[opendtv] Re: News: Spain overhauls TV market
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 10:47:11 -0400
This was one of your better posts Bert!
I think the take-away is that we want a system that caches the
programs we want to watch, when we are not watching something that is
live. We agree that there is a LOT of content out there. There is
also a huge amount of duplication across the 500-1000 channel ocean.
Not having what the viewer/subscriber wants can be a show stopper.
Having more than they want is not a major benefit, especially if they
must pay for all of the stuff they don't want, as is the case with
cable and DBS today.
Broadcasters could strike a reasonable balance with a free
multi-channel (but not necessarily real-time) service, and still
offer premium content as well. It's all about using the capacity to
keep those caches filled with the right stuff.
Regards
Craig
At 7:37 PM -0400 8/4/05, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
>Craig Birkmaier wrote:
>
>> So cable is in a quandary because the future appears
>> to be about giving subscribers access to the content
>> they want, rather than a big ocean of content that
>> they must surf to find what they want. Much of the
>> capacity of the system today is consumed with stuff
>> that the typical subscriber does not watch
>
>A PVR can solve that, providing its own search engine
>and only recording what the viewer wants to see.
>
>It's still possible to use the cheap firehose approach
>instead of the more expensive VOD or individually
>switched channel approach, if you have a PVR. Think of
>it this way: the smarts go in the end system, the PVR,
>rather than being distributed throughout the network.
>Makes for a cheaper network. It's a tradeoff.
>
>> OTA DTV cannot compete with cable or DBS in terms of
>> the size of the ocean...they will always lose that
>> battle. But they can compete by leap-frogging cable
>> and DBS, providing a wide range of content that can
>> be downloaded to cache. Only the stuff that is live
>> needs to be delivered at a specific time...the rest
>> can be delivered anytime, and that equates to
>> massive capacity when spread across say 30 channels
>> operating 24/7.
>
>Cable and DBS can of course do the same thing.
>
>But I don't see this massive capacity suddenly
>available with non-real-time downloads. The massive
>capacity ONLY comes as a result of filling up the 24
>hours/day with *desirable* content, in each of your
>6 MHz multiplexes.
>
>If you rely on PVR-like devices, i.e. with lots of
>capacity, then whether the programs are downloaded
>in real time, faster than real time, or slower than
>real time, it makes absolutely no difference to
>aggregate system capacity.
>
>When transmitting faster than real time, you will be
>limited in the number of simultaneous streams that
>can be offered. Simply because it takes nore channel
>capacity to transmit faster than real time. If
>slower than real time, you can offer more streams
>but it takes longer to get them in storage. And both
>of those options prevent real-time viewing.
>
>The trick is to get rid of the wasted time. If you
>can rely on recording devices and fill the 24 hours
>with good stuff people want to see, then it's not
>that important at what rate the programs are
>transmitted. Obviously, as long as programs meant to
>be consumed "live" are transmitted in real time.
>
>So, while OTA could offer a lot more to viewers,
>cable and DBS could in turn offer a lot lot lot
>more to viewers.
>
>Bert
>
>
>
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