YouTube has signed with the BBC and is expected to announce deals with major French television stations on 19 June, according to reports in the French media.

Meanwhile, Joost, a rival internet TV service set up by the founders of popular voice over internet service Skype and still in 'beta' trials, has been making strides signing up US video content owners . . . particularly with some providers that have gone off YouTube because of allegations of copyright infringement. Viacom has threatened to sue Google over the issue.

Joost and the European YouTube will work in similar ways. They will make television programmes available online, which site visitors will be able to view for free. The money comes from ads, which are put in and around the programmes, and the revenues will be split between the content creator and the site. Supporters point out that, unlike increasingly sophisticated digital video recorders (DVR) such as Sky+ or one soon to be rolled out by Chorus/NTL, viewers will not be able to skip the ads.

According to Conor Mullen, commercial director for RTE, Irish stations are not allied with either side yet.

"It's too early to say, we've yet to see what kind of audiences are out there, " he said.

Then there is the problem of internet connection. "The issue you have with regards to any of these online services is ultimately down to broadband, " Mullen continued. "Broadband penetration in Ireland is still exceptionally low, the market is small. Until broadband catches up, I don't see these taking off."

Contract disputes could prove an obstacle as well.

Exclusive rights for programming that exist in terrestrial television can be extended to the internet if the station acquires IP streaming rights from the content creator. Then they would be the only ones able to broadcast that programming on the internet in Ireland as well as on the television. To date, however, not many distributors have bothered.

To allow for those restrictions, Joost has the ability to "geo-block in accordance with the rights of the content owner, " said Tony Orsten, vice-president of content, strategy and acquisition. This means they can restrict areas from being able to view specific programs. It is intended to keep them out of the legal trouble that Google has found themselves in with lawsuits over pirated content. For instance, Joost currently only allows CSI to be seen in the United States because of geo-blocking.

Though it is not a problem now, the time may come when staying removed from Joost and Google's contentgrabbing would put Irish stations at a disadvantage in getting their programming to an international audience.

It could also hurt Ireland's access to programming from abroad.