The Winning Ticket For Pay-TV Operators

Forget the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.  The results that pay-TV operators are interested in have been tabulated, and they paint a clear picture of why intuitive navigation experiences are becoming increasingly important. 

According to the Leichtman Research Group, 81% of U.S. households now have a DVR, use VOD services from a cable or telco provider or subscribe to Netflix.  Moreover, 30% of households use two of those services and 13% use all three.

What this means is that subscribers are making use of more platforms than ever when it comes to content sources, creating a need for navigation that presents a 360-degree view of all available options.

Rather than searching individual silos for content of interest, subscribers are seeking to narrow the myriad of entertainment choices to their specific interests.  Forward-thinking operators are migrating from traditional guide paradigms to advanced user experiences that prioritize channels from all sources based on established viewing preferences, and supplement video content with related applications that enhance the viewing experience.

As content sources continue to expand, viewers can be expected to “vote with their feet” – shifting their loyalties to those experiences that offer the best views across linear TV, DVR, VOD and even SVOD.  The winners will be those operators who invest in new technologies that continually strive to offer personalized, customizable interfaces that most accurately address viewers’ individual preferences and needs.

Cable TV vs. Cable Broadband; the cat bird's seat

I read an article by Peter Kafta discussing a possible pullback of content resale to Netflix from top content companies, and followed it by an article by Michelle Clancy about how the cable companies will only benefit from Apple and others for cable broadband service growth. At TVOT last summer a further connecting viewpoint was made by Jennifer Mirgorod, Turner EVP of Brand Distribution, suggesting that Turner had been positioning their contracts for content long ago to avoid exclusivity so they could put their content in front of as many viable eyes possible.

The TV environment is changing at a fast pace. Cable Operator third quarter announcements highlighted that they had net gains in cable subscriptions, a hopeful trend away from losses, but if you looked at the numbers, the gains were a tiny fraction compared to their gains in broadband subscriptions. As Michelle pointed out, while the monthly broadband subscription dollar amount is significantly lower, the margins are much higher.

So it would seem that if the MSO's growth business is in their smart pipe to the home, they might prefer that content owners continue to sell to multiple outlets putting demand on the pipe and driving a desire from consumers to increase the bandwidth to the home. Will this shift in revenue change how MSO's contract for content? This is a conundrum for the MSO's as they strive to reinvigorate their video business against a consumption spectrum of video content options that multiply every year (reflected by the ever changing list of services on my smart TV).

From the content creator/owner point of view, I am not so sure they will abandon outlets, as Ms. Mirgorad makes a good point. The higher potential eyes the more opportunities for brand building and ad dollars (aside from paid non-ad services and blocker software).  So this may be more about the details in the contracts, than outright cancelation. Netflix is fast becoming the service that can most readily distribute content to a huge global audience, so I don't see them losing much steam. Their content pool will be more localized and diversified beyond the major US studios as they supply content to a multi-lingual and multi-cultural world.

The future for the Cable companies is fascinating right now. With a variety of approaches to attract millenials and cord-cutters; from MCN acquisitions (on-line Multi-Channel Networks), to skinny bundles, to delivering on consumer devices and more, operators are making every attempt to shore up the video business. It will be interesting to see what works best, but either way it looks like the cable companies will win on the other end with their expanding broadband business.

Alticast Highlights Cloud Services and Ultra HD Deployed Solutions at INTX 2015

Alticast, a global partner for the delivery of media entertainment, will demonstrate to attendees of INTX 2015 its newly deployed Ultra HD (UHD) security solution alongside its Cloud Services and other innovations. The demonstrations will take place in Alticast’s booth (1319), May 5-7, at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago.

Alticast will showcase its entire line of solutions at the show, with particular emphasis on its AltiPlex™ Client-Server Cloud solutions, TV Ready User Agent App Framework and AltiProtect™ technology solution.

Key demonstrations at INTX 2015 will include:

          Alticast’s AltiPlex Cloud Services Platform (CSP) provides essential core cloud solutions for handling users, devices, metadata, advertising, big-data support and billing system integration, with a complete web-based management console. Additional options include the dynamic Cloud UI solution allowing operators to deliver a sophisticated user experience (UX) to both their legacy and new set-top boxes (STBs).  The Cloud user interface (UI) can also provide multiple UIs to different devices in a household, for example a UI tailored for kids and one for adults. In addition, Cloud DVR is available for cloud-based recording, storage and delivery of content providing a TV Everywhere experience. AltiPlex CSP is component based, allowing operators to integrate existing portions into their service or to use the complete platform. 

      Alticast will show AltiProtect UHD, the newest addition to its AltiProtect family, that is optimized for UHD security protection and which is paramount for the success of UHD providing more robust security for premium content. Already successfully deployed by CJ Hellovision in Korea, AltiProtect UHD can be remotely installed onto STBs and other devices with the AltiProtect Download Framework, a mechanism to remotely install any AltiProtect CAS/DRM/DTCP-IP or the new UHD solution into STBs and other devices. 

 The company is expanding its HDMI Media Express offering beyond the original thumb drive sized ‘set-top box on a stick’ by adding small tabletop options for IP video delivery with live and on-demand programming being delivered directly from the Cloud or in concert with a home gateway. In the stick form-factor, the product provides a TV Everywhere experience with its download-and-go and plug-and-play capability.  Additionally, HDMI Media Express supports HTML5 and Android application delivery with the flexible Alticast’s TV Ready User Agent application framework that allows multiple user agents to work together on one device. This allows operators to combine HTML5 RDK solutions with Android or Java based solutions all on one device.  

          The new multi-catalog search capability of Alticast’s AltiView 1™ UX, powered by Rovi, allows subscribers to simultaneously search multiple content catalogs from over-the-top (OTT) providers like Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, and select the delivery source.  This gives operators many options for providing OTT services.

In addition to booth demonstrations, President and CTO of Alticast North America, John Carlucci, will present "IoT:  A New Business Model" at INTX’s Imagine Park Innovation Showcase on Tuesday, May 5^th as part of the 4 – 5 p.m. content segment.

Media and other parties interested in meeting with Alticast executives at INTX 2015 should contact alticast@mobilitypr.com to schedule a time.

Will US Cable Operators Embrace Netflix?

Two weeks ago Netflix stock went up over 20 points on the news FierceCable passed on that they are in talks with cable operators including Comcast and Suddenlink. This week they shot up further on news their subscriber base is growing rapidly. Netflix already has a cozy relationship with Cablevision, and has a more tightly coupled integration with Liberty Global and Virgin Media through Tivo.

Up to this point, some operators have gone so far as to create their own competitive VOD service. Operators have made clear choices to either embrace Netflix or treat them as a competitor. Netflix and the operators know that either way there are many users with both services and as reported in the original article in the Wall Street Journal, Netflix would "love to reduce the friction to the end consumer." 

4K OTT Coming Soon?

Netflix chief Hastings on the prospect of 4K content: "Downloads would be on the order of 45-60GB, requiring a substantial high-speed data connection for the interested consumer." No date was given on when 4K content would be available, but it is conceivable that Netflix will be the first major purveyor of ultra HD movies.