NHS on your TV

The NHS in Scotland recently launched a new TV channel and interactive TV application that provides health information and advice to the public. NHS 24 is also using this to pilot a TV-based booking scheme for doctor’s appointments, indications are that this scheme is already reducing the number of missed appointments amongst people using it.

These services are all available over the Web already, so why make them available as interactive TV apps? Many people, especially the elderly or those in rural or deprived areas, have far better access to these services via their TV than they do via the Internet. While a website makes it far easier to offer a wider ranger of information and services, a digital TV service such as this gives much wider access to the basics and this is often enough to meet people’s needs.

Many commentators have already pointed out that the government’s plans to provide online access to more services risks widening the “digital divide” not only in Scotland but elsewhere. Offering some of these services via televisions as well via the Web can help reduce the impact of this, but only if those services are easy to use. Application developers need to carefully consider the audience most in need of these services – the elderly, those in rural areas and those in deprived areas – if they are to succeed.

Is this the tipping point for connected TVs?

Netflix announced plans on Monday to launch its online movie streaming service in the UK and Ireland, in early 2012. The new service will put it in line with Amazon’s LoveFilm and the recently launched YouTube Movie channel. Netflix shelved the plans for a UK launch several years ago after an initial failed attempt. But, as we see a ramp up in activity surrounding connected TVs and STBs for 2012, a re-launch isn’t much of a surprise.

2012 signifies a tipping point for the connected TV market. Manufacturers and retailers have been talking about the connected TV experience for some time, but in reality, the benefits are yet to be realised by the majority of consumers. 2012 is the year where this is set to change – and we’re expecting a host of services like this one to be launched in the coming twelve months as the market responds to growing consumer demand.

As TV technology becomes more intelligent and more interactive, consumers are looking for services and applications that deliver opportunities to explore and discover richer content, while staying true to the traditional TV viewing experience. As consumers become more au fait with the potential of connected TVs to enhance their experience, services like this are set to revolutionise the way we consume TV – an exciting time for both the industry and viewers alike.

D-Book goes connected

The UK Digital TV Group (DTG) recently announced the publication of version 7 of the D-Book, the interoperability specification for digital terrestrial TV in the UK. This is a major update for the D-Book, bringing connected TV to the forefront and aligning the UK’s work in this area with activities in other industry bodies.

The DTG has taken the approach of building on existing standards, but extending them where necessary to meet UK-specific needs (such as interoperability with MHEG) or to add features that were not stable at the time HbbTV was published. Although based on HbbTV, D-Book 7 adds support for additional parts of the OIPF specifications, for advanced graphics capabilities defined in HTML 5 and CSS 3, and for smooth media streaming over IP.

ANT has been heavily involved in this work , and we see this as a huge step for connected TV in the UK. This not only gives manufacturers and application developers a common standard to work to – it gives them a standard that’s aligned with other HbbTV deployments in Europe. D-Book 7 goes beyond HbbTV in terms of features and functions, enabling it to offer more advanced services, but also remains compatible with basic HbbTV applications.

While the UK’s early adoption of digital TV put it ahead of many countries, the choice of MHEG-5 did leave the UK as a “digital island”. D-Book 7 offers the UK TV industry a chance to resolve that and gain from further economies of scale, while retaining its leading position in the development and deployment of interactive TV services.

IAB identifies missed opportunity as marketers find themselves in chicken and egg situation with IPTV

Research from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has found that a massive 88% of marketers don’t have an IPTV strategy. And, a third of those surveyed, felt that only a budget of £50,000 should be allocated to IPTV campaigns. But with global sales of IPTV devices set to reach 100 million by 2014, this is an opportunity marketers can’t afford to miss.

Connected TV and marketing campaigns is a chicken and egg situation. Marketers are waiting for consumers to demonstrate interaction with brands on TV sets, but without the content, consumers have nothing to interact with. However, consumers are slowly interacting. Take popular TV shows like X-Factor where viewers can vote from their sofas via the red button, interacting with content on the TV like never before.

Marketers have an opportunity to capitalise on this new medium as an innovative way to connect with their audiences. It’s all about social interaction now and as the home becomes more connected, consumers are looking for a complete multiscreen viewing experience. Marketer’s can’t afford to miss a device out of the loop.

The intelligence behind the ‘pane of glass’ that is a TV set, is phenomenal. The next generation of STBs are able to deliver interactive, personalised services enabling brands to interact with consumers whilst they watch their favourite TV shows. Marketers have an opportunity to work with STB device manufacturers to develop killer TV apps as well as mobile and tablet apps to deliver a complete marketing strategy.

