BBC attracts record number of interactive viewers

A record number of people have tuned in to watch coverage of this year’s Glastonbury festival according to ITVT. Live streams, coverage highlights and catch up coverage have all been available on demand through the festival’s website and the BBC interactive red button service, which apparently attracted 6.1 million viewers.

Great job by the BBC to maximise the content they have available to them, we saw equally impressive coverage of Wimbledon on the red button. We’ve seen this for a number of music and sporting events now, what’s next?

Justin Lebbon on television and technology

The latest industry member to take a few minutes to answer some questions is Justin Lebbon. Justin has recently launched videonet (http://www.v-net.tv/) which aims to bring together the best aspects of multiplatform online information sharing and networking. Videonet will also be hosting the official IBC blog.

Tell us a little bit about your new project, Videonet

Videonet is a new online publishing and events business for pay-tv professionals. Videonet incorporates the best aspects of web 2.0 – video, blogging, social media – while mixing in online events that offer audiences an interactive and engaging information sharing experience.

Widgets have become a hot topic in the TV space, what types of widgets would you like to see on your TV?

I think aspects of pay-TV can get complicated and I’m satisfied viewing my pre-recorded content and skipping ads. I do think social media widgets will be successful – linking twitter, facebook, Instant messaging – to create a social TV experience. For me, simple widgets supplying news, sports and weather RSS headlines would work but I have an issue with mixing too much of the internet with pay-TV. I realise combining the two offers a galaxy of opportunities but it complicates the service (for me) as television is my medium for switching off and relaxing. That’s not really conducive to having “friends” pop up wondering whether I thought the goal was offside.

What do you like and dislike about the TV service you receive?

I’m very much a time and place shifted TV consumer. I love PVRs and I’ve had one for several years now and I could never go back to standard linear television. The days of mindless channel hopping are, thankfully, over. I’m generally satisfied with my TV service but, without naming my provider, I do get frustrated with how slow it is; general channel changing, selecting on-demand programming, recording items, simple EPG navigation, etc. The delay is almost intolerable. I firmly believe my provider offers the best pay-TV (and triple play) package in the UK but the feel of the service, which is so important in my view, is incredibly tired and laborious.

You’re launching a new website dedicated to the pay TV industry, what fascinates you about the industry?

Pay-TV combines two areas that interest me: technology and television. My nerdy fascination with technological developments is married with a subject that is relevant to me. Additionally, the industry is often led by the technology so there’s a great rapport between technology vendors, operators and the consumer.

As a consumer how have technology advances impacted on the way you consume content?

Technology has massively impacted the way I consume content. I now only watch the TV I want to watch and I chose when and where to watch it. Now web-based content has become more reliable and better quality, I often chose to watch live events online – like Wimbledon – over sitting in front of the television. Feels like I’m still working using the PC! I’m really looking forward to true service, platform and device convergence. Personalised and quality guaranteed content services across multiple devices around the home and beyond thrills me far more than it should. Now I have to mess around getting shows on the iPod but having content immediately accessible on my handheld, as instructed by my online EPG, is utterly thrilling for me. Apparently all of this is quite possible today and we’re a couple of years from it being commonplace.

Many consumers skip adverts when watching from a PVR, would targeted advertising or rewards based advertising encourage you to sit through an advert break?

I do skip ads but I don’t get overly annoyed by them. Some adverts are more engaging and creative than some of the programming we’re watching today. Targeted advertising has become a big area and the Holy-Grail is targeting individual households. A couple of vendors claim to achieve this but it’s yet to be seen. What I like about this approach is that you and I can watch the same programme and then brag about what was advertised to us. TV advertising, though, definitely needs to move with the times. Marketing has become far more targeted and measurable and television advertising has failed to deliver those metrics. It’s moving forward in the right direction as we’re now seeing success with on-demand advertising and operators will soon be able to target devices and subscriber profiles to hit certain demographics. As consumers we receive hundreds of marketing messages a day and the more relevant they are to you, the more likely you’ll respond.

Before launching Videonet you spent a number of years working on the IPTV World Series – How has the industry evolved since the first exhibition?

The pay-TV industry has evolved spectacularly since the first IPTV World Forum exhibition in March 2005. To begin with, that event was about TV over DSL; telecoms push into pay-TV. The event evolved year-on-year to incorporate all networks (IP over Cable, hybrid, etc) as other platform operators move to deploy IP-based video services over their network. Now we’re in a situation where telecom companies are ahead of the game being able to offer converged IP services over high bandwidth fibre networks. Meanwhile, cable is responding with DOCSIS 3.0 (supporting unrivalled bandwidth capabilities) and they can now deploy IP services around the home through the cable gateway. DTH providers are enjoying success with hybrid deployments. Just by scratching the surface you can see how quickly the industry moves and that’s what makes it such an intriguing industry to work in.

