[opendtv] Connected TVs: What to Watch for
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 18:56:51 -0500
"'It is a blurry line, and everyone is going to be closely watching the first
few carriage agreements that come up for renewal' to see if operators will have
to pay extra for TV everywhere or connected TV rights, says Mark Jeffery,
senior director of video and multi-screen, Americas Cable Solutions at
Alcatel-Lucent."
Or, cable subscribers simply use their cable broadband pipe and go directly to
the conglom sites, or other over the top sites like Netflix or Hulu, to get the
content. And cable-generated content would be made available, already is in
some cases, in similar Internet sites.
The congloms or other content creators aren't compelled in any way to stick
with older distribution models.
I think this quote is more likely:
"One potential casualty in the home entertainment makeover being created by
connected TVs and other networked devices is the set-top box. Comcast and TWC
have already announced plans to deliver their products into the home without
set-top boxes over connected TVs, and a number of operators are looking at
using broadband connections to expand the content they offer. DirecTV, for
example, is planning to connect at least 40 percent of its HD DVRs to the
Internet by end of 2013."
This is what I would term, "the MVPDs reinvent themselves." Cable systems have
a more obvious new role, as ISPs. But DBS? It all depends on how much control
the congloms want to take back. If they want, they can rely exclusively on the
still-unwalled Internet distribution pipe. (Soon enough, anyway.)
Bert
--------------------------------
http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/120858
Connected TVs: What to Watch for
05.23.2011.
On May 24, B&C, Multichannel News, TV Technology and Twice are hosting a major
event in New York City: "Connected TV and 3D-Supplying the Demand." In advance
of the conference, B&C spoke with a number of executives on the impact of
connected TVs. Here are four key questions they say broadcasters and operators
need to keep in mind.
How fast will consumers get connected?
There is little doubt that TVs connected to the Internet are one of the
fastest-growing consumer electronics categories, and that broadcasters are
taking notice. "Tablets are already established as a game-changer, and now
people are looking at connected TV as the next big thing," says Mark Hyland,
QuickPlay Media VP of marketing.
The Consumer Electronics Association expects that manufacturers will ship 5.2
million connected TV sets in the U.S. in 2011, up from just under 1.3 million
in 2009. Forrester, the independent research company, is predicting that 43
million homes will have connected TVs by 2015.
Companies like Broadcom are deploying faster chips at lower prices, which is
pushing down the prices of sets and other consumer devices while making them
easier to connect and use, notes Dan Marotta, executive VP and general manager
for Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group.
But companies will have to watch how fast viewers get connected. Research from
Forrester in summer 2010 suggested that more than one-third of all smart TV
owners were not using the connected TV features.
How do smart TVs change competition for viewers?
Over time, the growing popularity of connected TVs promises to open the
industry up to new competition in a way not seen since the advent of
multichannel TV. "Cable operators had been in complete control of the interface
presented to the consumer, but with connected TV, the CE manufacturer now
controls an input" where users of a connected TV can access apps for Netflix
and other over-the-top providers, notes Ian Blaine, CEO of thePlatform. "It is
a very thorny issue for operators thinking about connected TVs."
That is making alliances with consumer electronics manufacturers more
important, but it also opens up more competition for eyeballs from over-the-top
providers- which have an increasingly easy path into the living room-and even
among cable operators themselves, who might use these TVs to expand into new
territories.
Who owns the rights?
While Comcast, Cablevision and others argue their existing carriage agreements
allow them to stream content to other devices in the home, Time Warner Cable
and Viacom are already suing each other over the MSO's iPad app. And it isn't
clear how existing carriage agreements might apply to connected TVs.
"It is a blurry line, and everyone is going to be closely watching the first
few carriage agreements that come up for renewal" to see if operators will have
to pay extra for TV everywhere or connected TV rights, says Mark Jeffery,
senior director of video and multi-screen, Americas Cable Solutions at
Alcatel-Lucent.
Over time, cable operators might also negotiate national deals and then use
connected TV to offer video outside the current footprint. "It allows a cable
operator to go from a regional provider to a national operator, a huge change"
in the structure of the industry, says Jeffery.
What's in and what's out in the connected home?
One potential casualty in the home entertainment makeover being created by
connected TVs and other networked devices is the set-top box. Comcast and TWC
have already announced plans to deliver their products into the home without
set-top boxes over connected TVs, and a number of operators are looking at
using broadband connections to expand the content they offer. DirecTV, for
example, is planning to connect at least 40 percent of its HD DVRs to the
Internet by end of 2013.
The connected TVs and these other networked devices will also make it easier to
add more interactive elements, deploy more targeted advertising and
dramatically improve the current TV guides, which do a very poor job of
searching through hundreds of linear channels and tens of thousands of VOD
titles.
Rovi, for example, recently introduced a TotalGuide xD search and
recommendation product that would allow viewers to use an iPad or other devices
to easily search through all the available content from a home's linear TV
channels, VOD titles, DVR recordings and over-the-top content, notes Sharon
Metz, vice president of vertical markets at Rovi. "It's a tremendous
opportunity to expand the depth and breadth of the viewing experience," Rovi
says.
-- George Winslow, Broadcasting & Cable
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