The future of EPG

Every month or so Justin Lebbon interviews TV industry representatives on their views on emerging trends and technology for his new site V-net.tv, an online information sharing and networking hub for all things Convergence TV, as I blogged here before.

This time he has kindly asked my opinion on the future of EPG to which I happily answered in a form of video.

New channels, great expectation

As the UK TV broadcast industry goes through some serious structural shake ups and looks to take a fresh approach to revenue generation, there are plenty of new TV services appearing on the horizon. In recent weeks I’ve seen some interesting developments happening in the industry including launches of new channels.

Hulu TV
Times Online reported last Sunday that Hulu, the most popular TV streaming website in US, will start streaming shows to British internet users from September 2009. “In contrast to video-on-demand services from British broadcasters, such as the BBC’s iPlayer and Channel 4’s 4oD, which restrict themselves to the output of their parent corporations, Hulu will offer shows from UK broadcasters including Channel 4, ITV and possibly even the BBC.” The service will be available free for all UK residents.

Freeview HD
The BBC recently confirmed that Freeview HD transmissions will be rolled out by Christmas. Initially only covering Manchester and Liverpool, the rollout will soon expand and eventually reach the rest of the UK by 2012. Freeview HD will show BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 at first; however it’s reported that the new Freeview HD broadcasts won’t work on many existing Freeview set-top boxes, which means most viewers will have to buy a new TV or a new STB.

ESPN
Having bought the rights to broadcast two of the six packages of English Premiership games for the 2009-10 season from Setanta, Disney owned, US channel ESPN will launch in time for the new season, according to Evening Standard.

Disney XD
Disney is launching a new entertainment channel Disney XD this autumn in replacement of Jetix, the children’s entertainment channel. Broadly aimed at six-to-14-year-old boys and their families, the channel will include a mix of live programmes and animation with a focus on sports, adventure, music and comedy.

Quest TV
Despite plans to launch in May, Discovery Channels has recently decided to postpone the launch for Quest TV till later this year. To be launched on Freeview, Quest is expected to provide factual, lifestyle and entertainment programmes from the archives of Discovery Communications and other imported material.

Fast growth for connected TVs in the US

A survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) in the US, has revealed that as many as 14.5 million US households will consider buying an internet-capable TV over the coming year.

Out of all survey respondents, over 60 per cent wanted to watch online video content, 59 per cent wanted to check the weather and 57 per cent wanted to play network games.

The survey also identified that having access to content at any time and being able to access the internet during television broadcasts were the main reason viewers would opt for connected TVs. This is a latent trend that is yet to be echoed in Europe and indeed in the UK, where demand for VOD content on the internet has increased by 10% this year.

Interestingly, it’s said that the user interface for accessing online services through the television remains a challenge in the IPTV industry. Some industry insiders also say that there are no clear winners in terms of standards, interfaces or protocols as yet.

Evidently, this is changing very fast. As we saw at this year’s IPTV World Forum, industry players including ANT are already developing new and efficient usability features and interface apps as the demand for connected TVs rockets.

‘Super simplicity’ will rein the Connected Homes

Interesting research emerged from Ericsson ConsumerLab last week on the future of connected TV. The report titled ‘IPTV and the Connected Home' examines digital content consumption in the home and found that there’s growing consumer interest in IPTV services.

Although the research talks about some of the evident trends in the consumption of connected TV, I found the following tidbits worth digesting:

• One third (33%) of the internet population in the UK are interested in creating ‘connected home’ environments, but the early adopters are still having to rely on DIY solutions to create home entertainment systems

• 64% of UK consumers would like to have wireless connectivity between all digital media devices to facilitate the quick and easy sharing of digital content

• Over half of UK consumers would like greater freedom and flexibility to access digital content from any device, from anywhere, combined with wireless connectivity between all digital content devices

• The operators need to deliver 'super simplicity' in order to drive mass-market take-up of advanced IPTV-based and connected home functionality

There’s no doubt that the demand for advanced TV and connected features are shifting from early adopters to a much wider user base. However, as the research rightly suggests, TV viewers are increasingly expecting connected TV through a simple and seamless delivery platform. However, simplicity shouldn’t get in the way of innovation. In fact, both should go hand in hand when implementing IPTV services.