You work in the TV industry, so you must spend a good amount of time watching it yourself. What are your favourite TV shows and why?

Unlike a lot of other people in this industry, I rather enjoy watching television although I’m incredibly fussy about what I watch. I like comedy programmes including Flight of the Conchords, The Office, Green Wing. I do enjoy US big hitting dramas, such as: Lost (shameful, I know), ER and Hereos. I find most reality TV shows offensively contrive and awful, although I can’t help but love The Apprentice. I also watch a tremendous amount of sport, especially football and tennis.

New channels, great expectation

As the UK TV broadcast industry goes through some serious structural shake ups and looks to take a fresh approach to revenue generation, there are plenty of new TV services appearing on the horizon. In recent weeks I’ve seen some interesting developments happening in the industry including launches of new channels.

Hulu TV
Times Online reported last Sunday that Hulu, the most popular TV streaming website in US, will start streaming shows to British internet users from September 2009. “In contrast to video-on-demand services from British broadcasters, such as the BBC’s iPlayer and Channel 4’s 4oD, which restrict themselves to the output of their parent corporations, Hulu will offer shows from UK broadcasters including Channel 4, ITV and possibly even the BBC.” The service will be available free for all UK residents.

Freeview HD
The BBC recently confirmed that Freeview HD transmissions will be rolled out by Christmas. Initially only covering Manchester and Liverpool, the rollout will soon expand and eventually reach the rest of the UK by 2012. Freeview HD will show BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 at first; however it’s reported that the new Freeview HD broadcasts won’t work on many existing Freeview set-top boxes, which means most viewers will have to buy a new TV or a new STB.

ESPN
Having bought the rights to broadcast two of the six packages of English Premiership games for the 2009-10 season from Setanta, Disney owned, US channel ESPN will launch in time for the new season, according to Evening Standard.

Disney XD
Disney is launching a new entertainment channel Disney XD this autumn in replacement of Jetix, the children’s entertainment channel. Broadly aimed at six-to-14-year-old boys and their families, the channel will include a mix of live programmes and animation with a focus on sports, adventure, music and comedy.

Quest TV
Despite plans to launch in May, Discovery Channels has recently decided to postpone the launch for Quest TV till later this year. To be launched on Freeview, Quest is expected to provide factual, lifestyle and entertainment programmes from the archives of Discovery Communications and other imported material.

Man and Machine, in perfect harmony

Keen drivers may have experienced the feeling of their car becoming an extension of their body. It’s as if the mind’s eye expands its viewpoint to incorporate the car, and it becomes like extra limbs of the body. I imagine the same can occur for a musician and their musical instrument, or a surgeon and their medical implements, or perhaps even a rider and their horse. Psychologists probably have a name for this phenomenon...?

Of the two cars that I’ve driven recently, one exhibited this phenomenon more readily than the other. (I’m attributing it to the car, but of course it’s a trick of the mind, not of the car.) The reasons for the difference are quite subtle, but I believe it comes down to things such as this – in the car I prefer, it’s easier to control the engine speed during a gear-change, and therefore achieve a smoother, more controlled gear-change, because the accelerator pedal operates over a more useful range of movement. In the other car, the engine goes from idling speed to the red line with comparatively little movement of the accelerator, which makes it harder to match engine speed to road speed.

The key is this: for the body-extension phenomenon to occur, you have to feel fully in control which means it must have the right set of controls, and be responsive and provide feedback. If any of these are missing, then the mind trick fails, and you and the object remain separate entities.

I reckon the same principles apply to consumer electronics interfaces. If the UI provides controls that fit the tasks you need to perform, it reacts in a timely fashion when you instruct it, and you can always tell what state it is in, then there’s a good chance that your mind’s eye will expand to include the interface and you’ll feel you are interacting directly with the tasks.

Julian Clover on the progression of IPTV

As I mentioned last month, I was keen to start a monthly Q and A with IPTV industry insiders to discuss what’s hot and what’s not in the IPTV world. This month Julian Clover has been kind enough to share his views.

Julian Clover is a media and technology journalist based in Cambridge, UK. He has two decades of combined experience in online and printed media.

He is currently an editor of Broadband TV News and New Television Insider. He has contributed to The Channel, the magazine of The Association for International Broadcasting; Cable and Satellite International; Euromedia and the consumer title What Satellite TV.

He is also a committee member of the Broadcasting Press Guild and the IBC Conference.

Julian, as Editor of Broadband TV news, you have a strong involvement in the digital TV space, are there any areas of IPTV technology you are particularly keen to see advance?

The use of hybrid boxes is particularly beneficial to satellite broadcasters to bring in on demand content. Canal+ already have something in this area with Le Cube and you could reasonably expect other operators to be thinking along similar lines.

