Most importantly - and the part that will attract the digital TV stations - is the potential here for interactive advertising because profiles of Blinkx users can be used to target ads. It also means broadcasters could recommend specific catch-up TV shows to viewers based on their viewing context.  “This will allow web-like business models to emerge on TV, said Miniweb chief executive Andrew Carver, “which enables our business partners to benefit from valuable targeted advertising and revenues shares from TV viewer transactions.”

The most recent Blinkx innovation was a one-click feature on their website that would offer a serendipitous mix of the latest news or the latest viral internet sensations. A few more clicks and you can tailor a mix of content based on keywords. This new deal though - the latest in a sea of around 450 content and technology partnerships - marks a major move into a space that is still pretty open. While the web TV market is packed with competition - iPlayer, YouTube, Hulu, Joost, Babelgum, Current TV and dozens of other aggregator sites -  there has been minimal crossover onto ‘serious’ telly, with just some modest integration of services like iPlayer and 4OD on Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED), for example.  Integration of web services on digital TV has plenty of challenges - not least the battle of input design on remote control - but it’s wide open and hotting up.