The IPTV revolution?

In his last blog my esteemed colleague Sam Ingleby pronounced the TV alive and well. He rightly pointed out that while the disruptive force of the Internet has mutated the way broadcasters deliver their content, TV will evolve to be a part of this change rather than die out. So, if TV is going to remain a viable broadcast platform, what are we to expect in the future?

TV has traditionally been delivered by terrestrial, satellite or cable platforms.  However the emergence of the Internet has provided a genuinely alternative medium for content delivery. The provision of broadcasting content through Internet Protocol (IP) is threatening to revolutionise the way we interact with our televisions. So what is IPTV, what are the possibilities and why hasn’t this Che of the new media age quite got the revolution going in the UK?

There has been some confusion over the definition of IPTV. Many people assume that IPTV is content which is viewed online like Youtube - they assume wrongly. Internet protocol television is television content which is delivered via the Internet and can be watched on television sets, PCs, mobiles or PDAs. When we combine the affection afforded to TV by consumers, and the possibilities that IPTV brings, we see that TV and IPTV are not natural enemies - rather they combine to transform the argument about what TV actually is.

With an IPTV set-top box connected to the Internet the user has the potential to break out of an archaic mode of interaction. Whereas TV viewing in the analogue age resides in the linear world, IPTV opens the viewer up to the world of on-demand content delivery, interactive content and blended services. Simply put, IPTV allows the user to watch what they want, when they want. The choice doesn’t stop at television content either. As well as remodeling the way we interact with broadcast content, IPTV advances the possibilities of convergence with other Internet based services.

In highly developed markets, such as Asia, IPTV operators are delivering services such as
Caller ID on the TV screen, place shifting (where a TV program is carried from the in-home digital video recorder on to a mobile device such as a phone for watching on the daily commute) and a family member locater (done via maps on the television through mobile phone technology). But why hasn’t the revolution swept the UK? I want to track my kids on the TV – I hear you cry. Unfortunately there are barriers and drawbacks in the UK which explain why it’s been a little less glorious revolution and a little more Bay of Pigs.

Business models for IPTV remain problematic with nothing available that can guarantee revenue. This will continue to deter entrants to the nascent market. The technology required to utilise the platform is likely to offer barriers to consumers, as it is more complicated to use than the existing and hugely popular TVs and there remain serious quality issues. At the same time as the consumer is demanding shaper picture quality and high definition sound, IPTV struggles to deliver audio and visual quality through the current broadband infrastructure. Indeed whilst the diversity of channels has been a positive hit with consumers, we are talking potentially tens of thousands, delivering all this choice through the current broadband infrastructure looks problematic.

Do not be disheartened though, in the increasingly convergent world IPTV has a big future. The Internet has changed the way we access information, particularly our entertainment. We live in a culture where we binge watch TV series with box-sets, we compartmentalise our radio listening through podcasts and we interact with content on the web. The consumer is no longer a passive citizen happily locked into linear viewing. We have been freed by the Internet revolution, and TV will be freed too. IPTV will transform the way we interact with broadcast content and blended services in the new television age.

By Laurence Harrison, Director Consumer Electronics