Widgets and applications for the TV are becoming increasing popular, how important do you think open standards are to the evolution of these applications?

You don’t necessarily need open standards, but providers do need to make their technology available to those with the know-how. The problems start if the leading platform becomes a closed shop.

The convergence of web and TV is now really coming together, what is the future scope for these services?

Ultimately, it is complete convergence, or at least close enough. It has already been proved that the family will not gather around to view the bank statements. However, it is entirely reasonable to be able to check the listings at the local cinema, and be able to get a review that has not been influenced by studio or cinema chain. The iPlayer always gets the glory, but there are many similar services from overseas broadcasters where not all the content is copyright protected. We could reasonably expect to see some of these available. The challenge will be for operators to provide convenient access while not discouraging people from taking their own paid for content.

Personalisation has become a hot topic associated with IPTV; do you think this is something essential for the progression of IPTV services?

It applies to any television platform but we have been promised personalised EPGs for over ten years, with the technology now seemingly only just catching up with the PowerPoints.

You’re based in the UK, what are the good and bad aspects of the TV Service that you receive?

The broadcasters do little to promote anything more than eight or nine programmes at any one time. There’s a lot to be said for a programme trail listing the complete night’s line-up, even if you end up ignoring half, or recording it for viewing another day. Programmes at the fringes of the schedule are ignored, and alas the same can often be said for those featured programmes on the iPlayer.

Do you think VOD will dramatically change the way we consume digital content, how have your viewing habits changed in recent years?

VOD will clearly erode the schedules, but the human need for a shared experience will ensure the big entertainment and sports shows get something resembling a mass audience. The PVR (Sky+ in my case) means that I jettison whole series, preferring to watch a series from start to finish, rather than missing episodes through not being at home.

Do you think the digital switch over will lead to an increased demand in additional IPTV services?

There’s no reason why there will be more of a demand for IPTV than any other platform. By now most people who are interested in a pay-TV option will surely have signed up. The fun starts as the pay-TV platforms attempt to attract customers from their rivals.

You work in the TV industry, so you must spend a good amount of time watching it yourself. What’s your favourite TV show and why?

I’m a complete news junkie, so can happily watch the news channels for several hours, though I’m still not sure the UK stations have the polish of their US counterparts. Coast, which has gone around the British Isles and is now venturing into Europe for the next series, has sparked an interest. But I also get lost in series that seemingly have no purpose and are allowed to meander until their US audiences tire of the format. Lost at least has an end date, but after five episodes I’m longing for Dollhouse to find a direction.

The film industry joins forces for a new business model

I’ve covered different business models for TV several times before ( here and here, as well as in a recent post titled Is cable subsription model under threat?) - indeed it is something of a recurring theme. However, a new joint movie studios initiative announced last week by Lionsgate, Paramount, and MGM has the potential to really shake things up.


Epix is an new HD TV network that will air movies after they have appeared in the cinemas but before they are released on DVD or BlueRay. But consumers won't pay a subscription or pay-per-view charges, nor specifically need to request the channel is added to their package; and the service will have no advertising. Even better, the same content is available to Epix customers at epixhd.com at 720p resolution.

So what is the business model and how can the movie studios afford to do this? Well for a start, Epix is only available to customers who are taking their tv providers' TV service and Internet service. Epix believe that their service can act as a key differentiator when customers choose a TV package. Epix are also planning to install caching servers directly in the provider’s datacenter thus avoiding the need to stream HD video over second or third party Internet connections. Epix can thus take a slice of the bandwidth cost savings that their caching servers realise for the operator. Epix aren't interested in relationships directly with consumers - they are looking to build partnerships with the cable, Internet and satellite companies.

Looks like Epix could be one TV network to watch.

I Hate Touch Screens

I do think touch screens have some obvious advantages, because they have no fixed layout for UI components, which means the layout can be rearranged for each type of task, and there are no nooks and crannies for dirt to lodge in (try turning your PC keyboard upside down and give it a good shake - it's horrifying what falls out).

However, for a UI that I use regularly, such as my phone, a touch screen offers very little scope for honing speed and precision of use with time, because there's no tactile feedback to indicate whether a key was pressed accurately.

I wish mobile manufacturers would put a transparent mechanical keyboard over the top of the touch display to give the keys feel, while leaving their labels dynamic. The keyboards could also be slid or flipped out of the way when the display is all just for output.

Needless Inconsistency

I'm using a smart phone with an OS that shall remain nameless (to protect the guilty), but I've found three different screens where three different operations are required to back out of a sub-menu or screen if it's been entered by mistake. There's a button with an arrow pointing left, which sometimes does it, sometimes it's necessary to touch a "cancel" button at the bottom of the touch-screen, and sometimes a menu must be opened to find the "cancel" option.

If I was playing a game it might be fun to search for these things, but here it is just tedious.

