Changing times for TV – Europe leads the way

New research has found that broadcasters are increasingly taking the reins when it comes to developing over-the-top (OTT) video services in Europe. The study by SNL Kagen shows that the popularity of catch up services, like BBC iPlayer, is at the heart of how content is being distributed and viewed online.

It’s further evidence that the way we absorb TV content has made a fundamental shift. The ability to tune in anytime to our favourite programmes shapes our TV behaviour today. Open standards, like HbbTV, are creating a competitive landscape for broadcasters – and by default, an increasingly rich content library for TV viewers, as technology opens the doors to brand new features and personalised functions.

Broadcasters in the UK, France and Germany have established standards that open new doors for consumers. Spain is also beginning to address this demand with Mediaset España and Telefonica recently announcing a strategic agreement to launch a pilot for HbbTV services in Spain.

So, it seems that open standards are proving their metal in Europe. And, ‘TV Everywhere’ is becoming the name of the game. But as this adoption grows, the content bank for consumers gets richer, and instant access to content becomes the status quo, the pressing question now is how users will access all of this content? A multiscreen TV experience, it seems, is just around the corner.

Video streaming drives data growth – but who pays for it?

Once again, we’re hearing reports that multimedia traffic and video in particular, will drive a massive growth in Internet traffic. ABI Research has calculated that Video and TV streaming could surpass web and internet traffic by 2015, driven by the increasing use of laptops, tablets and other connected devices.

While this isn’t anything new, the increase in the amount of services delivering over-the-top media (and more importantly, the upsurge in the number of devices that give consumers access to those services) indicates that this growth can’t be ignored.

Rising internet traffic will require increased investment from both data carriers and service providers. While the net neutrality debate isn’t yet over, it’s clear that consumers will end up paying for this investment in one way or another. However, who they pay will be an important factor and if service providers can’t monetise their content they will face an uphill struggle in the face of increasing costs for content delivery. We’re already seeing YouTube moving to provide pay content, and other service providers are likely to soon follow, but it’s unclear what will distinguish their services from the likes of Netflix and LoveFilm.

Services operated by broadcasters, such as Sky Player, often have an edge in the quality of content they can offer - not to mention revenue from broadcast programming that can help offset the cost of an online service. For this reason, pure online services will have to do more than simply provide video in order to convince end users to pay. Without offering something unique, these services will face stiff competition from traditional broadcasters and TV service providers offering online content.

Connected TV Summit 2011

Videonet’s second annual Connected TV Summit took place in London this week. Attended by over 360 delegates, with representatives from across the connected TV delivery chain, it proved to be a strong industry event.

While there was very little talk of 3D TV, the leading TV manufacturers arhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife clearly committed to increasing their connected TV offerings. According to Informa’s Senior Analyst, Giles Cottie the main driver for this is simply to keep up with the competition.

As you’d expect, Video-on-Demand remains key, as viewers enjoy the freedom of watching what they want, when they want. Ian Mecklenburgh from Virgin Media stressed that TV still remains the most important aspect of the connected TV, he also told delegates that if on-demand was a channel it would be its third most popular.

We also saw an increasing number of services for companion devices such as the iPhone and iPad as the connected home takes shape. NDS, Philips, Samsung and Sky were all talking about new projects along with Siemens showing a slick new demo using a cloud based service.

Edd Uzzell from Sony had some interesting points about connected devices, notably that demonstrating their full capabilities continues to be a challenge as the majority of retailers aren’t even ‘connected’, making it impossible to showcase the full range of benefits to consumers. As we’ve discussed on this blog before we mustn’t forget the consumer in all of this, retailers and device manufacturers need to help consumers understand how they can make the most of these new services, so they don’t get left behind in these exciting developments.

Connected confusion for TV viewers

Another week, another UK region gears up to make the big digital switch – and this time it’s the turn of viewers in the South East! This project signifies an exciting time for the TV industry, as digital viewing transforms the way we receive and consume our content.
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As the broadcast industry goes digital, device manufacturers are keeping pace with the introduction of exciting new TV services. Consumers increasingly expect more flexibility from these services and personalised viewing remains a priority. Connected TVs have the potential to transform the way we interact with this new content. Worryingly though, there’s a missing link in the chain from industry to consumer.

