The State of Play in IP-TV

Currently, with so much of what we view on TV now available on the Web, it is no surprise that there has been a movement of the industry’s key players towards harnessing this imminent collision. Innovation strives to bring the two sources of entertainment and information together. Yet, there has been debate over the role of broadcasting and broadband: what one may imply for the other; whether or not it is a competition or collaboration.

This phenomenon, also known as IP-TV, empowers consumers to connect to the Internet, accessing and streaming movies, television shows, and beyond, conveniently through their TV screens.  Tech-industry leaders such as Google, Apple, and Intel have already jumped on the bandwagon, offering the latest devices and software to create the ultimate viewing experience for consumers. Other emerging companies such as Boxee and YouView, advocate revolutionizing Viewing-On-Demand through optimization of movie, show, and content availability, variety, and flexibility. It only seems a matter of time until Facebook, Twitter and others come to our TV’s. In contrast content owners and producers such as Sky, NBC, BBC are working on their own platforms and seem to be eager not be trapped by one of the internet giants unlike to music industry which now has to listen to the demands of Apple and shrink its profit margins.

Below you find an overview of some of the more prominent new platforms, reflections by industry observers analyzing the state of play in the emerging IP-TV market (also if you want to find out more come to our next MiniBar, which will feature the likes of Canvas/YouView and other interesting web tv startups).

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Google TV

What is it? – Google TV features the Google Chrome browser where users can
access all their usual TV channels as well as internet information, Adobe Flash
content, preloaded with Apps like Netflix, Twitter, and Amazon Video
on Demand. It marries “Search” across TV, Web, and Apps. Users can stream photos from Picasa, Flickr, and other photo-sharing sites while streaming music from Pandora or Napster. Other features include “flinging” what users are doing on their phone to the TV screen, picture-in-picture except between browser and TV, and recording shows. Maximally functional when paired with DISH Network, Google TV runs with the Intel Atom Processor CE4100.

What Might Stand in the Way – TV networks are very aware of the new mediums through which their content is now streaming. They have shown their discrimination Google’s open web TV service as ABC, CBS, and NBC blocked their content when accessed through Google TV. Google was “hoping the networks will just ‘allow’ consumers to watch Web videos on their TVs”.

Cable companies fear viewers cutting their subscriptions in preference for TV content over the Internet. Thus “they appear to be doing everything they can to force the networks to comply with their demands to block their streaming Web video from appearing on TVs. According to techcrunch.com, the networks have their hands tied because almost all of their revenue comes from cable right now and if they break up with cable, and go hard-core internet on their own, they will likely implode overnight.”

Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, claims that he is “taking a dumb television and making it smart” while explaining he understand’s that money was at stake for content owners and distributors. Eric Schmidt and TV executives contrast on their opinion of the meaningful potential that Google TV would bring to the table. Schmidt continues, “The way to get more revenue is to create more revenue sources, and the way to do that is through things like Google TV.” How is this exactly happening – is Google TV suddenly agreeing to pay for its content?

AppleTV

What is It? – Just £99, this compact box enables movies, TV shows, photos, music, and photos to wirelessly stream from your computer and Internet to the Television. HD movies and TV show rentals play over the Internet while music and photos stream from an iTunes Library. Users can access Netflix, Youtube, MobileMe, Flickr and the App, AirPlay, allows streaming from iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.

Versus Google – Apple had opted to private distribution deals with traditional studio networks beginning with ABC and FOX and did not run into the conflict that Google did. Apple is succeeding in selling hardware by locking people in and with an integrated operating system. On the other hand, Google is capturing people on the operating level, working to open source the code for Google TV within the next year. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, stated concerning the Apple TV, “If you can’t add or play a movie in iTunes or QuickTime Player, then you won’t be able to convert it to play on Apply TV…Open doesn’t always win.”

Boxee

What is it? – Also supporting H.264 streams and powered by the Intel Atom Processor, the Boxee set-top device connects to a user’s TV to display free TV shows from online, specifically, Fancast.com, and movies from a rental library supported by Netflix, VUDU, Open Film, others. Boxeekeeps the user in the social loops via Facebook and Twitter and is compatible with almost all media files. Boxee, the desktop platform, runs on the Mac, Linux, Windows, and Apple TV platforms.

