The BBC had big plans for its iPlayer immediately upon launch in 2007, and it may be ready for a resolution bump up to HD as soon as April. Director of BBC Vision Jana Bennett revealed that an HD edition is on the way during a panel discussion at the FT Digital Media and Broadcasting Conference. Of course, UK ISPs are apparently already unhappy with the squeeze iPlayer puts on their bandwidth, and HD will only make things worse. We don't know if a ZillionTV style deal is the answer, but here's hoping it gets by the bandwidth caps somehow.

Oh c'mon -- you had to know this was a possibility, right? As Netflix's Watch Instantly service becomes more viable and its library expands, more and more users are going to start tapping into those servers for instantaneous enjoyment. Eventually, suggests Cowen and Company analyst James Friedland, all that instant gratification could lead to more costs, and not surprisingly, it'll be the end-user paying up. As an increasing amount of subscribers use the online streaming feature, Netflix is asked to shell out more cash to studios for the content. Friedland predicts that "the company will charge an extra fee for the service [if it] starts to squeeze profit margins," just like it already did with Blu-ray Discs. We get the feeling most customers wouldn't balk at another $1 per month charge so long as the instant library started to include new releases, but if not, who knows what the backlash would be.

Never satisfied with offering only a Blu-ray disc player (see 2007's BH100 Blu-ray + HD DVD combo and 2008's Netflix-streaming BD300), LG is upping the ante for '09, promising support for YouTube and CinemaNow videos on its next gen decks. Along with the now-standard Netflix, owners can browse CinemaNow pay-per-view offerings (or other stores powered by the service) and thumb through YouTube's catalog directly from the device. Unmentioned in the PR fluff is additional info like price and more detailed specs, but expect all to become (hopefully) clear January 7 in Las Vegas.

For a whole slew of individuals across America (particularly those with lackluster Time Warner Cable lineups), the addition of two new temporary high-def stations has been quite the treat. Just prior to the start of the Beijing Olympics, many cable carriers opted to add in an HD Soccer and HD Basketball channel, but if you thought they were just doing so to be nice, you thought wrong. After scads of CableONE subscribers in Idaho were flat shut out of live online streaming, a bit of digging revealed the problem: NBC Universal bundled online streaming into a "premium package" with the previously mentioned stations, which CableONE declined to offer. For the CableONE users, the story does end in on a high note -- they are getting three permanent HD channels instead. For everyone else loving the convenience of online streams, at least you can sleep easy knowing that minor increases in your future bill will likely be used to pay for it. Then again, what is free these days?

Comcast's Fancast was launched rather quietly at CES just weeks ago, but apparently, the firm has really hit a homerun with this endeavor. The 'net is ablaze with positive reviews about the new site, which allows users to "watch, manage and find entertainment content wherever it is available." Granted, it is offering up full-length content from CBS, NBC, FOX (provided by Hulu), MTV Networks and BET Networks, so it's hard to miss with that much programming on tap. Of course, you'll also find hordes of recommendations based on previous selections, and if all goes to plan, Fancast users will even be able to program their DVR from their PC (and mobile?) sometime in 2008. So, Fancast users, we're hearing oodles of good stuff about this outlet -- are you equally impressed?

[Thanks, Nate]