Whilst there is a host of connected devices in the market and in consumers’ homes, there’s not enough being done to help to educate consumers on how to get the best from them. Connected devices with features that can enhance the TV experience are sat in living rooms across the UK unused. The onus is on the industry as a whole – broadcasters, device manufacturers and retailers – to ensure that when a consumer invests in new technology, they’re able to appreciate all of its features.

ANT CEO, Simon Woodward, discussed consumer confusion when it comes to connected TVs here:

D-Book 7 released

The UK Digital TV Group (DTG) has recently announced the release of D-Book 7, the latest version of the technical specification for UK digital terrestrial TV services. This version is a big step from previous versions, including a whole new volume covering connected TV services. It won’t come as a big surprise to learn that D-Book 7 now supports both HTML and MHEG applications.

HTML support is based on the Open IPTV Forum specifications, using the HbbTV profile as a baseline but adding extra features to meet additional requirements for the UK market and adding more advanced graphics capabilities based on the HTML5 canvas element and CSS3.

What’s needed now is for service providers to start using this specification to develop services; while releasing the specification is an important milestone, the next steps are even more critical. We need real-world services and devices using and implementing the specification in order to identify any gaps and ambiguities and get to the point where the spec is understood well enough that we can deploy services that run on a range of receivers. We’ve already heard that YouView will be using this as part of the basis for their technical specifications, and I’m sure other service providers will also be looking at using some or all of it.

ANT has been heavily involved in the development of D-Book 7, and I’ve no doubt that we’ll see more and more services making use of it in the near future.

US television homes set to decline

The number of homes with a television set is expected to decline in the US, according to to a report from The Nielsen Company. Digital transition, economics and multiple platforms have been cited as the reasons for this decline.

The transition from analogue to digital has meant that consumers need to buy new TV sets in order to view digital content. The report suggests that consumers have been reluctant to invest in new TV technologies due to cut backs after the recession and the increasing amount of content available online.

In the UK we are currently seeing the opposite trend with the digital switchover and the desire for HD driving sales of over 9.5 million TV sets in 2010 alone.

More HbbTV movement in Europe

HbbTV is driving momentum in Europe this year. Teveo interactive and Mediapool content Services have announced the launch of the first HbbTV-based platform for international TV-content . This means that viewers will be able to access foreign language programming on HbbTV compatible TV devices.

Today’s news is just one of many HbbTV announcements at the ANGA show this week and follows the French media authority’s (the CSA) decision to authorise trials of HbbTV services and news that the Czech public broadcaster, CT, will be speeding up its preparations for HbbTV.
Both of these are important steps: the French HD Forum has been heavily involved in HbbTV and so test transmissions will be a major milestone for the deployment of HbbTV in France. The Czech preparations indicate a growing knowledge of HbbTV outside the “core” group of countries involved in HbbTV.

With French, German and British companies involved in developing the HbbTV specification, it’s unsurprising that those countries were the first users of HbbTV. Having had less involvement in the development of the standard, the move by the Czech public broadcaster CT shows how awareness of HbbTV has spread and how other organisations are seeing the benefits of a common standard.

ANT has been involved in HbbTV since the very beginning, and so seeing this growth in HbbTV really vindicates our belief in the importance of open standards, and that HbbTV is the right standard at the right time.

TV viewers have their say – social media and the Royal Wedding

Everybody’s talking about it, so it seemed like we couldn’t really avoid a mention of tomorrow’s Royal Wedding on our blog. With the nation gearing up to tune in to the nuptials of Kate and Will, how we’re all going to get in on the action has been a hot topic for discussion. Social media is set to transform the viewing experience, with a Facebook page and a YouTube channel giving well-wishers the chance to ‘watch and react’, post messages, and even upload their own videos.

