Would-be UK IPTV standard setter YouView has called on content providers to register their interest in supporting the platform it is developing.

YouView said it was seeking to spot "a small number of audio and video on-demand content providers that can closely work with the YouView technical team to develop and test the processes for making content available via YouView".

Essentially, the providers will help YouView hone its technical requirements

Once this stage is complete, YouView will extend its provider-engagement programme to "other types of content, including web applications and IP channels".

YouView's remit is to develop a framework which hardware manufacturers can integrate into their products and content providers can use to construct services which will then work on those products out-of-the-box.

Contrast that with the current IPTV environment in which services have to be tailored for specific platforms. Lovefilm's movie streaming system, for example, has required the creation of dedicated clients, like the one just released for the PlayStation 3.

YouView would ensure that a compatible service from Lovefilm would run on any YouView-enabled device.

YouView's timetable calls for its initial select group providers to begin working with it in January 2011, with the results feeding into the YouView spec, due next Spring ahead of the platform's formal launch later in the year.

YouView is backed by the BBC, ITV, BT, Channel 4, TalkTalk, Arqiva and Five. ®