A good UI picks a small, powerful and intuitive set of interaction "patterns", preferably aligned with existing experience, and uses them everywhere. Otherwise it's like having to learn 1,000 verbs of a language when only 10 are necessary.

Five things you need to know about user interface design

A while back I spent some time on the phone explaining to someone how to read and send text messages. Navigation within the Inbox was proving far harder to explain than I’d expected, until I realised that my text-newbie was not familiar with the concept of a scroll bar (she’s never used a PC...). The phone’s display, and the way it reacted to button presses, made more sense once this was understood.

Here are five tips for UI designers, to minimise the amount of knowledge required to use a new interface:

1. You can reduce the number of new things that must be learnt by building on existing knowledge, although the text lesson highlights the fact that different people have different levels of experience, and so you can’t rely entirely on prior knowledge.

2. Choose a small set of flexible interaction patterns that can be applied again and again - don’t make the user learn several different ways to perform similar operations - let them learn something to achieve one task, then be delighted to find they can use it for similar tasks

3. Make it intuitive - if a highlight is to move left and right along a set of selections, don’t use the up and down arrow keys to do it

4. Structure the interface to match the tasks the user will perform, not the structure of whatever it controls

5. Build on conventions - car makers do this, out of necessity in some cases (steering wheel and pedal arrangements), but also in other areas (the indicator stick, for example, is common to most cars). For TV UIs, most people are familiar with the idea of something being highlighted, and four arrow keys moving the highlight from one item to the next, and those that aren’t will quickly catch-on because it’s intuitive.

More for Channel4

If you like watching daytime banter between big haired presenters and culture shocking, stress busting evening entertainment on Channel4 then you’re about to get lucky as C4 is putting up 4,000 hours of archived content online for free from 3rd July.


According to CNet UK, Channel4 will be making programmes like Time Team, Location, Location, Location, Shameless, Queer As Folk and Unreported World available via its 4oD service. However, it’s pre-warned that C4 won’t backdate all past programmes and viewers shouldn’t expect “bizarre, experimental three-part documentary from the 80’s”. In return for this classic content you’ll have to sit through a few adverts of course, 4oD is an ad-supported VOD provider like most of the VOD services in the UK, as posted in On-demand TV competition heats up previously.

In a similar vein, BBC iPlayer is reportedly working on an agreement with Youtube’s parent company Google to extend its service outside of the UK although there are significant DRM issues to be dealt with first.

What can we learn from in-game browsers?

I read an excellent article on Gamespot comparing the latest web browser technology for gamers where the browser is used as a secondary application during gameplay.

Developers have been working closely with the gaming community for some time, building promising new features that allow gamers to browse the web during a game play. Some in-game browsers (the likes of X-Fire and Steam) are still very much like standard web browsers in terms of their usability and functionality.

On the other hand, game developers GotGame have built a more innovative solution called Rogue. The quirk of it is that it allows gamers to switch to web browsing instantly and continue to engage in the game whilst users browse the web semi-transparently. It’s an impressive development that’s worth exploring.

Take a look at how it works.



The approach that Rogue have adopted demonstrates that web browsing should be built to compliment and enhance the user experience when being used in a less traditional way, something we’re also aware of when delivering web based services to the TV.

Real Football on my Xbox 360?

There was an interesting partnership announced yesterday between SKY and Xbox 360. The two are working together to deliver on-demand and live programmes to consumers in Britain and Ireland via their games consoles. It’s another example of broadening the services available on today’s games consoles and builds on the web browsing capabilities that we’ve already seen from the leading players.

This latest development makes excellent use of the broadband connection, I particularly like the tie in with the Xbox live interactive service which Screen Digest believes now has over 2 million active users in the UK. So in addition to spending hours trying to take Cambridge United to the Premiership on Fifa 2009 I’ll soon be able to watch the real thing on my Xbox 360 too!

Full story here.

Bringing UGC content to TV

Current TV is a content sharing and aggregating site that is making a brave effort in bringing in amateur web content to the mass TV audience. Just last week, it launched a brand new programme called Webmash, an all round entertainment programme that beams the weirdest news, the funniest videos and other unmissable web gems onto your screens.


It may not be in everyone’s taste to watch yet another “Harry Hill’s TV Burp” type of content, but the programme makers at Current TV seem to invest quite a bit of time rifling through the internet and cramming the best bits into a thirty minute entertainment show.

What I like about the idea is that unlike traditional TV shows the content is 100% user generated, meaning the cost is almost next to none. Who knows, programmes like this could become a perfect watershed lull breaker before we settle down in front of our TV screens for mainstream favourites like TopGear and the Apprentice.

Webmash airs at 8pm, Monday to Thursday on Current TV, which is available on Sky 183 and Virgin Media 155.

