Anthony Smith-Chaigneau's blog

Having seen the iTV Doctor's session at TVOT (ACR panel) I realised that the significane of the Companion Screen is much underestimeated by the traditional Broadcasters & Network Operators who have moved sluggishly in the traditional middleware space.

   In Consumer Electronics vis a vis the General Public all the 'Tech Specialists' of the world assume that everyone understands technology the way they do.  The world is naturally more sophisticated, people are more tech savvy and there is definitely a trend towards a better understanding of a very complex TV world but fundamentally we must not believe all the hype.   Most people do not understand television technology (80%)!  Even High Definition is confusing to people.   In fact a recent report in the Telegraph regarding real transmission quality amongst the UK HD broadcasters only highlighted that the average consumer is being duped…by the very industry that is selling the new technology dream.   

It is time to discuss the reality of Social Media which I believe is very misunderstood by many Companies. Here is an example The Company behind Strepsils & Lemsip want you to follow them on Facebook! – In order for them to get you to do that they have to advertise on Broadcast Linear TV (Quite expensive)!   So all those brands that try to drive you to individualising your Brand preferences (Rollerball, News Channels etc) have merely increased their OPEX in order to do so.  To gain what? Followers and Fans of medicine, a writing instrument, yesterdays stories?  What % of their consumers need this kind of support, what does it bring other than a huge cost to monitor and maintain?

Social Media explained:  Doesn't Portal = Website?  Isn't Facebook a Webpage tailored differently.  Social Media is many things all slightly different (like Twitter) especially if it is configured as a Feed of Information that leads people to - A Website.

A Blog is a ... Website. i.e. Wordpress (Blogging) want to offer Advertising but only if you have a Public Domain Name therefore a Website...Call all these things what you like but a Magazine is a Magazine, a Newspaper a Newspaper, a Website is a Website.

When is a Standard not a Standard? It would seem that it is when it is officially recognised by a Standards Body...after that it just becomes a pawn in the marketing and lobbying of support groups for their preferred flavour. First of all it was MHEG and ATVEF which was standardised and not taken up globally for DTT, then came the turn of DASE, ACAP & MHP, now its the turn of HbbTV...HTML5 is on the horizon some say Android will reign supreme!