Mobile TV

Friday, March 02, 2007

Modeo's TV Trials; Still Waiting For A Operator Partner

(c) MocoNews

Mobile-TV firm Modeo outlined details of the beta-test of its mobile TV service--covering 475 square miles in the New York metro area--at an event in NYC, on the same day at Verizon Wireless launched its mobile TV service rival technology from Qualcomm.
The beta version of the service features six channels, all from cable networks: CNBC, Discovery Channel, E! Entertainment Television, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports and MSNBC. Modeo president Mike Ramke said the company licensed more content than what it is including in the beta.

However, Modeo still lacks a partner to offer the service commercially, and it is desperately trying, but will be tough going with AT&T and Verizon locked up with MediaFlo. PC Mag has some bluster from Modeo about not needing carrier partners… the company has been saying for a while they'll go it alone if need be, and sell other DVB-H capable devices such as portable music players and laptops. In fact, Modeo suggests MediaFLO's success could actually help them in a backhanded sort of way..."[The market] is basically untapped except for a couple of [wireless] carriers," Ramke said. "Further, Verizon's and AT&T's decision to go with an outsourced mobile TV provider—even if it isn't Modeo—makes Modeo's similar business strategy look more appealing to potential partners," he said.

Also, the company announced that it has obtained a waiver from the FCC Monday, allowing it to increase the power limit at which it broadcasts its signal in the top 30 cell markets...that will allow Modeo to deliver service much more cost effectively

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First Look: Verizon V Cast Mobile TV AKA Qualcomm MediaFlo

(c) MocoNews

As luck would have it, I happen to be in one of the markets where Verizon V Cast Mobile TV is live. I actually contacted Verizon PR earlier this week, asking if the service was launching March 1 as I thought might be the case and I was fairly sure Seattle would be one of the first markets. No, I was told. No launch this week but still on track for first quarter. When I later called Verizon on that misdirection, I was told the company didn't consider this to be an actual launch. True, it's not a full rollout but going live in 20 markets with a service that's available for use pretty much constitutes a launch. Playing semantics with a straightforward query doesn't win any blue ribbons.

Verizon did scramble to make sure I had the TV-capable Samsung handset today, though, and so far the service lives up to its billing. In the past, I've only been able to try in controlled conditions or for a few minutes at a time. This time, it's on my terms.

Programming: A mix of current and the vault, much like cable or satellite but a far more limited set of channels. At 10 p.m. pst, tonight's episode of CSI on CBS is playing opposite an antique Lost in Space on Fox; the oddly hypnotic Avatar on Nick; True Life, MTV; Pardon the Interruption, ESPN (was on earlier during my driving test), South Park (followed by Sarah Silverman and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), Comedy Central; MSNBC; Real Housewives, NBC. CBS Mobile is promoting the chance to watch I Love Lucy, Star Trek and other golden oldies on the small screen. (I'm still trying to figure out how I wound up with David Letterman's Top 10 instead of the end of CSI.) Keep in mind, even when the programming is the same as the parent network, these are amalgams of existing nets for the most part. (When I got back to my room, the actual Letterman show was being simulcast on TV and mobile.)

Reception: I turned it on in Bellevue and left it running--no, I wasn't watching the video while driving--for a 40-minute drive over bridges, through tunnels and more. Whenever I was able to safely check, the video was clear; the audio was fine throughout. I had the small side antenna out as a Verizon rep suggested. I tried it without the antenna while sitting in the lobby of the W Hotel; no go. With the antenna, not a glitch or a drop.

Latency: Hardly noticeable delay between channels--well under two seconds.

Advertising: It's an illusion of sorts but, for some reason, ads seem longer to me on the handset than on a TV. I've seen ads for Progressive and others but far more promos for CBS Mobile and the like.

Why? I'm sitting downstairs in the hotel watching CSI on a tiny screen when I could be in my room watching on a much-larger flat-screen TV. When you have a real choice, odds are you're going for the large screen. But this is a high-quality option for place shifting as long as one of the limited channels is what you want. This is likely to be popular with travelers as long as battery life holds and coverage is wide enough. Will it have appeal for others? Quite possibly for anyone who spends significant time away from their home set and doesn't want to use Slingbox Mobile or other options--and who's willing to up their monthly viewing bill.

