Guest Commentary

Backspace targets mobile IPTV

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:06:04 -0400

IPTV broadcaster Backspace Communications is planning top introduce a mobile TV offering at this week's NXTcomm trade show in Las Vegas. The company, which was formed from the merger of an ISP and a traditional TV station, has thus far focused on the IPTV market.

For more:
- see this post at TMC.net

Related articles:
Mobile TV so far has not been fulfilling its potential Mobile TV report
Oi launched mobile TV in Brazil late last year Mobile TV report

KIT digital completes Kamera acquisition

Dan O'Shea — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:37:10 -0400

Remember "Startup.com," the 2001 (yes, that long ago) movie that tracked that rapid rise and fall of govWorks.com? Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, the face and money-man of govWorks and head of KIT Capital, has been busy in the IPTV/mobile video packaging arena of late. KIT Capital invested in and renamed ROO Group, an IPTV content packager and distributor, with the moniker KIT digital. Tuzman became CEO of KIt digital back in January, and the company has since announced two acquisitions, new partnerships, business model changes and new financing. Just last week, KIT digital said it completed the previously announced acquisition of content distributor Kamera Content.

Sweden-based Kamera brings KIT digital key relationships with IPTV and mobile video carriers in Europe and Asia. The completion of the deal came weeks after KIT had announced a $5 million investment from KIT Capital and then a $15 million infusion from a mix of investors. KIT also recently announced partnerships with peer-to-peer content streaming firms Pando Networks and Abacast after doing away with its own P2P strategy.

For more:
- see news about the Kamera deal at Digital Media Wire
- read this interview with Tuzman at NewTeeVee

Related article:
- Roo Group signs LOI to acquire Kamera Content Roo release

DISH may have handheld video on its plate

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:59:10 -0400

Satellite TV provider DISH Networks spent about $700 million to win 168 spectrum licenses in the Federal Communications Commission 700 Mhz spectrum auction, and thus far it has been unclear how DISH would use the spectrum. However, some advances coming to light in the area of digital video broadcast for satellite service to handheld equipment (DVB-SH) could provide a hint. Alcatel-Lucent will be testing new DVB-SH gear in DISH's lab in Atlanta this spring and summer.

DVB-SH is related to the DVB-H standard that has found support internationally for mobile TV.

For more:
- read this story at Telephony

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Mobile TV still not fulfilling its potential

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:59:20 -0400

Mobile TV continues to be a source of excitement for the mobile industry, but the recent Mobile TV World Summit in London was a venue at which some firms involved in the mobile TV ecosystem vented their concerns about the success of the service thus far, according to Digital Broadcast.

This is not an IPTV issue, strictly speaking, but since mobile TV is one aspect of any major telco's push into the TV realm, it may offer some valuable lessons. One of those lessons, according to some of the London event, is that service providers need to simplify packaging and pricing of mobile TV. At least one speaker urged service providers to include mobile TV in flat-rate service plans, rather than charging an additional fee of up to $15 for the service (If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you recognize that price tag).

For more:
- read this Digital Broadcast story at itp.net

Related article:
- Mobile TV progress was seen in Brazil late last year. Mobile TV report
- Spending on mobile TV to rocket Mobile TV spending report

Orange Tastes HBO, Warner

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:59:40 -0400

Warner Bros. Intl. TV and HBO have cut an exclusive multi-year deal to supply content to France Telecom Orange's new premium pay TV service, Orange Cinema Service. The deal is expected to be one of many for Orange, a cable, IPTV and mobile TV operator in France as it builds exclusive content to lure subscribers in and fill its six movie/TV series channels.

Orange has acquired rights to all of WB's current and upcoming films, including hits such as "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and "I Am Legend." The HBO deal is the company's first in France and is different from HBO's original model of trying to sell programming on an a la carte basis. Orange boasts one of Europe's biggest roll-outs in mobile TV and IPTV. It has 1.2 million IPTV clients, and some 500,000 mobile TV consumers. Orange Cinema Services will be offered on these platforms, on a subscription and video-on-demand basis.

For more:
- Read the Variety story

Related articles:
French challenge Microsoft
Top European IPTV drivers

SPOTLIGHT: Over-the-air TV Endangered

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:59:00 -0400

A piece in the Herald Sun notes traditional free-over-the-air TV executives, gathered in Cannes this week for the MIPTV trade fair, are under siege from a variety of threats, including pay TV, the internet, mobile TV, PCs, DVDs, and DVRs. With all those offerings, it makes it hard to protect the traditional 30 second ad spot. Up to 14,000 participants representing more than 4,500 companies from 100 or so countries are expected to be at the fair and its companion conference. Article

Mobile video-Where's the audience?

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:56:37 -0400

Mobile video-Where's the audience?

Don't expect mobile video to be a buzzworthy topic at CTIA Wireless 2008 conference in Las Vegas April 1-3. Subscriber uptake is lagging and no one seems to have a clear path to monetizing the service.