When Charles married Diana in 1981, it’s estimated that more than 750 million people tuned in worldwide. So with today’s technology, and the huge amount of investment from broadcasters to give the public as much access as possible to the celebrations, it’s anyone’s guess as to how many people will be watching tomorrow. But what’s really going to set this viewing experience apart is the opportunity for people to get involved from the comfort of their living rooms. It’s a little bit of TV history in the making.

With our TV’s becoming digital entertainment hubs, and an increasing number of services converging from the web to our television screen, tuning in to an event like this is no longer a case of sitting back and absorbing. The rise of the connected television, providing users with access to more traditional ‘web’ applications like YouTube and Flickr and greater engagement with the content they watch, has transformed the TV experience from passive, to interactive. With TV innovation evolving at an exciting pace in an increasingly connected world, we wonder what we’ll be able to do from our TV’s at the next Royal Wedding!

Over-the-Top a hit for all ages

Over-the-top (OTT) delivery is becoming increasingly popular for watching video content across a broadening range of connected devices. A survey carried out by Accenture shows that a growing number of consumers are choosing to watch video content over-the-top, on their TVs, smart-phones as well as PCs.

And it seems that viewers of all ages are increasingly accessing on-demand OTT content. It isn’t just the younger viewers who are driving this trend. The survey showed that 82% of participants aged 35-44 and 64% of participants over the age of 65 are also accessing OTT content.

Broadcasters and operators need to look to find ways to deliver the next generation of TV content, that will enable the viewer to engage and interact with the programmes they watch, not just on the TV but across other devices as well. Consumers are looking for a unified viewing experience across their connected devices.

TV Web surfing

Another interesting statistic from the report was consumers’ desire for Web browsing on the TV, just 14% wish to use this feature – an opinion we’ve supported many times in the past. Web services must be tailored for the TV viewing experience.

IP&TV World Forum 2011

IP&TV World Forum has been and gone again. As usual I spent some time at the show catching up on what’s new. It seems to be a year of consolidation for the industry: most of what I saw was more polished versions of products or demos that I had already seen. This isn’t a bad thing, in fact, it signals a positive shift in the industry.

In my experience, this kind of consolidation tends to indicate a move from “technology push” to “product pull” – shifting from a set of technologies looking for a problem to solve to an industry that has become more consumer-focused, concentrating on delivering products that customers really want. This is a sign of growing maturity in the market, and given the growth in connected TV services and over-the-top services marks an important step towards the mainstream for both.

HbbTV and iPlayer were well-represented at this year’s show, and these really demonstrate the two trends that we’re seeing here at ANT. The uptake of HbbTV as a standard solution for web-based TV services, and the spread of iPlayer as a service that is hugely popular with consumers, could indicate a turning point for the IPTV industry.

Advertisers set to increase spend on digital video advertising

We’re likely to see a huge increase in digital video advertising this year, according to a survey by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The results show that the majority of marketers and agencies are increasing their spend on digital video advertising by up to 22 percent over the next twelve months.

It’s no surprise that marketers are looking for more interactive solutions for advertising content. The explosion of online media content is pulling the consumer in different directions and traditional advertising methods are no longer grabbing the attention of the viewer in the same way. The availability of on-demand content means that viewers are now able to skip TV adverts or miss them out altogether.

It’s important to extend beyond the TV screen but not to cut it out altogether. Marketers and advertisers need to look to develop interactive and engaging content that can be rolled out across multiple platforms.

Last Christmas Waitrose took its TV advertising to the next level with its series of adverts that encouraged the viewer to take a photo on their mobile of the Quick Response code, which appeared at the end of each advert. The barcode allowed them to download a new app for free, to access recipes, an advent calendar and other tools.

Advertisers need to follow this example and look to develop content that stays with the viewer after the TV has been switched off.

The BBC, YouView and Connected TV StandardsThe BBC, YouView and Connected TV Standards

Roly Keating, director of archive content at the BBC, spoke recently at the UK Digital TV Group (DTG) summit about how the company is approaching the delivery of content to multiple devices. While some reports have picked up on his comments that YouView is only one part of the BBC's strategy, I’m not sure how surprising this is. With iPlayer being rolled out on more and more devices, and with a huge library of Web-based content, the BBC can’t afford to put all their eggs in the YouView basket – either politically or in terms of their public service remit.

