Growing multiscreen viewing trend opens up new opportunities for pay-TV providers

A new report from Pyramid Research has found that as the consumer demand for OTT services increases, pay-TV providers are being forced to adapt and evolve their business proposition to provide multiscreen models to better satisfy their growing customer base. Such huge changes present massive opportunities for the pay-TV industry to introduce multiscreen business models, increase customer loyalty and generate higher revenues.

We’ve already seen significant second screen growth. Last year’s sporting summer provided the perfect opportunity for consumers to get to grips with their new multiscreen TV options to keep up to date with the latest scores and results.

The UK also saw social media conversations rocket during popular programmes such as the X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, and of course, the Olympics, as consumers shared their thoughts on what they were witnessing on TV with their peers. Demonstrating this, a staggering 150 million tweets were posted during London 2012, making last summer’s games the very first social Olympics. This growing trend has brought with it an influx of companion apps being introduced to the market, such as our very own ANT Galio Move. Apps like this extend the TV experience, allowing consumers to interact with their favourite TV shows, follow relevant hashtags on Twitter and discuss their views with friends online, all from a second screen.

Consumers are getting increasingly comfortable using multiple screens and interacting directly with the programmes that they’re watching, and the pay-TV industry is no different. Consumers now want to watch video services on multiple screens, and as a result, pay-TV providers must now evolve to meet their customer bases’ changing requirements. Launching OTT-like video services enables pay-TV providers to extend their reach to a new wave of customers. It’s an exciting time for the industry, with huge opportunities to create new, additional, revenue streams for those prepared to respond to changing consumer viewing behaviour.

What impact will the iPad Mini have on the multi-screen TV viewing experience?

Apple’s much anticipated gadget, the iPad Mini was unveiled last night, but what impact will it have on the multi-screen TV viewing experience when it becomes available to the public on the 2nd November?

The launch of the iPad Mini could send Apple’s dominance in the tablet market into overdrive. The smaller, cheaper tablet isn’t just a device for holidays; it has the potential to extend TV services every day. Multi-screen TV is becoming increasingly popular with services including search and recommendations being combined with the ability to watch shows away from the TV set. Compact and portable, the quality of the screen hasn’t been compromised, meaning users will be able to enjoy TV content on the go at ease.

Whilst it’s launching with a slightly higher-than-expected price tag of £269, it’s still cheaper than Apple’s £300+ flagship 10-inch iPad. This means consumers will be able to take advantage of an enhanced connected TV experience at a lower price.  Both the TV industry and consumers are becoming increasingly savvy in using tablets and smartphones to enhance the viewing experience. It’ll be interesting to see what new services will be tailored to the new enhanced range of iPads to extend TV experience even further, and whether these new devices change the way people multi-task while watching TV.

Umbrella Apps

Apps for the TV is fast becoming a hot topic. A recent survey by Appcelerator has found that more than 80 per cent of developers felt they would be making apps for televisions by 2015. The survey of more than 5000 developers shows that the number of apps for the TV will soon be equal to mobile and tablets.

Our own app, ANT Galio Move, has already received an excellent response from customers who recognise that tablet and smartphone applications can really enhance the viewing experience for viewers, whilst providing significant product differentiation and new revenue.

At IBC last month, we showcased a range of demos, to show how broadcast metadata can be used to provide integrated content from Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia and iTunes. Viewers can follow tweets about the programme they’re watching, watch a movie trailer on YouTube or buy the soundtrack on iTunes.

John Moulding has described this type of application as ‘the Umbrella app’. An app that takes the usual campaign screen functionality like channel change and recordings and adding social media content, which is usually thought of as ‘second screen’ experiences. This gives Pay TV platforms the opportunity to become the gateway on tablets and smartphones within which individual programme-related experiences are accessed.

We’ve seen with ANT Galio Move that this type of functionality can be just as compelling with a free-to-air platform when the application has direct access to the TV device and its accompanying metadata. Companion applications will continue to evolve but we’re starting to see how combining traditional TV functionality such as streaming, navigation and control with online content can really improve the overall TV experience.