Barry Flynn on the future of the IPTV industry, the 'Flynn switch' and Mad Men

I think it’s important to keep up with industry insiders. That’s why I’ve decided to run a regular monthly slot talking to specialists about their views on what’s hot and not in digital TV. To start us off, Barry Flynn, a principal consultant at TV consulting firm Farncombe Consulting Group, has been kind enough to give us some of his thoughts. He also runs the Connected TV blog where you can get more of his in-depth news and views.

• Barry, you’ve been working in the digital TV space since its early days, what excites you about this industry as a whole?

The fact that it’s undergoing multiple, radical transformations – technology as well as business-related. On the one hand, there are rapid technical developments affecting quality (HD, super-HD, 3D, and LED TVs); and on the other hand parallel changes affecting delivery (e.g. DVB-T2, DVB-SH, IP, etc.). It’s likely that broadband hybridisation in particular will ultimately trigger sweeping changes right across the TV business value-chain. There’s never a dull moment, that’s for sure.

• What do you see as the hot topics in the today’s market?

Adding IP to traditional digital TV networks is the major hot topic, I think. Lots of people are coming to us for advice on this at the moment because the technical issues that need to be resolved are very complex (let alone the business ones). 3D also seems to be hot, although I’m a bit of a sceptic: I see no great demand for it from consumers and my personal view is that something like 4000-line HD combined with multiple audio feeds will offer as good an illusion of reality as anyone really requires.

• The industry has been talking about the convergence of web and TV for quite some time. Is this really what consumers want?

Yes and no. I don’t think anyone really wants to surf the Internet on their living-room TV set. However, there’s evidence of suppressed demand for watching an over-the-top catch-up video service like the BBC’s iPlayer on the TV screen rather than the PC and perhaps other OTT services like YouTube. I also think consumers would value the ability to perform much more sophisticated Internet-type searches on the programmes available to them in a multi-channel PVR context, although, that would require considerable improvements to existing user interfaces (an evolution our EPG design company WeAreAka is closely involved with). It’s really a case of taking the best of what the Internet offers and adapting it to work in a TV environment – a sort of selective convergence, if you like.

• There’s been a lot of talk in the industry about widgets that could be useful in the TV environment much like the popularity of iPhone applications. Do you see this taking off? What kind of applications do you think would be successful, if any?

Well, it depends on the age-group. As a rule, I think older people who have grown up with traditional linear TV will be a bit more reluctant to interact with widgets than younger ones for whom on-demand, interactive viewing is an everyday aspect of their video consumption experience. So, for the ‘oldies’, applications will have to be non-disruptive and tightly related to what they use their TVs for at the moment – i.e. news and weather, or contextual video purchases (e.g. ANT’s Amazon widget). I can also see that it might be useful for this age-group to know who is phoning you on the landline (so you can decide whether to interrupt your viewing) or to be alerted intelligently to the fact that an episode of a programme you have watched in the past is beginning at time X on channel Y. For the younger ones, I think social networking widgets might be more popular – e.g. ‘tweets’ from friends about reality shows, and so on – simply because that’s the way they consume TV anyway: i.e. simultaneously communicating with their friends. For me, though, the difficulty is reconciling these different paradigms: which widgets are allowed and which ones aren’t when you sit down to watch The Apprentice ‘en famille’?

• Sky has made some recent announcements about “green button” advertising, giving the consumer more control over what they choose to watch making advertising much more relevant to them. Do you think it’s something that could take off?

There is some evidence from VOD deployments that people will choose to consume advertising if they see it as relevant to them. But I think this is really only the first step in the move to targeted, personalised advertising – where, for example, your PVR or the headend proactively substitutes a targeted ad in a live or recorded programme. The big issue isn’t really the technology – it’s whether consumers can be persuaded to give away the information the advertisers need to be able to target them in return for receiving ‘relevant’ messages. No-one really knows the answer to that yet. All we know at the moment is that consumers don’t seem to like their viewing being interrupted by irrelevant messages.

• If you were to be transported 10 years into the future, how do you think the way we watch and consume TV both in the home and at work will have changed?

Apart from watching major events and breaking news live, it will probably mostly be on-demand – in the developed world at least – whether that’s from local or network storage. Given current storage trends, video will also have become much more portable by then (which is how we’ll probably watch it at work if we’re allowed to). In fact, I have this idea that wireless content sharing between portable media players might become so prevalent in the future that when you arrive home after work, the first thing you do will be to sync the home server with the one in your pocket, rather than the other way round – because the Terabytes you carry round with you will have become the dynamic content acquisition environment (the home server will just provide your backup). I have modestly labelled this concept ‘the Flynn Switch’, but it could be a complete fantasy! Whether we’ll have widespread broadcasting to these handheld media devices by then is a different issue. I’m a bit of a sceptic here, too, but I guess 10 years is enough for the industry to come up with a viable business model.

