widgets

2008 Year in Review: Telco TV/OTT integration still looms

Dan O'Shea — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:41:16 -0500

Heading into 2008 one of the most-asked questions in the U.S. telco TV sector was: How should telco TV service providers deal with over-the-top Internet video content?

That question was batted around frequently throughout the year, and while we gradually got the idea that OTT video should be part of a telco TV offering rather than excluded from it, we have yet to see a U.S. carrier fully exploit the potential. Verizon Communications has talked extensively about beginning trials for various approaches to integrating traditional TV and online video, and last month a Verizon executive speaking at TelcoTV 2008 talked about the use of on-screen widgets to connect with all kinds of Internet applications. Other telcos have envisioned similar offerings, but we'll have to wait until 2009 to see how it all turns out.

TelcoTV tidbits

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:00:55 -0500

Here's a brief follow up on notes from TelcoTV 2008's opening day keynotes:

- AT&T has completed its rollout of its Total Home DVR solution, according to Dan York, executive vice president of content at AT&T. York added, "With U-verse, you can record up to four programs at once. No one else is doing that." York also said that U-verse now passes 14 million "living units" and is still on track to reach 30 million by the end of 2010.

- John Harrobin, senior vice president of marketing and digital media at Verizon Communications talked quite a bit in his keynote speech about on-screen widgets, and he let slip that Verizon currently had a Facebook widget in its lab that will allow TV viewers quick on-screen access to all of their Facebook functions.

For more:
- Multichannel News reports from the show

TelcoTV: Big boys count screens, Vudu counts Mbps

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:16:22 -0500

TelcoTV 2008's slate of Day One keynotes offered a look at what might be called the telco TV dichotomy. Big telcos AT&T and Verizon Communications continue to push their three-screen strategies that leverage TV as one piece of the puzzle, while most small telcos who can't afford the brand-building, content licensing or intense integration required to support such strategies must think seriously about joining the likes of broadband media box vendor Vudu to leverage their broadband pipes in the on-demand world.

The Day One keynotes started with a schedule change. Fox TV stations online executive Ron Berryman was scheduled to speak, but he couldn't make it. For the remaining speakers, it was just as well that they didn't have to kindly acknowledge a fellow speaker from the traditional TV world. Dan York, executive vice president for content at AT&T; Edward Lichty, executive vice president for strategy and corporate development at Vudu; and Jon Harrobin, senior vice president of marketing and digital media at Verizon, all talked about revolutionizing the old TV mode.

Harrobin said in his speech, "There are all these predictions of the death of TV. We don't subscribe to them because we are spending billions of dollars to build new platforms. Our contention is TV is far from dead, but one particular model for viewing TV is dying-the network TV model. But with that model dying, a new one is being born."

Both Harrobin and York painted visions of their platforms as continuing the evolution into three-screen universes tied together by interactive portals that customers can control and customize, potentially with Internet-like widgets to their favorite content sources, channels or applications. Such portals will be increasingly supportive of ad insertion and targeted advertising that leverages the viewing and portal customization choices users make.

York said, "Saying entertainment is just TV misses the point. We're not just talking about a service bundle either, but about integration, making services more valuable by making them work for and around our customers. Lessons we've learned are that consumers want choice, they want personalization, they want cross-platform porting. And they need everything to be consumer centric."

Vudu may currently exist outside such closely integrated, highly branded telco TV universes, but Lichty said the company, whose users average between four to six on-demand movie downloads per month, offer telcos who can't build their own universes another option: "As a service provider, do you do it all? For AT&T and Verizon, that's the way to go. Or, do you stick to your pipe and do nothing? That also makes sense for some. Or, do you collaborate with folks who have the right DNA (like Vudu), and develop a deep relationship with intent of providing a better customer experience, and integrate what we do into your service?"

If your company's name is not AT&T or Verizon, the implication is that Door #3 may be the most viable choice. Vudu can help them build their broadband connection into a video pipe that doesn't require Hollywood licensing or a new branded portal, because Vudu has taken care of that. Instead of counting screens, Vudu is counting Mbps: The median download speed in the U.S. is now 2.3 Mbps--21 percent better than last year--and improving.

FiOS TV breaks through one million user mark

Tom Burton — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:03:30 -0500

Verizon has announced its optic fiber television service now has more than one million customers and is expecting to continue the aggressive roll out with over nine million homes to be passed by end of 2008. This compares with 5.9 million at the end of 2007. The service which began 28 months ago is now the tenth largest cable television system in the US and with an average sign up rate of 16 per cent of homes passed is expected to continue its rapid growth.

The announcement of one million customers for Verizon’s fiber to the home television service coincided with the telco's Q4 results and compares with 231,000 subscribers AT&T had signed up for its U-Verse IPTV service at the end of 2007. “Some experts doubted that we could come this far this fast,” said Virginia Ruesterholz, president of Verizon Telecom. “We launched FiOS TV just 28 months ago in one Texas market. We are delighted to pass the 1 million milestone," said Ruesterholz.

Verizon resells Direct TV and now has more of its own customers than subscribers of the satellite service, with a total customer base of 1.8 million subscribers. Verizon has now surpassed the total number of customers served by Cable One, which reported just over 699,000 customers at the end of the third quarter and should over take, the ninth-largest competitor, Mediacom Communications (1.3 million customers) by mid year.

Verizon has aggressively marketed the service offering a free HD TV for sign ups during the winter period and announcing it will have 150 channels broadcast in HD format by the year end. Verizon rolled out its own interactive media guide last year and this is to be upgraded with games and widgets during 2008.

The service is delivered using radio frequency spectrum down the optic fiber with interactivity part of an IP overlay network. Verizon President Denny Strigl told an investor call Monday FiOS TV was proving to be an effective means of retaining customers with line loss lowest in regions where FiOS TV and broadband were available.

For full coverage by our expert Fierce reporters and commentators of the Verizon Q4 results and expectations for 2008 go to our Verizon special report.

For more:
- Verizon Q4 Results Release