YouTube delivers online movies on demand

YouTube has now launched its online movie rental service in the UK. It’s a welcome addition to YouTube’s online video services, bringing premium media content to consumers in just a few simple clicks.

The launch follows in the footsteps of Amazon and Apple, and could be a serious contender to LoveFilm and the iTunes store as it’s proved itself to be an online community, rather than just a portal for video streaming.

YouTube is bringing the service to the UK after launching in the US and Canada. This is only the third market that YouTube has launched the service in, highlighting the increasing demand for digital content in the UK. By hosting this content online these services not only deliver access to a huge archive of media content, but also give viewers the freedom to watch what they want, when they want.

These services have also embraced the ‘app’ providing the ideal format for multiscreen viewing. By downloading these apps to the TV, tablet or smartphone viewers can watch movies, TV shows and music videos on the go. And, with technology like our own ANT Galio Move application, viewers can stream live and recorded programmes from their TV device direct to their tablet or smartphone anywhere in the home.

Half-time for digital switch over

The UK is more than half way to digital switch over. Consumers that receive their TV signal via an aerial rather than cable or satellite will be able to access more than 15 channels and as many as 40 depending on their proximity to a transmitter.

The switch to stronger digital signals means extra channels, including high-definition Freeview services, and much improved reception.

In the last two weeks transmitters in the Midlands, Oxfordshire, Stoke and Newcastle-under-Lyme and Yorkshire have been switched over. By the end of 2011 include 11 out of the 15 TV regions, 80 per cent of transmitter sites and 65 per cent of the population.

But despite the investment in regional awareness building campaigns research conducted by ANT shows that consumers face confusion when looking to buy a new TV.

For example Freeview HD has been promoted ahead of digital switch-over but when asked whether an HD television with built-in Freeview would deliver Freeview HD, not one member of staff identified that in order to take advantage of this the viewer must live in a HD-enabled area.

Many retailers stopped the sale of analogue TV sets in 2010 with the launch of the digital switchover but it’s essential that retailers take responsibility for the education process as well, helping consumers understand how these new devices work, to ensure they are getting the most out of new digital TV technologies. We need to get the building blocks in place to so we can look to develop more personalised TV services to the consumer.

Hunt urges telecom firms to put aside rivalries in bid to roll out superfast broadband

The RTS (Royal Television Society) Cambridge Convention took place here in Cambridge, UK, last week. The event at Kings College called TV Everywhere: Paths to Growth brought together executives from across the broadcast industry.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt addressed the conference and issued a call to action to telecoms firms to put aside rivalries to roll out superfast broadband.

The Government’s ambition is that the UK should have the best broadband network in Europe by 2015, with 90% of homes and businesses having access to up to 40MBps superfast broadband.

Superfast broadband will be critical to the mainstream adoption of internet services that require high bandwidth such as connected TVs.

Hunt warned that disputes between BT and rival telecom operators over the price of renting BT ducts were delaying the roll out of fibre. Watchdog Ofcom has promised to intervene but it’s unlikely that the issue will be settled until 2012.

Hunt also called for a cross-media approach to fighting anti-piracy. He said that advertisers, credit card companies, and ISPs should cut ties with web sites that serve illegal content.

A full copy of Jeremy Hunt’s speech is available on The Guardian web site.

Onwards and upwards for HbbTV – IBC 2011

Whilst delegates at IBC may be a little less certain than usual of the show’s core theme this year, one thing’s for sure – HbbTV is continuing to attract the attention of the industry as a means of open delivery of combine broadcast / broadband TV services

In addition to the debut of ANT Galio Move which we blogged about yesterday, we’ve also been showing Rovi’s TotalGide, running on the ANT Galio Platform for the first time. Rovi and ANT have joined forces to demonstrate how an HTML version of Rovi TotalGuide, a metadata- and multimedia-rich entertainment discovery solution, can be deployed on HbbTV-compatible CE devices via the ANT Galio platform. The ANT Galio Platform, in combination with Rovi TotalGuide, enables HbbTV users to view extended programming information on TV shows and movies, select channels to view and in future releases, will allow the user to schedule recordings directly to the TV device.

This year we’re also showing a TechnoTrend STB using the ANT Galio HbbTV Platform to deliver a range of German HbbTV services and portal applications.

As with previous years, HbbTV continues to be a popular topic on our stand. ANT is proud to be a founding member of the consortium which has strong support from across the delivery chain. Earlier this week the HbbTV consortium announced that it has now reached 50 members.

If you’re at the show and would like to see our HbbTV demos for yourself, please come and find us in hall 4 (stand 4.C98).