• As a consumer how have technology advances impacted on the way you consume content?

For video, the answer is simple: I now watch mostly recorded programming rather than live, and I watch in HD (when it’s available) instead of SD, because I now have an HD-Ready flat-screen and a Sky HD box. For audio, the iPod has transformed my life. It enables me to consume a lot of radio as podcasts , and I hardly ever listen to music on anything else, now. Interestingly, I think it’s my audio consumption that has increased as a result of these advances rather than my video consumption. As for reading and news, it’s still via books and newspapers – although I guess I now get most work-related news from online alerts.

• You work in the TV industry, so you must spend a good amount of time watching it yourself. What’s your favourite TV show and why?

Mad Men, without a doubt (in HD, of course!). It’s beautifully written, complex stuff, but it’s not just that. My father inhabited the American advertising world of the 60s, and the attention paid to period detail is exquisite, from the clothes through to the furniture, right down to the incessant drinking and smoking. I sometimes feel I’m peering through a telescope at my own childhood! It’s also got the best theme music and opening credits sequence ever. I’m devastated the latest series has just finished…

Fast growth for connected TVs in the US

A survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) in the US, has revealed that as many as 14.5 million US households will consider buying an internet-capable TV over the coming year.

Out of all survey respondents, over 60 per cent wanted to watch online video content, 59 per cent wanted to check the weather and 57 per cent wanted to play network games.

The survey also identified that having access to content at any time and being able to access the internet during television broadcasts were the main reason viewers would opt for connected TVs. This is a latent trend that is yet to be echoed in Europe and indeed in the UK, where demand for VOD content on the internet has increased by 10% this year.

Interestingly, it’s said that the user interface for accessing online services through the television remains a challenge in the IPTV industry. Some industry insiders also say that there are no clear winners in terms of standards, interfaces or protocols as yet.

Evidently, this is changing very fast. As we saw at this year’s IPTV World Forum, industry players including ANT are already developing new and efficient usability features and interface apps as the demand for connected TVs rockets.

Sky launches ‘green button’ advertising service

Rapid TV News has recently covered Sky's news announcement of an innovative new on demand advertising service based on the green button of the remote control.

As traditional advertising revenues continue to fall it’s clear that the industry must find innovative ways to make adverts more appealing to the consumer. Initially new technology has damaged revenues as consumers tune into their favourite programmes 15 minutes late to enable them to skip the adverts by recording to their hard drive, this latest announcement is an interesting move to pull the viewer back in. The success of this type of approach will be determined by the quality of the additional content rather than the technology.

BBC reveals the Apprentice Predictor

Last week the contestants of the Apprentice faced hearing the F word from the British public for the first time, as the BBC launched a new website. Named the Apprentice Predictor, the nifty new game gives viewers a taster of what it’s like being Sir Alan Sugar, but it by no means affects the outcome of the programme as it’s only a just-for-fun online prediction game.

The service also has a chat element which allows viewers to comment on the contestants and their performances even before the programme starts airing (comments are moderated which is probably for the best).

On the whole The Apprentice Predictor is a neat little idea that is built with an aim to drive traffic to the BBC website and to encourage discussions around the programme. These types of games add an extra dimension to audience interaction by involving viewers and engaging them with additional content and if monetised, it could also be a new revenue stream

See below for a quick demo presented by the big moustache comedian Rufus Hound.

Is cable subscription model under threat?

At the Adage Digital Conference this year, high profile speakers including Verizon’s Chief Marketing Officer John Stratton discussed how IPTV is affecting the cable TV subscription model. Although the view was largely taken from a US TV market point of view, John Stratton acknowledged that IPTV is indeed forcing viewers to cancel their cable TV subscriptions and explore online alternatives such as Hulu, iTunes, Amazon Video and TV.com. These fast growing online services are all based on non-subscription based models including transactional, premium, ad-supported models.

John says that the cable subscription model will continue to exist for certain distributors as long as content providers keep their costs down. On the whole, the general trend suggests that the subscription model for TV is being challenged by rapidly evolving online content providers, but forces are already at work for content providers, distributors and advertisers to start offering IPTV services that are built on simple and flexible model.

You can watch the full speech in below 3Minute AdAge video.

400 mile longboarding challenge

A member of the ANT team is currently longboarding from Mizen Head to Malin Head in Ireland. Alan Smyth is taking on the 400 mile challenge to raise money for the British Heart Foundation and Irish Heart Foundation. Alan is now into the second week of his challenge, you can get updates of his adventure on his blog here and make donations here.

Good luck Alan!

Red Dwarf breaks non-terrestrial records

New episodes of sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf attracted over 2.6 million viewers over the Easter weekend.

