Lord Sugar joins YouView IPTV platform

His experience in set-top box technology will help bring YouView project to market...

IPTV joint venture YouView has unveiled Lord Alan Sugar as its new non-executive chairman, with immediate effect.

Lord Sugar replaces Kip Meek, who worked at telecoms watchdog Ofcom and chaired advisory body the European Regulators Group before joining YouView.

Lord Sugar is the new non-executive chairman of IPTV joint venture YouView, formerly known as Project Canvas
Photo: Amshold

YouView, a joint venture involving the BBC, BT, Channel 4, Five, ITV, TalkTalk and Arqiva, was formerly known as Project Canvas and was first announced in December 2008 but has since faced several setbacks.

silicon.com recently reported that the launch of YouView's IPTV service has been delayed until early 2012, almost a year later than originally planned. The partners behind YouView hope Lord Sugar's appointment will help get the project back on track.

Charles Dunstone, chairman of TalkTalk, said in a statement: "Lord Sugar's experience in delivering set-top box technology to the consumer is unrivalled.

"As we move from the development to the delivery stage, I can't think of anyone better placed to help bring YouView to market than Lord Sugar."

YouView avoided an Ofcom investigation after a complaint was made by Virgin Media and digital entertainment company IP Vision, alleging that the service could breach the Competition Act. The service was given the go-ahead by the Office of Fair Trading after the BBC and the other partners asked to have the project formally recognised as not representing a merger.