Like many organisations, the BBC is wrestling with the problem of delivering content to multiple devices. The approach to connected TV being taken by the DTG and other industry bodies can offer significant advantages here, by bringing together standards from the web and TV in a pragmatic way: one that that brings the two worlds closer together while recognising the differences between them in business models and product lifecycles. Similarly, the BBC is in an excellent place to help shape that, work by providing concrete examples of where the gaps are today.

The BBC has a long history of involvement in standardisation, and this is another example of where they can take a leading role in standardising an approach to multi-screen delivery of connected TV services based on today’s connected TV standards.

Going digital in Paris

Now that Paris has switched off its analogue TV transmitters, many Parisians may be wondering what exactly that should expect, from going wholly digital. In the short term, the answer is probably not much: figures indicate that only a small proportion of homes were relying on analogue transmissions before switch-off, so for many households it will be business as usual. Just like in the UK, viewers may need to re-tune their set-top boxes or TVs, but that’s probably all for now.

Looking forward, though, the analogue switch-off has the potential to drive some real change. Radio spectrum is so valuable that some of it will undoubtedly be sold off for purposes other than television. But more high-definition and interactive services are probably on the cards, as new digital services are able to re-use some of the spectrum currently used for analogue services. Given that French operators have demonstrated HbbTV-based services, there is already some movement in this direction. As France and the UK both move towards support for HTML-based interactive services in their terrestrial TV networks, it’s likely that we will see a range of new content appearing on TVs in the near future.

Based on experiences in Germany and the UK, catch-up TV services will probably be the first to appear. While not necessarily innovative, we have to remember that most people don’t regard interactive services as the “killer app” for their TV – the experience of actually watching TV is still far more important. Services that make it easier for people to do that are likely to be the winners in the short term. The combination of a standard platform and more broadcast bandwidth will help broadcasters deploy a wide range of new services, but service providers will still need to rely on “customer pull” rather than “technology push” to make those services a success.

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.

TV viewers want more personalised content

Sky has announced its commitment to using targeted advertising to give viewers a more personalised marketing experience when watching TV. With Sky AdSmart, viewers will give permission for Sky to take customer information such as postcode, age and viewing packages to divide viewers into segments, meaning they get the content most relevant to them.

Consumers are increasingly comfortable in personalising their viewing experience with the use of on-demand content. The advertising proposition is also evolving and remains an important part of this personalised TV experience.

Personal TV is the next TV - ANT’s CEO, Simon Woodward discusses this topic further in the video below:

Twitter and TV

Twitter’s chief executive has spoken recently about its value for live TV shows, hinting that this may result in a tie-up with some TV advertisers. The theory is that tools such as Twitter enhance the experience of watching certain kinds of TV shows live, particularly sports events, by enabling people to communicate with their friends while they’re watching the show. While this may be the case, is it enough to make any tie-up with TV advertisers worthwhile?

Like many other people I’m often tinkering with my laptop while I’m watching TV – but I’m probably doing that during ad breaks when I’m less interested in what’s on the screen. I expect many other people do the same. People may interact with their friends using Twitter, Facebook, or instant messaging during TV shows, but the reality is that while they’re doing this, they’ve taken their eyes off the TV screen and are busy using another device. From the point of view of the advertisers, is this really very different from people watching the ads on fast-forward? If nothing else, they’re still looking at the TV when they’re fast-forwarding through the ads and may actually be paying more attention than otherwise.

The social aspects of watching TV shouldn’t be underestimated – just look at the number of people who watch sports events on TV at bars and pubs – but there’s no guarantee that a social media service can tap into this in a way that helps the advertisers.

Bridging the app

The launch of the iPad 2 has created yet another wave of talk about apps for consumer devices. With its faster processor and dual cameras, the iPad has been hailed as the device that will change the face of applications. And the app store is clearly here to stay.