Socialising at IBC 2012

IBC 2012 marks a year since the launch of our unique multiscreen TV app, ANT Galio Move. Over the last 12 months the app has continued to evolve as connected devices have presented a massive opportunity for the TV industry. With the foundations of the connected home in place, it’s clear that consumers want to be able to interact across multiple devices. Now with the ANT Galio Move app, viewers can access Facebook and Twitter on the same screen as their favourite TV shows.

ANT Galio Move was developed to meet the growing demand for the multiscreen viewing experience. It enables viewers to watch both live and recorded TV on tablets and smartphones anywhere in the home. People can watch either the same or different TV shows without interrupting the main TV screen. The app ‘talks’ to the TV or STB over a Wi-Fi connection, any tablet or smartphone device can also act as a remote control. So viewers are also able to manage recordings and access programme information.

Now viewers can update Facebook or Twitter whilst they watch TV content on the same screen. Not only this, but because the app analyses programme metadata it can also provide links to additional associated online content. ANT Galio Move can provide links to Wikipedia for additional programme and actor information, movie trailers on YouTube, or a soundtrack on iTunes. It can even suggest the right hashtags for the viewer to follow on Twitter.


We’ll be at IBC until the end of the show so pop our stand 4.C98 in Hall number 4 to see ANT Galio Move in action. Or you can view a video demonstration of the new features below.

Multi-screen is the way forward for our sporting summer

This weekend, we watched in disbelief as England crashed out of Euro 2012, yet again on penalties. So as we enjoy, or rather endure, this sporting summer, it’s interesting to note that one fifth of Europeans will be using connected devices to ensure they don’t miss a single sporting event, according to research carried out for Logitech by Opinion Matters . Whilst the Euros are now over for England, we still have Wimbledon and the Olympics to look forward to; and it’s looking likely that this sporting summer will be the tipping point for bringing the multi-screen experience into our living rooms.

The survey also revealed that 66 per cent of men control the remote. But by using new tablet and smartphone apps such as ANT Galio Move, arguments over the remote will become a thing of the past. Using a Wi-Fi connection, ANT Galio Move lets users stream live and recorded TV direct to tablets and smartphones anywhere in the home. This means that fans can watch the match on an iPad as they get refreshments from the kitchen while everyone else continues to watch on the main TV - no-one need ever miss a single kick again. Alternatively those that don’t want to watch the game can use the iPad to watch a different live channel or recorded programme. The app can also be used to manage recordings, access additional programme information and control the TV, all without interrupting the big game.

So with increasing numbers of consumers turning to multiple devices to watch all the sporting events over the summer, one thing we can be certain of is that the multi-screen experience looks set to stay. Perhaps slightly less certain however, are Great Britain’s chances for the rest of the sporting summer… For now, the pressure is firmly on Andy Murray to deliver a British victory at Wimbledon!

New services needed to capitalise on connected TV sales boom

More than every third flat-screen TV set sold this year in Europe (37%) will be Internet-compatible, according to recent figures compiled by the European Information Technology Observatory. But with connected TVs now set to boom across Europe, manufacturers and retailers are constantly having to up their game. One way to do this is to offer the consumer market more innovative features so that they remain ahead of their competition.

These latest figures show that connected TVs are becoming increasingly popular, and as a result, everyone wants a piece of the pie. This year, we’ve already seen the entry of Netflix into the UK market, the launch of Google TV 2.0, and an Apple TV is rumoured to be hot on its heels. So in an increasingly crowded marketplace, manufacturers are having to become more savvy by harnessing developments in new technologies and offering consumers a greater range of digital TV services. For a glimpse of future connected TV services it’s worth tracking the connected set-top box market: with a shorter development cycle it’s often where TV innovation can be seen first.

Multiscreen TV is set to shape the viewing experience of the future, with connected devices talking to each other to deliver truly personalised TV. By embracing new services such as tablet and smartphone viewing, connected TV sales will continue to thrive.

By Simon Woodward, CEO of digital TV specialist ANT Software

“Chatterboxing” set to be the norm

More and more people want to interact with the content they are watching and feel connected to their TV. If that was not already accepted, then the recent TeleScope report published by TV Licensing should help to convince the doubters. The report covered over 2,000 UK adults looking to take the pulse of the nation’s viewing habits. One of the headline findings is that over a quarter of those people (26 per cent) said they now use multiple devices whilst watching television.

