VOD technology provider, Concurrent, on Tuesday launched a solution dubbed simply "Video to the PC." According to the company, the solution allows operators to utilize their existing Concurrent infrastructure to deliver commercial-grade video through high-speed Internet connections to online viewers. From a subscriber's perspective, the company says, the solution makes it possible to access both live broadcast video and on-demand content through a PC with no additional hardware requirements; operators, meanwhile, the company says, can now monetize their portfolio of video services by bundling their full offerings to both the TV and the PC. "Broadband operators are well-positioned to offer and monetize high-quality video online because they already have the infrastructure necessary for commercial-grade content aggregation and delivery," David King, Concurrent's chief marketing and strategy officer, said in a prepared statement. "By partnering with Concurrent, operators can use the platform that has successfully enabled on-demand television to enable video to the PC. This will open-up a powerful second screen for video through which the operators can create new commercial models that drive both subscription and advertising revenue."
According to Concurrent, a key element of the new solution is the ability to deliver live broadcast video, in addition to VOD content, to the PC without the need for subscribers to purchase additional hardware. Thus, the company says, the solution not only provides viewers with a way of catching up on programming they may have missed on television, but an alternative medium on which to watch it live as it is broadcast. The company cites a study from the Diffusion Group that found that of the 43% of adult broadband users who stated they were interested in a TV-to-PC service, 66% stated they were willing to pay $10 or more each month for the service. "The industry is moving to monetizing media content in this manner," Concurrent's King continued. "With video to the PC, broadband providers will be able to expand their commercial models around broadcast video just as satellite radio expanded its access to broadcast radio content through
subscription models that include online and mobile device listening options."
Video to the PC is an extension of Concurrent's MediaHawk platform: the company bills the latter as providing independent scaling of ingest, storage and distribution. The company says that its video solutions use commercial off-the-shelf hardware and run on military-grade Linux, so that they have the flexibility to work with different backoffices and network configurations. This open modularity, according to the company, means that operators can easily deploy Video to the PC by turning on software functionality within their existing infrastructure. New Concurrent customers, meanwhile, can purchase the MediaHawk4500 and provision TV and PC operation together or independently, the company says. Concurrent plans to demo the new Video to the PC solution in its booth (Hall 5, Stand B16) at the IBC show in Amsterdam later this week.