Upshot: Breaking news and entertainment but not really on my terms after all--no DVR option or VOD as part of this service. (Verizon VOD requires leaving the TV service.) What you see when you click is what you get.

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It's Official: Verizon Wireless Launches VCast Mobile TV Service

(c) MocoNews

Verizon's VCast Mobile TV is live in 20 select markets. Wireless Week has a detailed recap of the events leading up to the launch, including the programming content, pricing and the partnership with MediaFLO. Verizon is the first U.S. operator to launch mobile TV using MediaFLO's network. Verizon Wireless has launched its mobile broadcast TV solution using Qualcomm's MediaFLO service. As expected, Verizon is charging $15 a month for the service, and customers can get both the TV service and the Vcast service for $25 per month. Verizon will offer eight channels at launch--and RCR News notes there will be a limited plan of four channels for $13 a month, which doesn't seem like much of a discount over the full price. The service will also have parental controls using the normal TV rating system. Verizon doesn't plan any fanfare for the launch apparently, preferring to let customers discover it on their own.

--RCR News has a map of the markets where it is on offer: Chicago, Ill.; Denver and Colorado Springs, Col.; New Orleans, La.; Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; Seattle-Tacoma and Spokane, Wash.; Tucson, Ariz.; Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M.; Omaha-Lincoln, Neb.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Norfolk-Richmond, Va.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Palm Springs, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Wichita, Kan.; Las Vegas, Nev.; and Kansas City and St. Louis, Mo.

--Wireless Week has a list of the content providers: CBS, Comedy Central, ESPN, Fox, MTV, NBC News, NBC Entertainment, and Nickelodeon. "Programming content will differ based on the broadcaster and channel. Specifically, MTV is offering live simulcast programming that mirrors its regular TV channel. ESPN is broadcasting live college football and basketball games. And just in time for March Madness, Fox and CBS both plan to offer NCAA games. Besides sports, news and popular TV shows, Fox also is offering its most popular programs such as 24 and Prison Break time-shifted from their regular TV timeslots. Besides its own March Madness games, the CBS channel also is showing soap operas, which it will time-shift so viewers may catch up with their favorite serials outside the 9-to-5 timeframe. The NBC channel is simulcasting The Late Show with Jay Leno, Heroes and Friday Night Lights. MediaFLO has the capacity to increase the channel line-up to 20. Canadian Press has the titles of the channels: "CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go and Nickelodeon".

--Reuters writes that the first MediaFLO handset will be the Samsung U620, and "is being sold for $199, or $149.99 for customers who sign a two-year contract". RCR says the handset is being sold on the carriers website for $150 after a $50 online discount. Both sites note that a second phone from LG Electronics will be available in the coming weeks. It's not really surprising that the handsets are coming from South Korean vendors rather than bigger competitors like Nokia or Motorola.

--Reuters quotes Ovum analyst Roger Entner as saying that mobile video services have only attracted 7 million customers in the US (out of 232 million subscriptions) since being launched in 2004. "I think the impact in the beginning will be modest" since Verizon is rolling out the service gradually, said Entner. But he estimated that MediaFlo users could increase to 20 million to 30 million people within about 7 years."

--BusinessWeek has a general article on the competition in the mobile TV market, noting that AT&T plans to charge $15-20 a month for its upcoming service, and "analysts say that's higher than the mass market will bear". The article also cites Frost & Sullivan stating that, as mobile TV becomes standard on handsets, mobile TV profits should reach $1.5 billion annually by 2009.

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Соавторское телевидение

(c) КоммерсантЪ

Как стало известно Ъ, фонд прямых инвестиций "Квадрига Капитал Россия" приобрел у Анатолия Малкина и Киры Прошутинской контрольной пакет акций ЗАО "АТВ Продакшн", производящего телепрограммы. Сделка оценивается в $30 млн. Это первый случай прихода финансового инвестора на рынок телепрограмм, чей объем достиг $900 млн в год. Эксперты говорят о начале стремительной консолидации этого сегмента телевизионного рынка.

