[opendtv] Apple, Google Seek TV
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:07:42 -0500
Very timely article.
"But, the study finds, 'More than 70 percent are streaming, downloading or
watching recorded broadcast TV.'"
Which means, recorded shows are part of this "non-linear" trend, which is why I
think this is such old news.
Good article, IMO. Better than most, on this topic.
Bert
-------------------------------
http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/107022
Apple, Google Seek TV
by John Merli, 09.28.2010
ALEXANDRIA, VA.
As new studies indicate the American public is now using more than one-third of
its leisure time watching TV-notably with half of all viewers watching some
content on computers, tablets and smartphones-the dual additions this fall of
Apple TV and Google TV could change the way a lot of people watch television in
their living rooms, too.
After its initial appearance four years ago, a revamped Apple TV's hardware is
now a smaller box going for less than $100, in order to "rent" TV shows
streamed from its iTunes Store for 99 cents per episode. (Movie rentals range
from $3-$5.) Google TV will allow users to overlay Google content and
outside-produced "apps" on family-room TV sets and, eventually, on tablet-type
computers using Google's Chrome OS. According to the online tech site,
Engadget, Google is planning to launch its new TV service by the middle of this
month. At least one set maker, Sony, plans to include Google TV within some of
its TV models in plenty of time for the upcoming holiday sales season. Other
makers such as Samsung are expected to follow Sony's lead quickly.
NONLINEAR CATCHING UP
Google and Apple don't appear to be leading the charge into widening non-linear
TV options as much as taking advantage of already-emerging consumer habits.
According to a recent study by Ericsson ConsumerLab of TV consumers in the
U.S., China and Western Europe, 93 percent still watch linear broadcast TV on a
weekly basis. But, the study finds, "More than 70 percent are streaming,
downloading or watching recorded broadcast TV." In-Stat, a market researcher,
predicts there will be 57 million households in America watching full-length
movies online via their digital TV sets by 2014.
While a majority of broadcasters contacted on this trend chose not to comment
for the record, a few others believe the start-up of Apple TV and Google TV
could end up having a healthy effect, if any at all, on traditional
broadcasting.
"If Google TV and Apple TV have any impact, I believe it will be positive, as
it may drive more people to traditional television," said Paul Karpowicz,
president of Meredith Local Media Group, a division of Meredith Corp., which
owns a dozen TV stations. "Instead of sitting at a computer, the TV will become
the device-of-choice for both TV viewing and surfing the Internet. Because the
consumer is already sitting in front of the TV, they may watch more traditional
television. Over the years, we've determined that viewers do not want TV to be
interactive. They prefer to sit back and be entertained, instead of engaging in
a cooperative activity like Apple TV or Google TV," Karpowicz said.
Laura Cowan, who chairs the Media Consumption & Engagement Committee of the
Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence, also doesn't see emerging
services like Apple TV as a serious threat. "We tend to find these new
technologies to be additive to, and not a substitute for, traditional media
habits. The council's Video Consumer Mapping study proved that screen time is
simply increasing. Nielsen's Three Screen Report also indicates this, and was
itself validated by the VCM findings. And as we've seen in the VCM and in more
recent research, concurrent media exposure is expanding," said Cowan.
JUST ANOTHER BOX?
Analyst Bruce Leichtman is a bit blunter. "I don't see much of an impact,
frankly, from what Apple TV had originally offered to begin with back in 2006.
Maybe a lower price now, sure. But Apple TV is another standalone box that
consumers have traditionally rejected. One of the most successful boxes of all
time is TiVo, and that only penetrated two percent of the U.S.," said the head
of Leichtman Research Group. "If we weren't talking about the names 'Apple' or
'Google,' we wouldn't be paying much attention to this. The new Apple TV to me
looks and feels a heck of a lot like a Roku [box]."
Leichtman concedes Apple TV's MSRP of $99 could make a small difference for
some users. "But then when they look at it, they may ask, 'So what do I get?
Don't I already get this on my Blu-ray, or on Netflix, on cable [DVR and VOD]?'
Apple and Google simply haven't created better mousetraps here," Leichtman said.
Longtime pubcaster Tom Axtell, general manager of KLVX-TV in Las Vegas, thinks
new entries like Apple TV and Google TV could wind up curbing access to
"vulnerable" viewers. Axtell, whose "Vegas PBS" operation recently relocated to
its new 122,000-square-foot Educational Technology Campus, said Google and
Apple are merely following in the footsteps of cable and satellite TV by
"seeking to create a new set of consumer expectations" for what used to be free
terrestrial television.
"Apple and Google hope to convince viewers to accept a pay-per-view approach
for programs from network television," Axtell said. "Public television has
already invested heavily in making 'free over the air programs' now available
on 'free over the Internet' Web sites. [But] clearly, low-income children will
not watch as much educational television online if they are required to
transition to a pay-per-view world."
Perhaps Google TV's service should be the one that broadcasters might want to
keep a closer eye on, according to analyst James McQuivey at Forrester
Research. "Most of the content Apple offers would represent maybe 30 minutes of
viewing a day-roughly 12 percent of viewing time," McQuivey said. "But Google
TV has the potential to enhance and augment viewing, which would end up
disrupting it. Because it would provide a Google overlay, app functionality,
and search capabilities for the entire TV viewing experience, it's much more
powerful in concept... All those Google TV homes will create a base of
customers for entirely new viewing, social and commercial experiences that
neither [terrestrial] TV nor cable can provide."
McQuivey thinks Google TV's biggest impact could come from new apps that
outside developers would create to enhance the viewing experience in the living
room. "That's something a broadcaster doesn't want to have happen without being
in control," McQuivey said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
