Before "SaaS" existed as a buzz we "did" SaaS with POP. Now we are again ahead time! Read how our o3t Web TV solution is ahead time. This very good article about broadcasting trends (published under the title "Apps hold the keys to revenue from OTT and connected TV") shows that we chose the future while designing our o3t Web TV solution. Why is it future?
1. It is a thin client solution
2. Let the client choose the end device
3. Respect clients freedom while respecting broadcasters CA (conditional access)
The following text was originally published here:
http://www.ibc.org/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=2/EntryID=110
"Apps will help pay TV operators make sense of the connected TV world and solve the riddle of how to make money from it. They will enable operators to exploit one to one relationships with subscribers and harness the power of interactivity for a range of services from online betting to participation in shows. These all present monetization opportunities that take advantage of multiple screens, whether this is a companion device such as a Smartphone in the living room, or an iPad accessing content via a mobile network while travelling.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Apps is that their full potential is as yet unknown and does not rely just on the operator or content owner. Apps can allow operators to exploit the creativity of third party developers, as has happened in the world of IT ever since the PC was invented a generation ago. The difference is that in the pay TV world the winner takes all, with operators either retaining control of the customer, or losing out to new emerging players providing services over the Internet. Apps are taking central stage in this battle between existing operators and emerging players, presenting both a threat and an opportunity. The threat is that Apps allow content providers to bypass traditional operators, or let new service providers in through the back door. But the opportunity is that Apps can help operators make their services more attractive to existing customers and open up new revenues streams, all by exploiting the opportunities presented by connected TV and interactivity.
These threats and opportunities will be major topics within the conferences and around the floors at IBC 2011 and were also thrashed out at the recent Connected TV summit staged by Videonet, the leading e-magazine for the pay TV industry. BSkyB, the UK’s largest pay TV operator, presented its view of TV Apps at the summit, arguing that for now they were best deployed away from the main TV to extend the scope of services to portable devices or second screens. Indeed Sky has done this itself in SkyPlayer, its Internet service, and Sky Mobile TV, which have been merged creating a single connected TV package and are driven by Apps on the relevant dev ices. For example Sky Mobile TV App for iPad allows users to browse the electronic programme to see what is showing in the next 24 hours.
“For us it’s a big opportunity and one we think will gain traction,” said David Gibbs, Sky’s director of mobile apps and services. “We see Apps as part of a holistic TV experience and at the moment best suited away from the TV and set top box. You don’t want your mother popping up on the screen while you’re watching TV. ”
Gibbs was referring here to Apps that allow viewers to recommend programs while they are watching, for example via a social medium such as Facebook. But on other devices social media can be exploited for recommendation, increasing consumption of premium content and even pay per view items.
The key for pay TV operators in an App centric world lies in keeping hold of the consumer and providing the universal portal through which they access other content. While the success of OTT services such as Netflix suggests that pay TV operators have little chance of maintaining exclusive control over their customers’ viewing on connected devices, prospects may be better when it comes to premium content, which is after all where the greatest revenue potential exists. Here pay TV operators have a trump card – their ownership of the customer combined with the conditional access (CA) security to authorise viewing of the content.
This is creating a new way to deliver premium content safely, for example at ESPN, the US cable operator and content provider specialising in sports. “ESPN is going it alone in delivering content, but authenticating via pay TV operators and leveraging their relationship with the customer,” said Christopher Schouten, senior director of solutions marketing at content security vendor Irdeto, speaking at the Videonet summit. “So there is some harmony there.”
In this way ESPN can allow subscribers of pay TV services around the world to access premium content by downloading an App for the particular device, relying on that operator’s conditional access to protect against theft of service. For example its channels are available to users of Android phones and tablet devices that have subscriptions to Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV services, so long as they also receive ESPN's linear networks as part of their package.
There is scope to go further so that content houses could strike deals with pay TV operators to make their material available on a more casual basis to subscribers of that service. There is also the potential for developers of TV Apps themselves to enter revenue sharing deals with operators, perhaps developing an exclusive App. While there are no signs of that happening yet, operators are becoming aware of the revenue that could be gained by opening up their platform to third party App developers. “There is huge potential there, but the real innovation may come around third parties who don’t own the rights but can play around it,” said Brian MacSweeney, managing director and founder of Boolabus, a vendor of a live betting platform used by UK bookmaker Ladbrookes among others. “There are a lot of unknowns here, so the best way to find out is to throw the doors open and try different things.”
Conditional access and middleware vendor NDS is anticipating such activity in developing its Service Delivery Platform, which provides an open API (Application Programming Interface) that acts as an interface between Apps on devices, a service provider’s TV platform, and social networks or other content served over the Internet. This will enable the development of applications that complement or control the TV viewing experience.
As well as providing opportunities to enrich the service, Apps also have the potential to change the pay TV infrastructure by acting as a software version of a Set Top Box (STB), according to Stefan Jenzowsky, head of media at Siemens Communications Media & Technology (CMT), which provides solutions across the digital transmission spectrum. Jenzowsky said at the Videonet Connected TV summit that internal tests at Siemens had shown an App inside a device operating in combination with a cloud based shared delivery infrastructure could eliminate the need for a STB. Furthermore all devices connected to the cloud, including tablets, smart phones, PCs and connected TVs, could participate in a common service under a consistent look and feel.
“For example you can watch on a tablet itself from the video menu, or alternatively fire content straight to the TV,” said Jenzowsky. “This is done by Apps, working with each other on different devices. The Apps together take over the function of the STB, allowing you to swipe stuff to the TV, and move it to the bathroom or bedroom. It feels like one unified experience. So you can throw the STB out of your business plan.”
Of course STB makers are stepping up to this challenge with plans to exploit Apps themselves, for example to enable shared applications among connected devices within the home. However Siemens research does establish the disruption to the pay TV field that Apps will bring."