The BBC plans to bring its web video iPlayer catch-up service to television screens, according to a Financial Times report. The move would take BBC online to a level which could see it compete against technology groups such as Apple.

Mark Thompson, BBC director-general, told the FT it was "looking very hard at" forming an alliance to introduce "a very simple standard" for getting online video from computer screens on to standard televisions.

While Apple TV devices which allow online video to be screened on TV screens, sales have been disappointing.

"There are many things out there in the market, but what we haven’t yet got is a simple standard, to mean that you can get services like iPlayer and Kangaroo," said Thompson.