Freeview and the digital future

Maybe unsurprising to read the comments about Freeview from BSkyB's Customer Group MD Brian Sullivan at the Broadcast Digital channels conference yesterday. Mr Sullivan said that Freeview was not "the universal blueprint for the digital future". I don't think Freeview would see themselves as that but rather one of the key players within what will be the multi-channel mix. Everyone knows that capacity is an issue for DTT and that DVB-T2 technology will give you 3-4 HD channels by 2010. However, Freeview have got an installed base of over 15 million devices and a strong brand. We're also only just about to embark on digital TV switchover with millions of TV sets still to be converted so it's safe to assume that while they won't achieve world domination they will continue to be a major force in the DTV landscape.

A more interesting question might be: when will other platform brands outside Virgin build in iPlayer connectivity and what impact will it have?