Boxee might have“boxed” itself in – Reviews of the product have     questioned its actual value in light of its market price of $199. Off the bat,  the free TV shows available on Boxee box are quite limited. Boxee sources its shows from Comcast’s Fancast.com, but it can still be a source of instability in terms of the availability of content as cited by Crunchgear: “…the powers that be could shut off that feed just like they did on the Google TV leaving the Boxee Box somewhat dead in the water. Big media will decide the Boxee Box’s future.” The $7.99 a month Hulu Plus service will be launching on Boxee soon but, as users will soon find, only actually offer a tiny fraction of the free, ad-supported library. Potential buyers are skeptical; will the Boxee Box work the same way in a month that it does today? Does Boxee even know?

Intel Atom Processor CE4100 and Smart TV

What is it? – Intel’s Intel Atom Processor CE4100 is the latest in a
family of system-on-chip (SoC) media processors designed to bring Internet applications and services to TV. “Traditional TV broadcasting is quickly shifting to a multi-stream, Internet-optimized model to offer consumers a new TV experience …,” said Eric Kim, senior vice president and general manager, Intel’s Digital Home Group. “At the center of this TV revolution is a new architecture based on the Intel Atom processor CE4100, which meets the critical requirements for new connected CE devices such as set top boxes, Blu-ray* players and digital TVs.”

Smart TV –  In partnership with Google, Logitech, and Sony, HDTV’s or devices preloaded with Smart TV capabilities powered by the Intel Atom Processor, enable users to:

- search online and personal content as well as broadcast programming all from the
same TV interface
- access downloadable applications
- connect to social networks while watching programs or movies
- control TV with unique new remote control or voice commands

Smart TV capability is also available in devices such as Blu-Ray Disc players, DVRs, set-top boxes, turning any TV into a Smart TV.

YouView

What is it? – YouView, within the next year, is launching a set-top box through which users can watch and play the catch-up game with digital TV programmes or pay for on-demand TV from providers such as BT Vision and Talk Talk TV. Users get digital TV along with BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD, Demand Five, and SeeSaw.  Previously known as Canvas, YouView also encourages developers to create Apps for the TV. Content providers can add their programmes to the YouView guide promoting endless possibilities.

Outlook – Jointly owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BT, TalkTalk, and Argiva, YouView was accused of being, according to PaidContent, “an attempt by some of the biggest players in the business to hijack [the] fledgling market” mainly by local-town TV , including IP Vision, Six TV, United for Local Television, and Open Source Consortium.

At the same time, it is debatable whether or not the viewing public will clamor for this extra box in their homes to accompany their existing service like Sky Box, which is free and inclusive of Sky TV, broadband and calls when purchased with a monthly plan. BT Vision also includes free Vision and Box with all their value packs if customers already have BT broadband. Although there is no monthly subscription required, the YouView box lacks the apps and distinguished features that set it apart from other devices like Apple TV and Google TV.

Hulu

What is it? – Hulu.com is a hub of free movies and features five trailing episodes from each current TV show. HuluPlus, for $7.99 per month, is a new component offering episodes in HD to connected TV, blu-ray players, gaming console, set-top boxes. It is also available on the iPad, iPhone, and Roku.

Potential Drawbacks – Users have commented that HuluPlus does not live up to its price or even Hulu.com for that matter. Although users are paying monthly for shows, the episodes library is not nearly complete and when compared to services, like Netflix, pales in terms of content. At the same time, HuluPlus is incomplete on the PS3 and users still have to watch advertisements. Comments concerning HuluPlus can be found here: gizmodo.com

Netflix

What is it? – Online paid-monthly service providing easy rental of DVD”s that has expanded to offer instant-watch options for movies and tv shows. Devices that instantly stream from Netflix: Wii, PS3, X-box, Internet connected Blu-Ray players, HD TV’s, mobile devices, other devices, including set-top boxes, like TiVo and Roku.

Cable threatened by growth? – Netflix has acquired and expanded content deals with programs like NBC Universal, Epix and Relativity, and currently pays $2 billion for its content. Though such costs are high, Netflix’s lucrative deals add to its popularity and is one source of revenue besides its increasing subscriptions. Netflix’s past summer’s agreement with Relativity Media helped “crack the pay-TV window that was previously available only to the likes of HBO, Showtime and Starz.” The company’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos stressed that Netflix was no threat to cable, tho HBO was not convinced.

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There seems to be an arising and inherent struggle as the interests of the owners of media content and the mediums through which they reach consumers are changing, adapting to the movement of integrating technology. Do the likes of Google and Apple have it right? Will the attempts at introducing systems to conjoin the features of broadband and bandwidth be requited? Or perhaps, will content owners reinstate control of their property via presenting their very own platforms?