If you think the BBC has a clear run to make Canvas the de facto IPTV VOD platform, think again. The open project, currently seeking more partners and awaiting the BBC Trust’s verdict, is in a cross-fire between TV manufacturers (busy devising their own such initiatives), pay-TV operators (keen to remain the gateway of choice) and a parallel European project.

“We’re trying to bring in to alignment three industries,” BBC IPTV director Richard Halton (pictured) told Screen Digest’s Future of Online Media Distribution seminar on Wednesday - “content, networks and device manufacturers”.

Though Canvas aims to simplify the on-ramp to living room VOD for consumers (ITV (LSE: ITV), Five and BT (NYSE: BT) Vision are currently aboard), it’s not the only project trying the same - and requires support from some of the very folk it’s seeking as partners...

“Next year, we will launch Bravia Internet Video,” Sony’s European technology senior manager Tim Page, sitting alongside Halton on a panel, told the audience. He already counts Five, YouTube, Flickr, Dailymotion amongst over 40 content partners.

That comes after August’s announcement of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV” (HbbTV) group by Canal+, France Televisions and TF1, Germany’s Institut fur Rundfunktechnik research centre, satellite operator SES ASTRA and software makers Ant and OpenTV. To all intents and purposes, it could be a rival Euro-Canvas, though Halton says he’s working toward compliance.

Will Sony (NYSE: SNE) adopt HbbTV? “Probably,” Page said. What about Canvas? “Not decided yet. We’re looking at all sorts of players from all sorts of providers.” For the TV maker, the issue is: “How do you combine all (kinds of services) in an easy to use EPG? We’re open to suggestions.”

And don’t bet against everyone thinking their own suggestions are best? Sky VOD director Griff Parry couldn’t resist a note of suspicion: “Sky does have misgivings about the BBC in this space. We think they’re responding to a market failure that doesn’t exist. They’re behaving in a way that’s self-serving and market-distorting.”

Does that mean no Sky on Canvas, despite the satcaster’s embrace of boxes other than its own? “Canvas could be a great opportunity for Sky or Sky Player,” Parry said. “I try to think positive about it - but I need to feel confident that content discovery and UI works properly and we’ll be able to protect our content. There are a lot of questions for us - but it is a potential opportunity.”