Контрольный пакет акций ЗАО "АТВ Продакшн" ("Авторское телевидение") "Квадрига Капитал Россия" приобрела в результате допэмиссии акций ЗАО, сообщили в фонде. Миноритарный пакет остался у прежних владельцев компании – создателей АТВ Анатолия Малкина и Киры Прошутинской. Сделка была закрыта в начале 2007 года. Сумму сделки стороны не разглашают. Эксперты оценивают оборот АТВ за 2006 год в $25 млн и при оценке стоимости компаний этого сектора применяют коэффициент от 1,5 до 3 к обороту в зависимости от доли рынка и библиотеки. По их мнению, с учетом премии за контроль "Квадрига" заплатила $30 млн. По информации Ъ, в сделку не вошло здание в Казачьем переулке в Москве, принадлежащее акционерам АТВ.

"Все деньги будут направлены на развитие компании,– уточнила вчера представитель 'Квадриги' Алена Осипова.– В частности, на приобретение оборудования для производства в цифровом формате, на создание собственной продукции (не под конкретные заказы телеканалов, а для самостоятельной продажи прав.– Ъ), а также на приобретение западных форматов". Интерес фонда к продакшн-компании, по ее словам, связан с тем, что в общем объеме российского медиарынка доля телевидения постоянно увеличивается, но основные активы этого рынка – телеканалы, очень дороги: "Фонды прямых инвестиций обычно вкладывают в проекты около $25 млн. На эти деньги можно купить только очень маленькую долю телеканала, не дающую возможности влиять на бизнес. Поэтому логично покупать сервисные телекомпании". Однако основной причиной покупки в "Квадриге" называют стремительный рост спроса на контент из-за развития цифрового и кабельного телевидения. "Чтобы сейчас сохранить и увеличить долю на рынке, нужны финансовые вливания 'на перспективу', собственных средств хватает лишь на текущее производство",– объясняет причины привлечения финансового партнера гендиректор АТВ Андрей Прошутинский.

"АТВ Продакшн" – один из ведущих независимых производителей телевизионных программ ("Времечко", "Старая квартира", "Дежурный по стране", "В поисках утраченного" и других), сериалов ("Таксистка", "Дневник убийцы") и документальных фильмов. У компании есть четыре студии в принадлежащем ее создателям здании в Казачьем переулке, библиотека АТВ превышает 10 тыс. часов телепродукции.
"Квадрига Капитал Россия" – немецкая управляющая компания с главным офисом во Франкфурте-на-Майне, активно работает в России с 1995 года. В 2006 году "Квадрига" привлекла средства для создания нового Фонда прямых инвестиций, инвесторами которого выступили ЕБРР, Международная финансовая корпорация (МФК), фонд 3i и некоторые другие организации и частные лица. Общий капитал фонда – $136 млн, которые предполагается вложить в малые и средние российские предприятия.

АТВ не первая продакшн-компания, крупный пакет которой приобрел Фонд прямых инвестиций. В марте 2002 года фонд Mint Capital приобрел блокирующий пакет акций "2В Студия", а в январе 2005 года управляющий активами Леонида Блаватника компания Access Industries Holdings заплатила $45 млн за пакеты акций в компаниях группы "Амедиа" (сейчас ей принадлежит консолидированный контроль в ГК). Однако, отмечают эксперты, основу бизнеса и "2В", и "Амедиа" составляют телевизионные сериалы, в то время как АТВ специализируется на телевизионных программах. "Покупка АТВ фондом прямых инвестиций – первый случай прихода независимых финансовых инвесторов на рынок телепрограмм,– говорит директор по связям с общественностью 'Феникс Фильм' Анастасия Глинская.– До сих пор он оставался более сегментированным, чем рынок сериалов, его игроки были мельче". Объемы этих рынков, между тем, сопоставимы: по оценкам экспертов, на сериалы телеканалы тратят не более 1 млрд, а на телепрограммы – около $900 млн. Однако на долю независимых, неаффилированных с телеканалами производителей сериалов приходится 40% рынка, а на долю производителей телепрограмм – всего 20%.