But what impact does the ‘app store’ have on TV? Currently, viewers can enjoy a range of new services on their TVs, through apps enabled by connected TV sets and Set-top boxes. As the TV app market develops, apps need to be designed with the TV viewer in mind. It’s not simply a case of reformatting existing PC and mobile applications for the TV. At the end of the day, the ‘killer app’ for TV, is TV; consumers want a passive viewing experience, where they can sit back and relax, while absorbing high quality personalised content.

We are likely to see an increase in social media applications for the TV as social networking becomes more prevalent and viewers want to interact instantly with their friends about what they’re watching. But other apps will need to deliver value added content for the viewer if they are to get a look in.

How will product placement impact traditional TV advertising?

This Morning became the first UK TV show to feature product placement, when Nescafe’s Dolce Gusto coffee machine was featured in This Morning’s kitchen set this week.

This follows OFCOMS recent unveiling of its new warning symbol for programmes containing product placement Commercial broadcasters and the advertising industry will obviously welcome this move, given the challenges facing the more traditional forms of advertising in the UK. What may not be so clear is how this could affect the revenue flow between broadcasters, advertisers, and production companies. Where advertisers were traditionally working with broadcasters, will product placement lead to production companies such as Endemol getting a bigger share of the advertising pie?

The restrictions on where it can be used, and the logo for shows that feature it, seem to be a reasonable compromise between slowing the decline in advertising revenue and maintaining the public’s trust. Along with differences in TV culture between the two countries, it is unlikely that the UK will go as far down the product placement road as the USA.

While some people consider product placement to mean TV shows are “selling out” to advertisers, the reality is that less advertising revenue means fewer new TV shows getting produced. As PVRs have become popular, we’ve already seen the content of TV ads change so that they’re still effective when played at 8x or 16x normal speed. This is just the logical next step for the advertising industry in overcoming the challenges introduced by technology. The trick for advertisers will be to make sure it’s noticeable enough to have the desired effect, but not so noticeable that it makes people change the channel.

W3C Web and TV Workshop – Connecting TV and the Web

While many TVs in the market today are making use of web technologies to provide “connected TV” services, historically there’s been very little communication between the major players in the TV and Web worlds. Last week I spent some time at the W3C’s Web and TV Workshop in Berlin, which is one of a series of workshops organised by the W3C to try to improve this communication. I was presenting on behalf of the UK DTG, but there were also presentations that discussed the work of OIPF, HbbTV and other TV standards bodies.

While there will always be differences between the two industries (the philosophy around software upgrades, requirements on the stability of specifications, and the attitude to patent licensing, for example), there is scope for collaboration and these workshops have been a good place for starting the discussion that’s needed. Both sides recognise the importance of this kind of discussion: as more and more content providers deliver media to TVs, PCs, tablets and phones, this kind of co-operation is going to become crucial over the coming year.

This co-operation may involve bringing existing work from the TV world in to Web standards, or making sure that work underway in the W3C is suitable for use by TV services as well as services on PCs and mobiles. It will most likely be a bit of both, since both sides have a lot to offer. Both sides will benefit most, if we can avoid trying to re-invent the wheel, and hopefully these workshops and their follow-up activities will help keep that to a minimum.

Getting personal

The Government is making plans to broadcast a daily “Community Minute” with the aim of encouraging people to get involved in local community projects. The 60-second segments will be shown on ITV, Channel 4 and Five, showcasing local projects that viewers can get involved in.

The announcement follows news earlier this year of plans to introduce a ‘yellow button’, to deliver more localised TV news services to towns and cities.

It’s clear that there is a growing level of awareness throughout the broadcast industry as a whole, for the demand for more personalised services. But it doesn’t need to stop at a local level. Recommendation engines can be utilised to suggest TV programmes and products to consumers, based on their viewing history, allowing them to cut through irrelevant content. As consumers we’re already used to this on the web when using websites like Amazon.

The convergence of broadcast and broadband content through connected TVs has opened the gates to a whole new world of media content for viewers. But both advertisers and broadcasters are at risk of overwhelming viewers with too much choice. It’s all about striking the right balance; enabling consumers to access a wealth of media content and enabling them to access it quickly, so they can get the most out of their TV viewing experience.