BBC iPlayer enabled Freeview boxes are expected to be available by the end of the year, according to the Telegraph.

Ilse Howling, managing director of Freeview, said plans for rollout of the on-demand service are being brought forward.

It would launch a year earlier than Canvas, the joint venture between BT, ITV and the BBC which will bring video-on-demand content to internet-enabled set-top boxes.

Ms Howling said: "Overall Freeview is bucking the trend of the recession. People are cutting back on certain spending, but not on television."