The three-part 21st anniversary special "Red Dwarf: Back to Earth" pulled in the highest ever ratings for the UK TV channel Dave, which renamed itself to the Dave Lister channel for the duration.

Part 1, broadcast on Good Friday 10 April between 9pm and 9.30pm, attracted an average digital audience share of 11%, beating BBC2 and Channel 5 for the same time slot. A further 342,000 watched on the timeshift channel Dave ja vu an hour later, with 226,000 recording the show and then watching it from PVR within 3 days.

This makes the Red Dwarf revival the most popular non-terrestrial-analogue commission in the UK, beating the 2006 Torchwood launch episode on BBC3 and the first instalment of Terry Pratchett's "Hogfather" on Sky1.

Red Dwarf ran for eight series on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and remains the channel's highest rated show. At its peak, Red Dwarf pulled in around 8.5m viewers and has been broadcast in more than 25 countries.

Mozilla is to overhaul browser design

Mozilla's usability engineers are considering a complete redesign of the look and feel of Firefox as the browser slowly moves to become a complete operating systems. The most radical proposals could replace browser tabs with an interface that looks more like iTunes or a windows-based desktop.

Another idea that Mozilla are playing with is natural language searching. You can see the mockup here and in below video.


Taskfox Prototype from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Top TV listing guides by usability

Amongst other things this Easter weekend my family and I had some time to catch up on TV. It reminded me that there was once a time when everyone simply picked up a hard copy of the Radio Times to get an idea of what to watch and when. However, the way we choose programming and watch TV is hugely different to yesteryear.

I took some time out to compare some of the best TV listing sites out there and give a fair review on each of them. There are more than a dozen websites offering TV guides, but I think the following five sites fair better than others, purely because of the their ease of use and interactivity:

1. TV Guide Listing - a great site for getting a whole day’s worth of TV listings of all channels available in the UK, in a single page. Showing weekly and daily programme highlights in photos means you don’t have to read lots of details. The site also lets users view programmes by genre and provides a platform for viewers to discuss programmes.

2. Sky TV Listing – on Sky TV Listing all programmes are tagged by genres, which means you can easily search and browse programmes suited to your interest. Brilliantly designed, the site gives users the option to change viewing format from a simple list to a grid view. If you’re a subscriber already you can also remotely record your favourite TV shows through the website.

3. Tiscali TV Guide – really easy to use, this site offers user ratings on all programmes. It also allows users to fully customise their listings by channel, a feature that other TV listing sites don’t do well.

4. Radio Times – is practically the same as all of above, but it offers fewer and more structured channel listings. It also lists radio programmes and films on a separate tab. In addition, you can also view exclusive behind the scene photos and features which what makes it worth revisiting.

5. On the Box – works similarly to all the aforementioned services, but the site also provides independent reviews on programmes some of which are highly amusing to read. It's worth checking out.

All of above TV listing sites have great usability features. In a few years time, I can see these types of services becoming widely available on TV screens, giving viewers greater flexibility in accessing over-the-top (OTT) information and third party reviews, so you don't have to flick through pages and pages of TV listings with a pen in your hand.

‘Super simplicity’ will rein the Connected Homes

Interesting research emerged from Ericsson ConsumerLab last week on the future of connected TV. The report titled ‘IPTV and the Connected Home' examines digital content consumption in the home and found that there’s growing consumer interest in IPTV services.

Although the research talks about some of the evident trends in the consumption of connected TV, I found the following tidbits worth digesting:

• One third (33%) of the internet population in the UK are interested in creating ‘connected home’ environments, but the early adopters are still having to rely on DIY solutions to create home entertainment systems

• 64% of UK consumers would like to have wireless connectivity between all digital media devices to facilitate the quick and easy sharing of digital content

• Over half of UK consumers would like greater freedom and flexibility to access digital content from any device, from anywhere, combined with wireless connectivity between all digital content devices

• The operators need to deliver 'super simplicity' in order to drive mass-market take-up of advanced IPTV-based and connected home functionality

There’s no doubt that the demand for advanced TV and connected features are shifting from early adopters to a much wider user base. However, as the research rightly suggests, TV viewers are increasingly expecting connected TV through a simple and seamless delivery platform. However, simplicity shouldn’t get in the way of innovation. In fact, both should go hand in hand when implementing IPTV services.

IPTV World Forum - Day 2

The show picked up on Thursday, with evidently more visitors passing by our stand than on Wednesday. Whilst, I didn’t get as much of a chance to walk around yesterday, here’s my take on what was sparking the interest in my industry discussions.

With the general tone of discussions swayed towards the development of open IPTV standards, both operators and manufactures were showing great interest in the sharing of practical specifications on IPTV standards and the development of commercially viable IPTV models. Much of the questions thrown my way were around our open developer platform, the ANT Academy. And, on stand we had firm interest from a several new companies interested in joining the platform to help shape their propositions.

