The open source concept behind project Canvas is expected to differentiate it from services offered elsewhere, ensuring it is not restricted to any one provider.
Research from Screen Digest has concluded that a platform offering linear TV channels, video-on-demand and web-based applications such as that proposed by the BBC and partners ITV and BT, would prove an instant hit with consumers.
Dan Cryan, senior analyst at Screen Digest, also draws on the BBC's track record of building markets with Freeview and the iPlayer to conclude: "There is every reason to think that if a Canvas-type proposition is approved, with the full promotional impetus of the BBC behind it, it will reach at least 3.5 million homes by 2014.
"Such a platform is both a threat and an opportunity to pay-TV operators - on the one hand, giving them wider distribution potential for their content bouquets and, on the other, giving content owners a potential route to bypass the operators and go direct to the consumer."
Despite the findings, Canvas still has a number of obstacles to address, not least keeping the cost of set-top boxes down, circumnavigating potential bandwidth bottlenecks and gaining regulatory approval from the BBC Trust.
The Trust's findings are expected to be published within the next month.
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