Hello from Amsterdam…IBC so far

As ever, it’s been a very busy few days here at IBC in Amsterdam – and it’s not over yet! Our main observation from the show floor this year is that there doesn’t seem to be one clear theme. Whilst in previous years specific technologies, like 3D for example, dominated discussion, this year there doesn’t seem to be one clear ‘leader’.

Connected devices are continuing to attract attention. So perhaps the thing we’re most excited about are our show demos. Over the last couple of days, the ANT team has been busy demonstrating our new TV companion application, ANT Galio Move, which delivers companion device functionality with Apple iPads. It’s the first time we’ve showcased it and we’ve seen a great deal of interest from device vendors, broadcasters and operators.

ANT Galio Move enables consumers to stream live and recorded TV direct to companion devices anywhere in the home using a Wi-Fi connection. Without disrupting the main TV viewing experience users can navigate the EPG, manage recordings and change channel all in a natural, rapid and intuitive touch screen user experience.

If you’re at the show and would like to pay us a visit, please come and find us in hall 4 (stand 4.C98).

TV Apps - keeping the user’s attention

It was announced last week that android users would be able to start developing their own apps for Google TV, TV Apps are really starting to come into their own and are proving to be a useful way to get viewers to engage more with TV content.

A recent poll by Harris Interactive earlier this year indicates that as many as one third of all Americans multi-task while watching TV. While this may seem like bad news for advertisers, another recent survey by Nielsen has some good news for them.

The Nielsen survey indicates that interactive TV content actually encourages viewers to pay more attention to TV programmes and ads. Given the number of distractions faced by consumers, applications can play an important part in keeping the attention of viewers and in retaining their interest. There is a downside to this, however: viewers tend to stick to well-known brands in their choice of applications and are reluctant to try out new content, according to a recent report from Strategy Analytics. Even brands like Facebook are struggling to capture the attention of TV viewers with their TV apps.

So while there is a real struggle for brand owners to increase the use of their TV applications, there is real value if they manage to succeed. This may be an area where TV content providers with strong brands have a real advantage – successful TV applications will not only increase the reach of those brands in new media, but can also help retain the value of their content to advertisers by keeping their viewers engaged and interested.

How real is the death of linear TV?

With the growth of PVR devices and the increased use of on-demand services, the death of linear TV has been widely predicted for several years. These predictions seem to ring increasingly hollow, however. Recent research from the IHS Screen Digest TV Intelligence Service predicts that by 2015, non-linear content will still account for only 15 per cent of people’s viewing time in the USA. This is in line with several other recent surveys indicating that linear TV is still very popular with consumers and likely to remain so.

The digital switchover and the increased choice it offers, combined with the growth of HD and 3D content both play a part in this – even with fast broadband connections, reliable on-demand delivery of HD content still has a number of scalability issues to address. Another important factor is the effort required to find something suitable to watch: people who are in the mood to watch TV don’t like working for it.

Over time, the growth of high-speed broadband and innovations in user interfaces will undoubtedly improve the take-up of non-linear content. We can already see this beginning with Virgin Media’s Tivo service, where 25 per cent of all viewing is originating from search or other discovery mechanisms rather than from the EPG. As more people connect the different devices in their homes to share media, this will also encourage the consumption of non-linear content as the concept of finding content outside the home merges with finding content inside the home. Growing use of tablets and smartphones as companion devices for viewing content only drives this further: our recent announcement of ANT Galio Move as a companion device solution for Galio-enabled platforms shows that this is something we believe will be a major part of the way people consume content in the future.

Without a doubt, linear content still has the edge for viewers in terms of convenience, and this is a powerful force to overcome. On-demand content providers will make inroads, but “more of the same” will not be enough to tip the balance.

By Steve Morris

ANT brings ‘TV everywhere’ experience to your home

Today we’re really excited to announce the launch of our new companion device functionality, ANT Galio Move. ANT Galio Move allows consumers to take their TV experience beyond the living room, by streaming live and recorded content directly from the STB or TV via Wi-Fi to a companion device anywhere in the home. Users can also manage recordings, view the EPG and search for additional programme information, all without interrupting the main TV experience.

Industry analysts recently stated that 70 per cent of device owners use them whilst watching TV; we’ve developed ANT Galio Move in response to this growing demand for a ‘TV everywhere’ experience.

ANT Galio Move supports the development of new business opportunities for STB and TV vendors by introducing application sales and advertising revenues. For broadcasters and operators it enables the delivery of additional valuable content direct to the companion device, signalled from a live broadcast stream.