Выход инвестиционного фонда на рынок телепрограмм означает начало процесса консолидации этого сегмента и укрупнения компаний, работающих в нем, считает президент "Амедиа" Александр Акопов: "Консолидация может идти не только за счет приобретения более мелких игроков более крупными, но и за счет перекупки сотрудников или даже целых проектов с командами". С тем, что время небольших производителей телепрограмм уходит, соглашаются и сами финансовые инвесторы, признаваясь, что хотят сыграть на неизбежности консолидации этого рынка. Представитель Mint Capital Владимир Залужский называет две причины этого процесса: "Из-за растущей конкуренции между телеканалами требуется все более высокое качество продукции, которое можно обеспечить, только обладая серьезными ресурсами. Кроме того, большим каналам удобнее работать с крупными поставщиками контента – так надежнее".

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Skype petitions FCC for open cellular access

(c) Cnet.Com
By Marguerite Reardon

Skype petitioned the Federal Communications Commission earlier this week to force U.S. mobile operators to loosen controls on what kinds of hardware and software can be connected to their networks.

In a document dated February 20, Skype asked the FCC to apply to the wireless industry what is known as the "Carterfone" rules, which would allow consumers to use devices and software of their choice on cell phone networks.

Skype's motivations are clear. The company has created software that allows people to make free phone calls across the Internet. And now it wants users who access the Internet via a mobile device to be able to use their software and services, too.

"We want to allow our users to use the Skype software where ever they are," said Christopher Libertelli, senior director of government and regulatory affairs for Skype. "And we want to make sure the policy is set in the right direction so that when Skype users want to use it on mobile devices, they'll be able to."

The "Carterfone" rules, which were enacted in 1968 during the old AT&T's monopoly of the phone industry, allow consumers to hook any device up to the phone network, so long as it did not harm the network. Prior to these rules, AT&T provided all telephones and devices connected to the telephone network, and it routinely sued companies that sold unauthorized products that could attach to the network.

The rules helped spur new innovations, such as the fax machine and Internet modem. In more recent times, the principle has been extended to other communication networks, such as cable modem and DSL. This has paved the way for companies such as Linksys to sell wireless routers.

But the principle has not been applied to cellular networks. As a result, the market has evolved into one that is heavily controlled by carriers. They dictate which phones are used on their networks, what content users can access, and which applications can run on phones. Some have even included specific terms in their service contracts that prevent customers from downloading and using software from Skype on their networks.

Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia University, published a report earlier this month also arguing the "Carterfone" rules should apply to the cellular industry, because otherwise carriers exert too much influence on the design of the devices and the applications that run on them.

"They have used (their) power to force equipment developers to omit or cripple many consumer-friendly features," he writes. "Carriers have also forced manufacturers to include technologies, like 'walled garden' Internet access, that neither equipment developers nor consumers want. Finally, through under-disclosed 'phone-locking', the U.S. carriers disable the ability of phones to work on more than one network."

Not surprisingly, the cell phone industry's trade organization, CTIA, doesn't agree with Skype or Wu that regulations are needed.

"Skype's self-interested filing contains glaring legal flaws and a complete disregard for the vast consumer benefits provided by the competitive marketplace," Steve Largent, chief executive of the CTIA, said in a statement. "The call for imposing monopoly era Carterfone rules to today's vibrant market is unmistakably the wrong number."

But some experts believe that with or without regulation, the days of carriers controlling the customer experience on mobile phones are slowly coming to an end. Already consumers with smart phones running Windows Mobile can download the Skype client, even if the operator forbids it.

"At the end of the day, bits are bits in the Internet," said Dave Passmore, a research director at the Burton Group. "So Verizon or anyone else who wants to tell someone they can't download a VoIP client onto their phone from the Internet is going to have a very hard time enforcing it."