Comcast будет показывать любительские видео с сайтов по ТВ

Comcast, американский оператор кабельного телевидения, запустил свой сайт обмена любительскими видео, Ziddio.com. Лучшие клипы будут отбираться для показа на телеканале по запросу.

Сервис крупнейшего оператора кабельной связи в США работает в тестовом режиме и будет введён в полную эксплуатацию в течение этого года. Ziddio станет серьезным конкурентом для лидера рынка - YouTube и других аналогов: ни один сервис обмена видео не предлагает демонстрацию клипов по телевидению. Контент сайта разделён на 8 жанров, среди которых – анимация, комедии и музыка.

Поскольку операторы кабельного и спутникового телевещания отмечают переход молодёжной аудитории от телеэкрана в интернет, они стараются не отставать от тех сервисов, которые выигрывают от тенденции больше всего – YouTube, Revver.com и других.

Полтора года назад Comcast запустил сервис «Знакомство по запросу» (Dating on Demand), с которого можно отправлять видеоклипы для воспроизведения по системе «видео по запросу» (VoD).

Инвестиционное подразделение, Comcast Interactive Capital, в этом году приобрело долю в сервисе обмена видео Revver, а Comcast приобрел компанию доставки видео Theplatform. Что касается YouTube, переговоры с ним велись, но компания отказывается предоставлять информацию по этому вопросу.

Comcast планирует сделать Ziddio более профессиональным «кинематографическим» ресурсом, нежели складом контента. Оператор также ведёт переговоры с крупными телесетями, в частности, HBO Network, принадлежащей Time Warner.

(c) Cnews.Ru

Orange's 'high-definition' mobile TV

Orange will introduce improved image quality for its mobile TV services. This enhancement, called 'TV HD Mobile', will be launched in France this month. It is based on the combination of 250kbit/s streaming, MPEG4 encoding and QVGA screen resolution.

Only one compatible handset, the Samsung Z560, will be available when the service is launched. Orange will market compatible handsets with the 'TV HD mobile' label, as a guarantee of quality of service for the customer. The enhanced mobile TV service (which already provides access to around 50 channels) will cost €12/month for unlimited usage.

Comment: The term 'high-definition' may be a bit excessive but having seen a demo of this service on the Samsung device, we think this is a major improvement of video quality in comparison with current mobile TV over 3G services. Quality is very important in encouraging wide adoption and usage of TV and video services on mobile phones. The poor quality of services currently available affects much of the user experience for most live sport programmes, for example.

Mobile TV over the HSDPA network has the potential to provide similar quality to that of mobile TV over dedicated broadcast networks (DVB-H, MediaFLO, etc.). So from the user point of view the technology used for delivery may not be apparent - users would not know whether they are watching video over 3G or over DVB-H. For example, a user may subscribe to a single mobile TV and VoD service that uses broadcast delivery for some channels, 3G network delivery for other live TV channels and on-demand content, but with a consistent quality of service and user interface across all delivery technologies.

This 'high-definition' mobile TV service is the cornerstone of Orange's strategy for the launch of consumer HSDPA in the continued success of its early TV/video services (currently around 350,000 active users and 5m TV or VoD sessions per month). Orange also investigates different solutions for mobile broadcast (in particular DVB-H, Satellite DVB-H and TDtv). However, the 3G network will still play an important role in VoD, interactive services and also live TV: Orange already offers 50 live TV channels in its bouquet and only half of these can be carried over a DVB-H multiplex.

(c) Ovum

Technorati tags: mobile TV

Ovum Advises Caution on European Expectations for Mobile TV Advertising, DVB-H Investments

Ovum, the analyst and consulting company, recently released market research on mobile TV issues such as the role of advertising in mobile TV and the cost implications of deploying a DVB-H mobile broadcast network. According to Ovum, mobile TV is seen as having good potential because it is a service that should have mass appeal across the whole customer base, unlike many other content services.

There are some promising if not spectacular results from commercial mobile TV services: Orange France has reported 335,000 subscribers and Vodafone UK 200,000.

Although consumers say in trials that they are willing to pay for services, this should be treated with caution. For Ovum, it should be seen more as an expression that they see value in mobile TV, rather than hard proof that they will pay up in a commercial setting. "How much users are willing to pay is a make or break question," said Eden Zoller, Principal Analyst with Ovum's Consumer Practice. "If the answer is not much or nothing, then service providers will need to consider advertising-supported models."

Operators in the US have adopted this approach, but their European counterparts are far more cautious. From an advertiser's perspective, mobile TV is appealing but unproven. "Mobile TV is an attractive medium in terms of the targeting opportunities and reaching audiences that have fallen away from traditional TV," observed Zoller. "The flip side is that audiences - and precious impressions - are still small and impossible to guarantee."

Mobile TV also presents some significant technical challenges: cellular networks are not designed to deliver the same content simultaneously to a large number of mobile users. In contrast, a broadcast solution is one to many (i.e. multicast), which is a more efficient mechanism for the delivery of mass-market popular content, especially live content. This translates into a better utilisation of network resources and lower cost of delivery per user.

"Operators that are pushing mass-market, rich entertainment services will eventually need to consider a mobile broadcast solution, but the business case for a dedicated broadcast network for mobile TV is hard to stack up," says Vincent Poulbere, Senior Analyst in Ovum's Consumer Practice.

In a business case analysis for the deployment of a DVB-H mobile broadcast network in the preferred UHF spectrum, Ovum estimates that the cost of deployment in the UK would be euro 140 million. This is taking into account core service requirements which include, among other things, good indoor and wide-area coverage, and 25 channels including some audio.

To achieve a return on investment in around three years, a mobile broadcast service provider in the UK would need to ramp up a customer base of 1.7 million subscribers, each generating revenues of euro 10 per month. "This will be very hard to realise if several mobile broadcast networks are competing in the market and considering that user willingness to pay is still uncertain," observes Poulbere. "This once again underscores the importance of revenues beyond premium content, namely from advertising and value-added services such as interactive applications," concluded Zoller.

(c) Ovum

Technorati tags: mobile TV