AT&T was supposed to debut its broadcast TV service using Qualcomm's MediaFLO network late last year but so far it still hasn't been introduced to the market. Meanwhile, Verizon continues to tout its V CAST TV service (also powered by MediaFLO) but has not released any subscriber numbers leading many to wonder about the success of this endeavor.

Of course, mobile TV will be the subject of many panels at the annual wireless industry conference but expect the focus to be more on merchandizing, marketing and pricing the service rather than the tired debate over what type of content is best suited to a mobile device.

Next-generation networks, such as those envisioned through the proposed 4G technologies WiMAX and LTE may finally deliver the type of mobile video service at a compelling price point for consumers. But those networks are still in the early stages.

Mobile video may not be the "hot" topic of CTIA but it will still garner lots of discussion at panel sessions and at Mobile Entertainment Live!, the co-located conference hosted by Billboard, Hollywood Reporter and Nielsen Mobile on Monday, March 31. -Sue

P.S. Fierce will once again host its popular networking party. Join us on April 1 from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. at Rain at The Palm in Las Vegas. RSVP here.

Oi to do mobile TV in Brazil

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 06:59:10 -0500

The mobile unit of Brazilian telecoms group Oi is launching a mobile TV service Nov. 19, including exclusive content which subscribers can buy a day pass to access.

The mobile TV package has been put together by content aggregator M1nd Corp and includes MTV, ESPN Brasil, TV Sexy Club, Play TV, Woohoo, Discovery Movel, Cartoon Network and Band Internacional. The content is expected to be delivered via real-time streaming.

Cellular News reports Oi has been working on triple and quadruple play options since it clinched a deal in June 2006 to acquire Minas Gerais cable TV provider Way TV for $75.6 million.

Oi has plans to deploy IPTV technology to introduce video on demand for its cable clients in 2008. The same platform allows viewers to access the internet from their TVs. Oi also says it will add video streaming option to its website in the first quarter.

More Reports:
- Cellular News Report

Related Article:
- Consumer open to ad funded mobile content Report

Hitachi demos mobile IPTV device

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:59:40 -0400

Hitachi Ltd. displayed a prototype mobile TV for IPTV transmissions at CEATAC Japan 2007 last week. A report from Tech-On said the device had a five-inch IPS LCD capable of displaying 854-by-480 resolution.

The interface was described as "unique," with different channels presented visually like a deck of cards that could be flipped through by touching the screen frame. There was no information in the Tech-On piece regarding the device's decoding technology, or how the IP signals were transmitted.

A handheld "IPTV" device is certainly interesting. On one hand, there are already established options for mobile TV transmissions, including MediaFLO. WiMAX essentially would enable some degree of mobile TV reception. But beyond that, the question of demand remains. Consumers for the most part have met tiny-screen mobile TV with a collective shrug, but that doesn't rule out the application, interface or content type that makes it take off.

For More:
- Tech-On has more here, (Note: it will prompt you for a Japanese language package if you don't have one, and it may not take "no" for an answer.)

NAB Followup: Broadcasters uncertain of IPTV role

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:01:35 -0400

Broadcasters uncertain of IPTV role
There were more questions than answers when it comes to broadcasters and IPTV. At last week's National Association of Broadcasters Conference in Las Vegas, I heard lots of market projections and conjecture about the potential for IPTV, but it was clear that broadcasters were confused about their role.

According to Jimmy Schaeffler, senior research analyst at The Carmel Group, worldwide, IPTV will have 41.5 million subscribers by 2010. Schaeffler called IPTV a revolutionary technology and compared it to the direct broadcast satellite market for its potential to disrupt the market.

Broadcasters certainly want to play a role in this burgeoning market by distributing their content across a different platform. But there are complications. James Goodmon of Capitol Broadcasting, which owns WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC, says that local broadcasters can stay within the guidelines of their designated market area (DMA) by using credit cards with address verification and a USB dongle that would receive two or three local FM radio stations to verify that a computer receiving the streaming video was in that DMA.

Of course, part of the problem is the definition of IPTV. Are broadcasters referring to both Web-based IPTV and IPTV to the home TV? FierceIPTV defines IPTV as a closed pay TV service sent to a subscriber's TV set, not PC.

Nevertheless, Goodmon's idea wasn't supported by everyone. Shawn Strickland, vice president, video solutions at Verizon Communications, said that he believes broadcasters will have an uphill battle because consumers want to take their content with them and not be limited to a certain DMA. "At Verizon, we build networks and we believe that consumers will take the technology and content and make it what they will," Strickland said. "The easier we make it as an industry, the more robust the value chain will be."

Strickland is right about consumers wanting to take their content with them. That's the philosophy behind the mobile TV movement and Sling Media's Slingbox phenomenon, both of which turn the traditional broadcasting model on its ear. Broadcasters need to pay attention to consumer demand and current trends if they want to play a role in this emerging market. -Sue