BuddeBlog

It is not only the Hollywood studios and Internet companies eyeing off the online video space. There are other interesting developments taking place, mainly driven by the broadcasters. In the UK, media companies such as the BBC have launched services that offer TV programmes over the Internet. In the USA, News Corp’s Fox and NBC Universal launched their online video offering called Hulu and in Australia there is an offering called iView from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Services such as these differentiate themselves from sites such as YouTube by offering professional/commercial content, as opposed to User Generated Content (UGC).

There are also similar services in the Netherlands (Uitzendinggemist.nl), France (Canal+à la demande) and Germany (Premiere).

United Kingdom

The rapid take-up of broadband in the UK has provided a significant addressable base to which rights holders - whether the major broadcasters or individuals - can distribute their content. New service launches and trials have included BSkyB’s Sky Player (previously Sky Anytime) service and the BBC’s iPlayer trial. In addition to services which use P2P file sharing technology to exploit the consumer’s computer HDDs, faster broadband speeds along with improvements in video compression technologies also enable operators to offer streamed video services.

The Internet has emerged as an increasingly popular platform for broadcasters to distribute content. Itv.com re-launched in mid-2007 offering free streamed online access to its live channels and to some content on demand. The BBC’s iPlayer followed suit, going in December 2007 after two years of trials: By April 2008 the seven-day Internet-based catch-up service had a unique monthly audience of 1.4 million and was dealing with over 700,000 daily viewing requests. Users can either download programmes to their PC through P2P technology or stream it directly using a Flash-based media player. Streamed programmes outnumber downloads by eight to one. Channel 4 has since taken a similar path, with a seven-day streamed seven-day catch-up service on Channel4.com Sky re-launched its Internet service as Sky Player in May 2008, offering free access to content on demand from a range of its channels.

DVRs on different platforms offer a range of services and functionalities:

• Sky Player ‘pushes’ preview content not yet broadcast on Sky to the DVR hard drive, giving consumers an opportunity to access ‘first see’ content on demand, free of charge.
• Freeview+ (formerly Freeview Playback) also includes series linking.
• Top Up TV Anytime uses a ‘pull’-based DVR model - the user selects content to download to the hard drive.

USA

By mid-2008 most of the major US television networks were offering some form of online viewing, although their offerings remain limited and the quality of streaming variable.

Increasingly, some of the networks have been offering shows not just through their own sites, but elsewhere on the web using ad-supported models, paid-for-rental and/or to-own models. American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for example, appears focused on offering its top programming on its own website whilst making available a mix of new and older shows through the iTunes store.

CBS on the other hand has built relationships with other video services, such as AOL, Microsoft, CNET Networks, Comcast, Bebo and Joost, set up by the founders of Skype. NBC launched a Beta-version of NBC Direct, an Internet-based catch-up service (with shows available up to seven days after broadcast and only watchable for 48 hours after download).

During 2007 NBC and Apple’s iTunes parted ways, and instead started selling downloads through Amazon’s unBox, Sandisk’s Fanfare and Netfix, among others.

Another notable venture is Fox and NBC’s web platform called Hulu, outlined in the exhibit below.

 TV shows on the Internet - service examples

(Source: BuddeComm, 2008)

For further information, see separate reports:

• Global - Digital Media - Online Video Media;
• Global - Digital Media - Social Networks & UGC;
• Global - Digital Media - Digital Video Recorders (DVR);
• Australia - Digital Media - IPTV;
• United Kingdom - Convergence - Triple Play & Digital TV;
• USA - Convergence - Digital TV & IPTV.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 4:05 pm and is filed under BuddeBlog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.