to Project Canvas and we’re delighted to have it back on board. This is great recognition of how important Canvas is to the future of TV.”

This story first appeared on newmediaage.co.uk