It is hardly surprising that Britain’s big broadcasters, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have ganged up to jointly-develop software that allows all three to show their progamming on-line.

The growing power of YouTube has already seen others — most notably NBC Universal and News Corporation, the owner of The Times and Fox broadcasting, do the same in the United States.

The advantages are twofold. Working together means the three will develop one media player to show the likes of EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks, which is exactly what any discerning viewer would want to see on their lap top at night.

Plus, the three British broadcasters can capture audiences that would otherwise slope off to YouTube. Having content from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 will place any website at the top of the viewing figures, and the plan is to share some of the revenues generated.

Yet there are two concerns also. This appears to be a pretty commercial project on the part of the BBC, which will continue to make programmes for the first seven days after transmission freely available. But it wants to participate in generating advertising after that — although it is not clear if the BBC audience is ready for that.

Second, there are bound to be regulatory concerns, given that the three broadcasters dominate viewing in the UK, and don’t appear keen to share ownership with anybody else. That would be eased if the three were simply sharing software and not revenues, rather like the existing Freeview model.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive