So what they want is an open platform, not necessarily an open source platform -- iOS being `closed' certainly hasn't stopped these broadcasters from building apps for it. What's made it a success is the installed base of users, which has meant it's worth the broadcasters' time and money to create apps to work on these devices.

As for availability of programming, that's basically what I said in my initial reply: *``all [the viewers] want from a TV is the ability to watch $PROGRAMME with as little pain and inconvenience as possible''.

If the ultimate goal is (as it should be) to get these broadcasters' programming everywhere, on all TVs, the last thing we need is another damned platform with a tiny userbase. We need some kind of consolidation, or (ideally) interoperable standard, that allows a ``write once, run everywhere'' ability for their apps.