IPTV Models Emerge as Commercial Momentum Increases

Delegates of the ASI European TV Symposium in Warsaw this week heard of the emerging IPTV models as broadcasters and programme companies begin to accept that a new era of TV beckons.

Graham Lovelace of Lovelace Consulting illustrated four recent examples:

CBS – making programmes available three days after broadcast; free and – an interesting point – with advertisements stripped out. Also selling programmes for download for 99c. i-tunes – massive and immediate downloads of Lost and Desperate Housewives at $1.20 via its new video service.

AOL TV – a free online TV network for past series, launching early next year and called In2TV. Over 3,000 hours of archive programmes from 100 series of Warner Brothers productions, initially be organised in six themed channels of comedy, drama, animation, action, classic and superhero genres. It will be supported by advertising revenue, but with just one or two minutes of adverts within a 30-minute episode.

BBC – Rolling out its iMP integrated Media Player to 5,000 users in a trial of the broadband download service, allowing access to selected radio and television programmes transmitted in the previous week. This is a PC application that offers up to 300 hours of BBC radio and television programmes a week. Trialists are also asked to rate the programmes.

Lovelace pointed to a future of “place-shifting” – watching your favourite programmes wherever you are over a broadband connection to your home TV/box; and showed Akimbo – a $70 box that enables this process. Faster download speeds and better video compression are just round the corner and would hasten increased coverage.

Sky clearly recognises the opportunity, given its recent purchase of Easynet – “beyond just another triple play” was James Murdoch’s verdict; and the Telcos and ISPs have strategies too. National commercial broadcasters would seem to place into insignificance amongst this global and mighty mix.

There are challenges, Lovelace concluded. Rights, Service Design (online EPGs and search mechanisms – and plain old marketing); Content Regulation (Brussels is debating this currently; what happens to watersheds as well?); and of course investment in technology, but Lovelace clearly saw an unstoppable momentum for IPTV.