We will be demonstrating ANT Galio Move for the first time at this year’s IBC show in Amsterdam, 9 -13 September 2011. So come along and visit us in Hall 4, Stand Number 4.C98.

Gearing up for IBC 2011

IBC 2011 is just around the corner and free registration for the event closes at the end of the day, so if you haven’t already, it’s time to register here.

ANT will be exhibiting in Hall 4, Stand Number 4.C98. We’ll be showing an exclusive demonstration of a brand new product as well as a live demonstration of the ANT Galio HbbTV Platform. Watch this space for more information…

We’re keen to discuss the latest hot topics in the broadcast industry and the future of the connected home. We’ll be there from the 9th – 13th so come and visit the stand and say hello.

We’ll be updating the blog throughout the show so let us know your comments and what your show highlights were.

Connected TV: early insight from Virgin Media in changing consumer habits

Connected televisions are changing not only viewing habits but how we interact with televisions.

A report issued last week by Virgin Media gives insight into how consumer viewing habits are changing to embrace connected television.

Consumers are exploring new ways of finding the programme that they want to watch and are using apps to engage with television content according to Virgin Media.

Users are discovering programme content via search rather than from the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) and almost 80 per cent of all TiVo set-top boxes were used to access an app and, on average, each box launched apps 4.5 times a week.

Enabling viewers to access content via search that would otherwise be buried down the EPG increases the audience for content that is popular via word-of-mouth.

The Virgin Media Entertainment Index is based on the viewing habits its 50,000 TiVo customers.

Across its entire subscriber base Virgin media said that customers made 484 million on demand views in the first half of 2011 – an increase of 19 per cent on the same period last year.

European standardises on connected TVs

Internet-connected televisions are set to become a standard feature of European living rooms according to German trade association BITKOM.

More than 10 million television sets with integrated internet connection will be sold in the European Union in 2011, rising to 13 million sets in 2012.

Sales in France, Germany and the UK are roughly doubling year-on-year according to a report in Telecom Paper.

You don’t need to look very hard to see where the growth is coming from; each week brings a fresh announcement from a regional teleco operator signing up new customers or building out in its network to support IPTV services.

Dutch telco KPN announced this week that it signed up 56,000 connected TV subscribers in the last three months to reach a total of 416,000 subscribers.

In Ireland Eircom has announced that it will spend €100m on the first phase of a roll-out of fibre technology to 100,000 homes and businesses before rolling out IPTV by mid-2012.

IPTV – ready for take-off?

As a company with its roots in IPTV, we’ve seen a lot of predictions in the past about how IPTV will grow rapidly in the future – and it’s often been “in the next couple of years”. However, Digital TV Research’s recent prediction that homes paying for IPTV will more than quadruple to 155 million by the end of 2016 is rather more likely to come true due to to changes in the market and in the growth of IP connectivity.

As expected, it’s the Asia-Pacific region, home of ubiquitous high-bandwidth Internet, that’s likely to drive this growth. But Asia-Pacific is no longer alone in deploying this kind of bandwidth; more and more operators are deploying gigabit networks to the home, with a large amount of this reserved for media services. This trend plays a large part in the growth of pay services, as the viewing experience improves to the point where more people will pay for it.

While we here in Europe are seeing over-the-top content as the most popular driver for connected TVs, in the USA pay-TV services dominate. A recent report by Sandvine indicated that, at its peak, Netflix accounted for almost 30% of internet traffic in the USA, with real-time entertainment as a whole making up almost 50% of the Internet traffic. Not all of this is paid for, of course, but as more and more companies offer their content online there will be more attempts to monetize this. We’re already seeing Apple offering streaming TV shows to Apple TV devices, and Google offering movie rental services to Android devices.

This isn’t “traditional” IPTV, but that’s not a bad thing. The growth in Connected TVs, broadcast digital TV services, and independent media services such as Netflix has meant a move away from the subscription-based IPTV service offered by telcos. IPTV is now less of a substitute for broadcast TV and more of an additional service alongside traditional TV services, pay-TV or otherwise. A recent DisplaySearch forecast indicated that half a billion connected TV sets would be shipped by 2015, indicating that this trend will only continue. People are having ever more choice in the content they consume, and where they get it from. We may finally have found a business model that enables IPTV to reach its true potential.

Connected TVs set to disrupt ad market

In the discussion about the future of connected TVs it’s the revenue opportunity that most broadcasters and CE device vendors have in their sights. But to date it has been too early to take bets on the size of the market opportunity.

Until last week that is when GigaOm published an upbeat article about the future of the TV ad market. It claimed that connected TVs are set to disrupt the $160 million global TV advertising market, by combining the reach of TV with web-style engagement and analytics.

