ASChaigneau's blog

As you might know I am a confirmed Interactive TV enthusiast, having been in this industry sector since its very early days.   The main dificulty in Interactive TV has always been the ROI.  How do you make money at it?   For the Broadcaster and Operator it is fast becoming more and more clear, but they have to change their thinking with respect to this area of Television and embrace a change in direction.  Why?  Cost Saving without cutting head-count, service reduction can be achieved and an actual revenue generating service can be implemented.  This makes sense for the long term financial health of teh Broadcasters & Operators.   Companion Screen Interactivity (SaaS based) is a natural CAPEX/OPEX ‘cost-saving’ exercise.

There is many a debate (especially on the TV Forums of LinkedIn) surrounding the Interactive TV Specification of HbbTV.  Many people are already hailing its success due to the fact that it has been selected in a handful of countries and interest is growing.   Even the DTG in UK has added an HbbTV profile to its D-Book Spec making all the MHEG5 supporters shudder I would imagine ; albeit MHEG5 is not growing but declining.

We have entered the 2nd phase of the Companion Screen business with Synchronisation being the next step in the equation.  The DVB organisation has need of a chairperson for the new DVB-COS (Companion Screen) group that will look to standardise the communication protocols between the Companion Screen and the STBs/Connected TVs.  This in itself is a very touchy subject as raised by the iTV Doctor in his recent post and he mentioned a Company already offering such protocols.  This may see another IPR issue at the DVB but that is another story...Lets concentrate on Companion Screen issues - As we have progressed through the business of Interactive TV it is clear that there needs to be a marriage of many brides (parts) to make it successful.

Tivo are entering the equivalent of the Gilette v Wilkinson razorblade race with their latest DVR product - Or is it to appeal to the Frequent Flyers amongst us who are never home to watch TV - (Permiere Elite is a definite FF Award Status).  A retail DVR with four tuners allowing for simultaneous recording of four different shows while viewing a fifth recorded program. Plus a two-terabyte hard drive that allows for up to 300 hours of recorded HD programming:  Two times more recording space than current offerings. So who will be next to bring out 6 tuners so you can watch 1 program whilst filling up your hard disk with an unimaginable amount of stuff that you will never be able to watch? 

On a recent trip to Chicago I dropped into Starbucks for a coffee just an Espresso – In front of me was someone that ordered a Grande cinammon dolce latte with sugar-free-buttery-brown-flavoured syrup, non-fat-whipped-cream and sprinkles.   Yes this is America and in Europe we balk at such frivolity because we are sophisticated Europeans!

Since the dawn of Digital TV we have seen many come and go.  Its like Lego  - many of the same building blocks but never a complete system.  Can we ever get there?  Depends on those who seek to detroy those intiatives that do not contain THEIR IPR.  Here we go again:  I must attribute this to a certain Rob Gallagher on LinkedIn:

There is no need for CE-HTML or HbbTV in the technology stack: zero, nada, none. They are not needed or used on the desktop devices, they are not needed or used on tablet devices, they are not nedded or used on mobile phone devices. So why on TV? Here is the answer to that rhetorical question…

I will probably appear to be the negative blogger on the situation, state of things in the Digital TV world, however we do need a dose of reality amongst the over-hyped, extremely over-positive, sales-pitching clap-trap of the over-subscribed, we-can-do-it-all-too, interactive TV Companies.  There is nothing wrong with highlighting the issues so as to make people realise that it is not a perfect world in OTT, by any means.  We have a long, long way to go!  If you are in a huge metropol you may not know what the issues are - live slightly out on the edge (which many people do) then it all changes.  QoS IS IMPORTANT!  And here is a little example why QoS is such an important part of the future of TV: