Technology360

Why IPTV is DOA

Alex Rowland writes:  "I’ve had a few conversations with folks at different companies servicing the IPTV space over the past few weeks. These conversations have hardened my prior opinion. IPTV is nothing more than cable in sheep’s clothing and cable isn’t going to be the wolf much longer.  ¶  IPTV has a major problem (and lots of smaller ones); it is a closed proprietary delivery mechanism. ..."  Link:  Democracy in Media.

The future of television lies on television, not the Net

Andrew Kantor writes:  "... CBS is simply doing what gadzillions of other Web sites already do: Offering content for people to choose from. Sure, some of CBS' content is professionally produced news, and the result is a very slick site. But in terms of changing things, this Big Deal is pretty much a whoop-dee-do.  ¶  The on-demand Internet is old hat. The future — thanks in large part to the Internet — is true on-demand television. ...¶... In fact, some phone companies have acquired cable TV licenses and are delivering "IPTV" — digital television carried over phone lines, using Internet technology. It's indistinguishable from cable or satellite, except that the line coming into your living room looks like a phone cord, not a TV cable.  ¶  And this is why CBS doesn't quite get it. The future isn't video on the Internet in a little window on your computer. The future is full-quality video over the Internet to your television. ..."  Link:  USA Today.

Cable Industry Wary of Internet Protocol TV: A Content Delivery Technology That Makes Television Interactive

Abbey Klaassen writes:  "... 'This is the single biggest explosion for content,' said Josh Goldman, CEO of Akimbo, a company that delivers Web content to TVs and set-top boxes. 'We’ve already seen it in print and we’re seeing it right now in audio with MP3s. There’s no reason to think that it isn’t coming for the video world.'  ¶  IPTV also creates a host of new entrants to the video-delivery field, a turf formally owned by cable operators and satellite TV distributors. Telecoms Verizon and SBC are spending millions building high-speed networks that will deliver video and are lobbying lawmakers to grant them reprieve from the traditional franchise rules by which cable operators abide. ... Link:  Ad Age.

DirecTV, Echostar Outline Interactive Strategies

... DirecTV Inc. and Echostar Communications Corp. are at the forefront of the interactive revolution in the United States. The two operators, who combined have more than 25 million subscribers, are ramping up their interactivity development efforts and the United States is likely to be one of the most vibrant interactive markets. Already this year, Echostar launched nationwide interactive sporting and karaoke channels for its Dish Network Service. DirecTV announced in January that it will launch a number of new advanced television services that offer viewers more control throughout their viewing experience. ...  Link:  Satellilte News via Telecomweb.

Telco video: Is the third time charmed?

... BellSouth, which is still testing video services and hasn't announced deployment plans, is forecast to pass only 500,000 homes with its FTTC plan in 2006, but then to ramp up quickly to reach 9.5 million homes by 2010 and hit a take rate by then of 35% to achieve 3.325 million video services customers. Qwest remains the great unknown — despite operating video networks already, the company has not yet announced its IPTV plans. Holiday projects a ramp up beginning later — in 2008 — than the other Bells, to reach 2.5 million homes passed by 2010, and a take rate of 25% to reach 625,000 homes served by video. ...  Link:  Telephony Online.

The Real Meaning Of IPTV

... In particular, IPTV allows the service provider to deliver only those channels that the consumer wants at any given time -- unlike traditional television broadcasting, where every channel is delivered to every home on the network. For the first time, it will be economical to deliver a college basketball game to everyone who wants to see it, for example, rather than just a particular local community.  ¶  Of course, IPTV offers more benefits than this to the consumer. For one thing, it raises interactive television to a new level. While interactive TV has been around for more than a decade, it has offered little more than a choice of camera angles from which to view an event. IPTV gives the viewer access not just to an event but to the information related to it. You would have the ability to look at stats and live footage of one game, for example, while watching another. ...  Link:  BusinessWeek.

Yahoo!: Internet Users 'Mesh' Web With Television

Many consumers with broadband access view the Web as an adjunct to television--a medium that provides detailed information about TV programs, plots and characters, according to a new study commissioned by Yahoo! and Mediaedge. Nearly four out of 10 consumers with broadband access (37 percent) look up Web sites related to TV programming, according to report, "It's a Broadband Life," expected to be unveiled today. For the study, Forrester Research surveyed 3,207 U.S. adult consumers online, and researchers from HeadlightVision conducted in-home interviews in 17 households.  ¶ The report also revealed that 34 percent of broadband users look up Web sites mentioned on TV ads. Almost one out of five--18 percent--take part in online polls mentioned on television, and 11 percent go online to learn about characters in a show. ...  Link:  Online Media Daily.

Me TV: Television of the future

CNet has a series of nine articles on this topic published over three days. --Dennis. "New technologies, from on-demand programming to TiVo offshoots to flat screens to HDTV, are radically changing the benign concept of traditional television. Viewers are now gaining control over the mass medium, creating interactive communities and installing custom-made home media networks. As entire industries are redefined, how are networks, content providers and advertisers adjusting their strategies?"  Links:  Finally, you are in control:  All the shows, all the time.  Underground television.  New business on demand. What and when to buy:  Couch potato confusion.  Turbulence in airwaves.  TV hub of home media.  Three digital trailblazers:  NASCAR's interactive content.  BBC's model for broadcast.  Nike's ad race.

Social Software for Set-Top boxes

Tom Coates writes:  "You can download the core part of the material that follows as a PDF presentation entitled Social Software for Set-Top Boxes (4Mb).  ¶  A buddy-list for television: Imagine a buddy-list on your television that you could bring onto your screen with the merest tap of a 'friends' key on your remote control. The buddy list would be the first stage of an interface that would let you add and remove friends, and see what your friends are watching in real-time - whether they be watching live television or something stored on their PVRs. Adding friends would be simple - you could enter letters on screen using your remote, or browse your existing friends' contact lists.  ¶ Being able to see what your friends were watching on television would remind you of programmes that you also wanted to see, it would help you spot programmes that your social circle thought were interesting and it could start to give you a shared social context for conversations about the media that you and your friends had both enjoyed. ..."  Link:  plasticbag.org.  Very interesting bit of creative thinking. --Dennis

Middleband Channels: Television content-aligned

Mark Sigal:  "... In the age of always-on broadband, I think that it is time for someone to build a service around live (or pre-recorded) television content. Think about it. Beyond financial programming, there are logical applications around music, news, sports, reality television and educational programming for "middleband" services. ..." Link: O'Reilly Network.