According to GigaOm advertising for video content on mobile devices is going to grow significantly in the coming year but will be dwarfed by the opportunity that emerges as the connected TV market takes off.

Ad networks have the opportunity in their sights.

3D TV proves that content is still king

Although I’m not a tennis fan, I did spend some time following the Wimbledon Championships this year – mostly to see how well the live 3D broadcasts worked. The conclusion seems to be that it was not as successful as it could have been. Technically the BBC did a great job of broadcasting 3D at Wimbledon but as is often the case, the issue is not the technology so much as the content.

Content is still king, and 3D doesn’t change that. 3D hasn’t been successful in the past because it was often used as a gimmick rather than as a tool to drive compelling stories, and there is still a risk that this will continue to be the case. While we can now convert movies filmed in 2D to provide a 3D experience, that doesn’t mean the results (or the movies) are any good. John Cassy, channel director for Sky 3D pointed this out at the recent Intellect Consumer Electronics 2011 event:

"It's very easy to make bad 3D … At Sky we only make native 3D programmes, and our first stage of production is always to forget about the 3D altogether. Because first and foremost, it's a TV programme - and if the story isn't right or it doesn't make any sense or it's not compelling, it's not good enough and we won't buy it."

Andrew Denham from Panasonic agrees: "Hollywood damaged 3D by rushing so many badly converted films out in the Avatar's wake."

It’s easy to get caught up in the technology and forget what the end user wants. 3D is still “appointment viewing” for most people – you’ll watch a special event in 3D, but not your regular evening’s TV. A glut of poor (or poorly-converted) content, coupled with the continuing expense and inconvenience of 3D glasses, could stop this being special enough for people to justify it. It still remains to be seen if the industry has learned the lessons of previous 3D fads.

Connected TV sales show strong trend worldwide

Sales of connected TVs are set to boom. That’s not just our view but it’s an opinion shared by analysts at DisplaySearch in a new report published this week.

According to the DisplaySearch Quarterly TV Design and Features Report a quarter of all flat panel TVs shipped this year are expected to be internet ready. That number is set to grow to 138 million units by 2015. DisplaySearch predicts that within four years connected TVs will account for almost half of all flat panel TVs shipped.

It’s a trend that is common to both developed markets as consumers upgrade their televisions, and emerging markets, which typically have good broadband services. The common motivation for consumers is a drive to access the best content and services.



Source: DisplaySearch Quarterly TV Design and Features Report

Cloud and the Connected Home World Summit 2011

At the Connected Home World Summit last week there were some interesting discussions on what comes under the heading ‘connected home’. We tend to think of digital media sharing. But there are more features out there that can be added to the chains of connectivity in the home, such as: automated lighting and power control, security and heating control and even some aspects of health care such as panic alarms and other monitoring.

The issue of wireless around the house was discussed in depth, during one of the early morning briefing sessions. An example of where the construction industry needs to meet the connected home industry, as homes are still being built with aluminium backed plaster board, meaning WiFi doesn't stand a chance between one room and another. A prime example of inertia and how many things simply do not move in "Internet time".

Cloud computing was one of the hot topics at the summit this year, especially as Apple has now announced iCloud. There were many discussions around how the cloud relates to the connected home. Is data stored in the cloud, the home network, or both? Should each device try and stream from the cloud or some form of p2p network around the house, as one audience member provocatively suggested? I can see tremendous amounts of data from the home moving to cloud storage and cloud processing in the long term (10 years – maybe 5 years at best), but I just don't see this as realistic over the next few years. Why?

• Users are being asked to place absolute faith in the reliability, security and privacy of cloud storage – but not even Apple is making remotely strong enoughttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifh statements to convince me that this area is adequately addressed to be considered appropriate for 95% of Internet users. Could I have absolute confidence telling my parents' that it is sensible, safe and fast enough to have the only of all their photos in the cloud today? Simply put - no

• Upload bandwidths are still not comparable to download bandwidths. Even though it may only be comparatively short term pain, I don't think the vast majority of users are at the point where uploading 100 GB (say their music and photo collection) is going to be viewed as trivial. On top of this there would be a distinct absence of "instant gratification" that the Internet services are generally promoted as. If home video is included, 100 GB can easily become 1 TB or more

So what are the implications? Data originating in the house will tend to stay in the house – at least as far as the master copy is concerned. Data (video) that originates outside the house (broadcast and other content owners) can move to the cloud much easier. Music collections, a la iCloud, are probably the hybrid for the next few years.

By David Fell, CTO, ANT