The practice of using smartphones and tablet devices to comment on television in real time has been dubbed “chatterboxing” in the report, and if the growth of social networking sites and sales of such devices continues, then it is inevitable more people are going to want to interact with content in this way.

For instance, if a soap show or a football match is on the box, you can bet at least one aspect of the content will be trending on Twitter. People are watching their televisions and reacting to what they are seeing on social networking sites via their smartphones or tablets. TV shows are already creating their own hashtags to compliment what is being transmitted. Look at something like Question Time, interaction with the audience at home is now done via social networks. It’s almost completely replaced the concept of texting or calling into the show.

The key to this shift in consumer behaviour will be to rollout connected TVs with the ability to work in unison with other devices such as smartphones and tablets. At the moment these are treated as independent devices but the viewing experience of the future must enable these devices to 'talk' to TV’s, delivering a more personalised viewing experience for the consumer. This is something we looked at in our ‘Predictions for the year ahead’ blog.

Whilst for some this may be seen as a big investment for the TV industry to meet, the TV Licensing report shows it should be a financially rewarding project for them. Chatterboxing is actually encouraging people to watch scheduled TV. A quarter (24%) of social media savvy adults covered in the report, aged under 35, watch a programme live, rather than on catch up, because they enjoy being part of the related social media chatter. One in five (19%) are more likely to watch something as it is being shown on TV because they are worried ‘social media spoilers’ will ruin the ending.

If this heightened interaction and the risk of ‘spoilers’ encourages more people to tune in at the scheduled times, then it should help broadcasters to sell advertising space for higher rates. All of which will trickle through the industry helping everyone to benefit.

However, to ensure this opportunity is seized upon, content providers and device manufacturers need to work together to create further options and make sure interaction between the viewer and the broadcaster is taken as far as it can be. TV is such an important part of today’s social behaviour and the onus has now been placed on the TV industry to deliver a converged TV experience that embraces new viewing trends.

The growth of multi-screen iPlayer

As a new iPad owner, one of the biggest advantages I’ve found is the convenience it offers over a laptop – especially for casual use such as watching video online. With an almost 600% increase year-on-year in the number of requests made to iPlayer from tablets, a lot of other people seem to agree with me. For connected TVs, the numbers are even more impressive – a year-on-year increase of over 1000%.

While the majority of requests are still made from PCs, the growth in alternative ways of consuming content isn’t too surprising if you think about the TV-watching experience itself. Watching TV tends to be both casual and social; smart TVs and tablets both offer a more suitable form factor than a laptop for this kind of experience, albeit in different ways. Smart TVs and iPlayer-equipped games consoles enable on-demand viewing to be more social, while tablets offer a better multi-screen experience than laptops due to their weight and form factor.

By making iPlayer available on these devices, the BBC has been able to offer an experience that is closer to that of watching live TV, and they’re now seeing the benefits of this. It’s taken a lot of effort on the part of the BBC to make iPlayer available on so many platforms, but with other broadcasters such as ITV, Channel 4 and Sky offering multi-screen catch-up services the benefits of this strategy are becoming more and more obvious.

What does iPad 2 mean for the future of multiscreen TV?

The iPad 2 is now available to buy, providing consumers with new features such as front and rear facing cameras, faster internet browsing and access to Apple’s famous appstore. But what impact will it have on the way we watch TV?

The rise of tablet devices is changing the way we consume content and could potentially have a huge impact on the future of TV. By providing broadcasters and advertisers with a new platform for exciting new TV services, content will no longer be confined to the TV screen. As the latest piece in the connected home puzzle, tablets are part of a chain of connectivity leading to the convergence of media content and interactive services. So content we would once associate with the web, is now appearing on our TV screens and vice versa.

Content providers need to look to deliver these interactive services across multiple devices. If consumers can download interactive TV content to a device such as an iPad, they can engage with exciting interactive TV services as they are broadcast in real time, without interrupting their viewing experience. The challenge is to deliver a consistent user experience across these platforms, whether the viewer is watching broadcast content on the TV or on the move with an iPad.