On 27th July the BBC will open access to the iPlayer to UK internet users, en route to a hard launch later this summer. This PC-based application allows the user to download BBC TV content after broadcast to view on the PC for a limited time, and provides a TV-like display on the PC. Delays to the launch will mean the iPlayer enters a field already crowded by other broadcasters, including Channel 4's 4oD service, ITV's broadband portal, Sky Anytime, as well as content aggregators such as Joost and Babelgum (both currently in beta)

True to its reputation for innovation, France’s No. 2 ISP Free has launched TV Perso, a user-generated video-on-demand service, to its 1.5 million TV-over-DSL subscribers. Users will contribute uploads, emulating YouTube’s popular web-based model, as well as live broadcasts

This presentation expands on our report on Classified Advertising in Print and Online [2006-58], by examining the online classified market segments of recruitment, property and automotive, and their likely development to 2011. We anticipate the value of the UK classifieds market could be worth about £5.5 billion in 2011, compared to about £4.5 billion in 2006. We however expect exponential growth in online classified ad volumes, placing pressure on prices of all classifieds. Although disruptive effects on the classified supply chain are anticipated (e.g. estate agents, car dealerships), we believe these will be harder to break than new entrants might believe

Broadband penetration and Internet usage in continental European countries are catching up with the US and UK, but consumer e-commerce and internet advertising spend still massively lag behind. Online advertising is growing more rapidly in Germany and France than in the UK, driven by rapid take-up of paid search by advertisers

The internet is the UK’s fastest growing advertising medium, with spend rising 41% to £2.02 billion in 2006, and a further 30% rise expected for 2007. Three drivers underpin this growth: more intense use of the internet as broadband connections become standard, very strong growth in e-commerce, which is driving up paid-for search, and improving yields through rich-media formats. These factors will continue to propel growth of internet ad spend in the near future

Set for launch in May/June, the BBC’s iPlayer is a PC-based application offering live and on-demand access to around 3,500 hours of BBC programmes per week via the internet, using peer-to-peer (P2P) and multi-cast technology to overcome cost and bandwidth issues

Yell UK is the dominant supplier of Classified Advertising Directory Services (CDAS) in the UK. Its principal competitor is BT but, as a natural monopoly, it is regulated, and has just undergone a sector review lifting the price caps currently in place. What does the future now hold for Yell, and more generally for CDAS, which has been the only growth sector in print classified advertising since 2004?