Back in January the BBC was given a provisional approval for the BBC iPlayer that would allow BBC TV shows to be distributed online using peer to peer technology for up to 30 days.

Now the BBC has been given the full and complete approval after working out the concerns and details of the iPlayer service. The service will appear later this year bringing BBC shows such as EastEnders and Doctor Who online.

Joining the likes of SplashCast and CozmoTV is WorldTV, a new internet video startup currently bootstrapping in Ireland that is a result of 10 years of planning and ideas.

Like SplashCast and CozmoTV, WorldTV aims to allow people to create their own personal TV channels from existing videos posted around the net.

Joost, formally known as The Venice Project, has wedged open its doors to the public allowing current beta testers to invite anyone and everyone to use the Joost beta software.

For those of you that don’t know Joost is a new internet TV program that features 150 content channels with videos and TV shows being available on-demand.

It uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver video and aims to feel like a true TV experience.

Up until now Joost was limiting the amount of people it was inviting to try the software out. But as of today Joost has lowered the draw bridge a little allowing any current beta tester to invite as many of their friends as they like.

This leads me to beleive the full launch of Joost must be due very soon, possibly by the end of the month.

I often wondered how long it would go before YouTube would decide to bring video adverts into user-uploaded-video and now YouTube has announced that video ads will be coming as soon as this summer.

Why are ads here now?

YouTube has probably being holding off with video adverts for 2 reasons:

It’s Stage6 Day here on Web TV Wire and Web TV Hub (23/04/07). Learn more…

Video sharing sites like YouTube, Daily Motion and Metacafe share one thing in common which has aided their success. They use a simple flash video player that is instantly accessible by almost all internet users without any effort.

It’s Stage6 Day here on Web TV Wire and Web TV Hub (23/04/07). Learn more…

Keeping itself in line as a distribution platform for independent video producers, DivX is running a film festival for members of the Stage6 community. The festival is devoted to storytelling, creation and improving digital media.

It’s Stage6 Day here on Web TV Wire and Web TV Hub (23/04/07). Learn more…

I was lucky enough to catch up with the insightful Darrius Thompson, the co-founder of DivX, to put him in the hot-seat for 15 questions on the beta launch of Stage6, the video platform and community from DivX.

5 Take home points from the interview:

• Stage6 is more about enabling independent content producers with a professional platform for distributing video online than sharing home video clips.
• Stage6 actually allows you to download content and play it on DivX-compatible consumer electronics.
• HD video is all the rage over at Stage6
• Innovative community features including “Karma” have been introduced in Stage6 beta.
• The DivX software has been downloaded over 200 million times from the Stage6 site.