occasional thoughts by john borthwick
This register piece is worth a read on Sky’s realtive position in europe — the presumption that sky will dominate multichannel video in europe is held by pretty much everyone here. Surprising given the progress of IPTV — and the fact that many IPTV providers are figuring out that a me too service isn’t what IPTV is going to be about. Just like cable differentiated itself from broadcast, IPTV is going to have to differentiate itself from satellite and cable.
cable wasn’t me too in the states in the 1970s partially because the content was different which was easy to pull off since there were only three stations broadcast at the time. In the US IPTV is at best me-too. In a ocuntry without 200 channels IPTV might still be value-added. i think it is about choicepip
Cable wasnt me too when it started and likewise IPTV has to become different from multichannel cable or sat video to succeed — I suspect it can be more than a me too service.
Offerings that are starting to emerge in more advanced IPTV markets (hong kong, france, spain) suggest that it can and will do things differently. See what how Illiad program sports events — its would sat or cost cable a ton of money to do what Illiad can program in days in basic HTML (on screen grids or mosiacs, pick your own feed, archive, etc.)
The IPTV guys in the US know that it can be different, but feel that they need to deliver the TV experience that everyone knows today to reduce customer resistance to the fear of change — no one wants to lose their TV experience, just gain new ones.
When they’ve gained share, they’ll start to innovate on top of the core TV-as-it-is-today offering.
Agree in the US IPTV providers are thinking about video services as a replacement to cable or satellite from day one – and they think they need to first offer the video experience that everyone has today — that said I do question whether its the right approach.
Outside the US video is often an added benefit as part of the bundle, not the driver of the bundle. Video and telephony are meant to be used as “second line” services that over time may become primary. In some bundles video is presented as a “free” add on if you sign up for broadband. In cases where IP based video isnt meant to be the primary video service its becoming differentiated from the begining. Just like Skype didnt begin by trying to mimic the behavior and services on pots phones I believe the value of IPTV will emerge from providers who treat it as a new platform to offer video on, with properties that are different from broadcast or satellite.
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regards
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This is a blog with occasional postings from John Borthwick. I work in the technology, communications and media space — as an entrepreneur, a builder and an investor. My interests are in building great companies and in understanding about how media evolves as it collides with real time conversations. This blog contains occasional thoughts, mostly on the theme of participatory, real time media. I like to write to organize my thinking on a particular issue. This blog is often a repository for that thinking. Thus the name and the sporadic attention. My twitter or tumblr stream are more reflective of day to day thoughts.
Im CEO and co-founder of betaworks the companies I am working with are listed on the betaworks site. Prior to launching betaworks I was CEO of Fotolog, and prior to that I was Snr. VP of Technology and Alliances at Time Warner. I arrived at Time Warner — AOL — in early 1997 when they acquired the company I had started back in 1994. That company was WP Studio, producer of three sites: Total New York (one of the first local city guides, now gone), äda ‘web and spanker (a pre blog, daily journal of the occasionally twisted mind of Carter Adamson).
I also sit on the board and/or act as an adviser to: Center for Independent Media, RRE, Coburn Ventures, Rhizome and HRW.
This web log is published on the wonderful WordPress.
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