What’s the difference with Web TV and TV?

It’s really nice to have the BBC iplayer, itv.com’s catchup service and channel 4’s 4OD, but I struggle to find content that I really want to watch on these services. I have the free-view service on my TV and that’s OK, but it’s still loads of repeats and I’m actually thinking of smashing up my TV and just sticking with the web! Well…. why do we need it now? The government has a digital switch over plan to be completed by 2012, so all the channels will be available via the web. We have loads of online channels who are offering film download services, catchup and other programs all over. I have a lovely widescreen Monitor and I can see almost crystal clear video quality on it.

So what’s the difference? why do I still need my TV?

Well.. let me tell you something! I really like the fact that I can touch a button on the remote and watch TV immediately. I also like jumping on my nice comfy leather sofa, flicking through the channels to see if anything takes my fancy. Then, when I actually do find something I like, I can sit back and enjoy the show. With Web TV, I still need to power up my computer, hit the browser application and then type in the web address. Sorry guys but it’s still a bit of a pain! Then my eyes get tired on the monitor and I feel like i have been on the computer all day! Sometimes the stream buffers and I need to wait for the stream to catch up.

So what’s the verdict ? Why am I giving out two very strong reasons both ways?? Web TV is great and I love watching quick clips on the catchup services and short form videos online. But as a moment; a moment to take time out , get entertained and relax. I just don’t think internet TV completes it for me yet! Not in a relaxing way. If I’m online, great! I’ll watch something quickly and get entertained. But then I go back to work! (Ops sorry boss, if you’re reading this.)

Food for thought!

Signing off!

Realitypod.tv

video screen anyone?

2008 was a very interesting year as we saw the take up of online video viewing rocket to the point where we have seen a new bunch of investors in town trying to understand and monetize this space. We see the potential and we see the joy that it brings to millions of people as they watch, online, on mobile and now online on TV, thanks to slingbox and other competitors in this space.

One of the tricks is to understand video content beyond the PC or MAC and see where else video can be watched. Is it the car? is it at the bus stop? At the back of seats on buses? We are starting to see screens everywhere on the London underground, although these are mainly advertisers promoting products, but I’m convinced that to get the customers more engaged we will see screens in the trains. Now there’s a thought for a captive audience.

Whilst online video advertising is slow to take up, they have many ways to present it via overlays, opt-ins, prerolls, and product placements. This presents four different revenue streams for the broadcaster and to the brands wanting to advertise. Just remember this market is still very much in its infancy and both investors and creative companies will be coming into the market to help monazite or dare I say it “revolutionize” this space.

The broadcasters still have the content that consumers want to watch, content owners such as the bbc, itv and channel 4 don’t really care where you watch the content, but they know the tradition way we watch content is not via traditional broadcast transmission.

This presents us with a massive growth opportunity, not just from an advertising standpoint, but from the whole value chain that this business needs in order to be enjoyed. I’m taking about, cabling, fibre optics, broadband, content creation, encoding and scheduling, player solutions and screens. As we become more creative in the approach for placing screens everywhere, so does the revenues. I think Investors know this and as online bandwidth hungry content viewers increase, so does the value chain…

Signing off!

Realitypod.tv

IPTV?

I often get asked what IPTV is.  For those of you who are web savvy it should be fairly simple to explain. For those who don’t know, it is basically Television over the internet. The short term IP means Internet Protocol. Since broadband has taken off like a rocket to space, we are clearly able to watch TV, films, video clips and commercials in real time, over the internet.

 OK, now that’s fairly easy to understand; but  there is a much wider discussion going on about the future of IPTV and the business models in order to get this right over the internet.

There are two main factors involved.

1 – Broadcasting Rights  
2 – Advertising Models 

Everyday, broadcasters and cable companies are losing their audiences to Internet Video Platforms, such as blip.tv, joost.com, hulu.com. They are trying their best to come up with a solution in the fight to keep their viewers. In the UK the BBC has introduced the iplayer. Channel 4 introduced 4oD and ITV launched a catchup service on itv.com.  The catchup services which all UK broadcasters provide have proved to be massively popular. The two main questions are, how do they monatize this service to keep it going? and how can they obtain the rights to distribute content over the internet?

The broadcasting rights to show content over the internet were not part of the deal when UK broadcasters purchased content to air on TV. Now the game change is shifting over the internet, the big US content providers are playing hardball and retaining these rights. With this in mind,  Hulu.com shouted out last month. They are opening up their platform to the UK.

It’s a massive subject. The US Content Owners don’t want to lose the revenue of IP (intellectual property) for one second! 

Signing off!

 

Realitypod.tv team