What’s more, our Amazon TV shopping application demo was drawing in the attention on stand. A great example of a practical way to implement and monetise third party content on an IPTV platform, visitors were intrigued by the search capability, which provoked discussions around consumers’ expectations.

All in all, it was nice to see some traction building up for the IPTV industry and it seems the whole eco-system is shaping up nicely for the industry.

IPTV World Forum – Day 1

IPTV World Forum kicked off today with a number of strong brands coming under a one roof to showcase what they’ve been up to in the past year. From looking around the show, it was obvious that market consolidation has shaped the industry in the last year. Most of the exhibitors were recognised brands and the start-ups of last year, had either grown up or were noticeable by their absence. The IPTV market has seemingly matured.

What’s more, from equipment manufacturers to middleware providers, the theme of this year’s event was very much focused on the consumer. The IPTV industry has taken note of who really matters and started to articulate better, with a focus on user-centric multimedia services. It might be making more exhilarating graphics for connected TVs or improving the transitioning between applications, but it is obvious that the industry is thinking about how it can deliver applications that enhance the users’ TV viewing experience, without interrupting them.

If you’re visiting the IPTV World Forum tomorrow, then please do drop by our stand (70). We can talk to you about our newly launched ANT Academy (amongst other things), which has already attracted a number of interested members at today’s show

More from us tomorrow…

Britain is a nation of Youtube addicts

This week, ComScore released yet more interesting figures, highlighting a 10 percent increase in online video viewing in the UK. According to the research the total unique audience for online videos reached 29.6m last year, with over 80 percent of all internet users tuning in to watch videos online.

The research also noted that 23.5m UK viewers watched over 2 billion videos on YouTube during the past year – that’s 86 videos per viewer.

Video sharing sites are not the only platform to attract viewers. BBC’s VOD service held a significant lead among TV broadcasters with nearly 55m videos being viewed in 2008. See detailed stats below.

From Sci Fi to Syfy, what’s the difference?

According to Media Week, NBC is the latest company to exercise rebranding during this tough climate. NBC is rebranding its Sci Fi Channel to Syfy, which will be introduced first in the US in July, with UK activities due to follow suit at the beginning of Q3 this year.

Although I’m somewhat undecided about the so called “phonetic” name change, the company explains “the new spelling will allow NBC to have an ownable trademark that it hopes will gain greater recognition among consumers across new-media and non-linear digital platforms - such as Hulu and iTunes”.

Last year both Sky and ITV renamed their VOD services to Sky Player and ITV Player respectively, as posted here.

ANT Galio is shortlisted for IPTV World Series Awards

We’re all extremely excited over here to have been shortlisted for the IPTV World Series Awards in the Best IPTV Service Delivery Platform or Client Software category.

It’s great to be recognised for ANT Galio which has gone from strength to strength in the worldwide IPTV market. I’ll be attending the awards ceremony (25th March, Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London) to fly the flag for ANT.

If you’re attending feel free to drop by and say ‘hello!’

BSkyB prepares for 3D content

Rapid TV News has reported that BSkyB is to launch a 3D service in the near future. Sky’s chief engineer broadcast strategist, Chris Johns, has reportedly told a London conference that Sky will increasingly focus on building and delivering its own archive of 3D material as part of Sky’s “Vision of the Future”; services like the Arts Channel, sports and general entertainment will be the first to receive investment.

Sky’s decision to invest in 3D systems is driven by the burgeoning distribution demand from Hollywood, which is said to be releasing some 61 movies in 3D over the next 18 months.

Interestingly, Sky is also said to be focused on delivering everyday 3D home entertainment through simple and cost-effective technology routes without the need for newer “3D Ready” or “HD Ready” set-top boxes.

IPTV industry must also face up to scrutiny around behavioural advertising

The online advertising industry has launched a set of guidelines for a genre of web adverts that have been causing controversy.

The code of practice has been drawn up by the Internet Advertising Bureau and focuses on the emergence of behavioural advertising, a form of targeting consumers based on people’s browsing activity.

The TV industry should be listening closely to this news. It’s an issue that could soon spill into the TV world as service providers start to converge traditional broadcast channels with content from the web.

Telcos, other service providers and advertisers themselves have been talking about the convergence of the TV & the web for some time. In many ways, it’s a case of when, and not if, it will happen. Convergence will revolutionise the way people watch and use the TV, but it will also mean that broadcasters have to be much more targeted in their advertising. However, there’s a fine line to tread between offering consumers good, targeted services based on viewing preferences and what could be perceived as ‘snooping’. Whatever the outcome of this discussion, eventually the TV industry will have to face up to these issues and adopt some sort of guidelines or best practice of its own.

If you have any thoughts of your own on this – I’d be glad to hear more about them.