EXCLUSIVE: Interview with LiveStation's Matteo Berlucchi

LiveStation developer Matteo Berlucchi discusses Microsoft-backed project

The recent online demo of LiveStation, the new P2P video platform, ignited buzz about its potential to overpower Joost. The comparison was likely instigated because both systems use a peer-to-peer platform, and both are in beta, but that's where the similarities end.

Unlike the video-on-demand Joost model, LiveStation streams live television broadcasts using a Pastry P2P architecture and the Microsoft Silverlight front-end, described by Matteo Berlucchi as "very glossy."

"And it matters, because people like glossy," he said. "We find it very sexy for this user interface."

Berlucchi is co-founder and CEO of Skinkers, the London-based company behind LiveStation. The project has received a raft of attention framed as Microsoft's Joost play, but Berlucchi emphasizes that LiveStation belongs to Skinkers, of which Microsoft has a minority stake.

Berlucchi has graciously made the limited beta version of LiveStation available to FierceIPTV Editor Deborah McAdams, who will review it in the coming weeks. In the meantime, McAdams spoke with Berlucchi about the project:

FierceIPTV: How does LiveStation differ from sites like TVU Networks (formerly Viidoo), which offer live broadcasting through real-time packet replication?

Berlucchi: "We believe the television experience on the computer should resemble as much as possible, real television. People are so familiar with the concept of channels, they will want to have channels, they don't want to download individual players from CBS, CNN the BBC…

FierceIPTV: Does it work similarly to SlingBox?

Berlucchi: [Gartner analyst] Alan Weiner, called it "Sling without the box," but that's Orb. You need to have a TV card and an antenna. This is beyond SlingBox. LiveStation picks up the signal wherever you are, like a remote TV tuner.

FierceIPTV: What is the response of broadcasters, who are wary in general of signal highjacking?

Berlucchi: One key thing is, we always start from the point of view of the user, because if users don't like it, it's not going to go anywhere. What users want, they'll get. Someone will develop it for them. The user comes first, then the broadcaster. In a usercentric view, I want a player I can download and add my channels.

The second point is, if you're watching television on your computer, you'll prefer to watch it on a standalone player instead of on a Web page. If you have it in a browser, you can't do browsing.

Broadcasters may resist that in the beginning, because they'll want people to watch on their Web sites, but you can't dictate what people want. You can give broadcasters the opportunity to push extra content within the player.

FierceIPTV: So, would the LiveStation be licensed to TV stations, rather than the other way around? Streaming rights for existing U.S. TV channels is pretty tightly controlled.

Berlucchi: There will be some sort of cost associated with using it, which could be linked to the user licensing it or to advertising models. It's a nice problem to have. It will probably be a mix of licensing and ad support.

We're at the beginning of the shake-up phase for rights. The adoption of Internet television for broadcast is going to change the way rights are sold in the same way rights are being revisited in the music industry because of the Internet.

There are new commercial models that I think everybody will have an interest in enabling.

I predict rights will be sold around the concept of citizenship instead of geography. For example, say anyone with an Italian passport can receive Italian TV.

FierceIPTV: How would that work in the United States, which has more than 200 television markets?

Berlucchi: The U.S. is a peculiar market for television because it's highly fragmented. Advertising is national and statewide. It's both a challenge and an opportunity in the U.S.

FierceIPTV: U.S. television is entirely reliant on traditional measurement systems. There's been resistance to alternative forms of distribution since TiVo was introduced 10 years ago.

Berlucchi: That's one good thing about the Internet. You can count how many people watched and how long and what they did. It will put the computer platform in a much better position than television tracking.

FierceIPTV: How does LiveStation handle security?

Berlucchi: It depends on how you implement it. When you fire up your player, you will have to authenticate yourself and the central system will allow you to watch.

FierceIPTV: Isn't LiveStation P2P and inherently without a central server?

Berlucchi: You always have to have a central server doing something. P2P you can only use for file sharing.

FierceIPTV: How does LiveStation P2P work?

Berlucchi: Our P2P system is designed to push, while others are designed to pull. We tried to solve the problem of watching, say "Lost," and having to see who has it, go find it, then pull it.

This is a collected push. You're not searching the 'Net for other peers with a copy of something being watched by someone else. You're not storing and forwarding.…we are trying, from a technological point of view, to smooth the experience of the Internet.

People are on symmetric lines, on asymmetric lines… The promise of P2P technology is that it could somewhat smooth out these differences and create a layer, like plastering a wall full of cracks. Once you achieve that, you have an environment that is much more controllable and predictable.

FierceIPTV: How long do you expect LiveStation to be in beta?

Berlucchi: It's going to be for a while because this is very, very hard. It's a little like tuning Formula 1 cars. You have to test it exhaustively.

FierceIPTV: It's been reported that LiveStation would work with cell phones, but technologies such as MediaFLO are A-VSB are already in that space. What would be the case for a cell phone maker to integrate LiveStation capability into a handset?

Berlucchi: I'm not a big personal believer watching TV on cell phones. The more interesting opportunities are for devices like smartphones, especially ones with WiFi capability--a handheld device with WiFi capability. The difference in IP and 3G is the commercial model. If you can hook up into WiFi, you have a much cheaper opportunity.

FierceIPTV: When do you expect to make LiveStation commercially available?

Berlucchi: Q1 of '08… that's what we're trying to do.

FierceIPTV: Any other points you'd like to make?

Berlucchi: There's been a lot of speculation in the press about our relationship with Microsoft. They do own a stake in the company. We use Microsoft technology because we think they have lots of good PCs, a lot of good Leggo blocks to build on. LiveStation is ours. A friend of mine had the URL, so we made it LiveStation.