Digital Lifescapes

The global IPTV market will grow to $49 billion in service revenues and 113 million subscribers in 2015 -- as multiscreen video usage drives wireless services to new highs. According to the latest market study by MRG , systems revenue for the seven key IPTV products analyzed will grow to $4.8 billion in 2015, with set-top boxes (STB) representing about 60 percent. As consumers add Wi-Fi for using smart devices within their homes, market growth continues largely due to trends toward the mobile lifestyle habits of 18-55-year-olds. Based on semiannual updates of major global Operators and their differentiating services and updated subscriber counts, Europe remains ahead of Asia by 2015 in IPTV subscribers -- partially due to continued regulatory confusion in Asia. By 2015 worldwide, at least 25 IPTV Operators will have over 1 million subscribers, with 9 having over 3 million, the U.S. having 2 Operators with over 7.5 million each and Europe having 12 IPTV Operators wit...

Thousands of TV programs currently compete for "passive consumer" audiences. With such a huge range of traditional linear TV content, the electronic program guide (EPG) is being promoted as a viable solution -- according to the latest market study by Screen Digest and consulting firm Goldmedia. It's estimated that 59 million households in Western Europe were equipped with EPGs at the end of 2008 -- a penetration of 36 percent of all TV households. This number will grow 19 percent yearly between 2008 and 2014 so that nearly three quarters of all TV households will have access to EPGs in 2014. The analysts report has identified about 300 EPGs on the different platforms in Western Europe. These include EPGs in set-top boxes from pay-TV and infrastructure providers, online EPGs from TV guide magazines, TV platform providers, online providers and mobile EPGs. The research results indicate that market volumes from direct revenues in Western Europe will triple by 2014. Direct E...

The TV 2.0 adoption process is in full motion, and announcements planned for the upcoming CES will further accelerate this phenomenon. We're moving beyond the early-adopter stage of market development, as the connection options and user interface for viewing Internet Video on new TV sets is further simplified. Meanwhile, the U.S. broadband households that are viewing premium online content -- including movies and TV shows via the public Internet -- doubled in the last year, according to the latest market study by Parks Associates . Currently, it's estimated that over 25 million U.S. broadband households regularly watch full-length TV shows online, while over 20 million watch movies online. Parks reports that the growing popularity of online portals -- such as Hulu.com -- shows rapid growth in the number of viewers who use the Internet to watch long-tail and premium content. This shift highlights the opportunity for service providers to extend their current pay-TV and video-on-d...

The Diffusion Group (TDG) has studied a wide variety of widget-based Internet TV applications. TDG's new report "Widgets Gone Wild - Separating Killer Apps from Losers in the Age of Web TV" offers new perspective on this emerging market. "To date, it has been impossible to introduce Internet applications into the TV environment and make them stick," notes Michael Greeson, TDG founding partner and report author. "There are a number of culprits involved, ranging from the lack of network-capable TVs and poorly conceived user interfaces, to a genuine lack of consumer interest in the applications offered." However, a forwarding looking view of the market opportunity paints a very different picture. Colin Dixon, TDG senior partner and a former member of the Microsoft Web TV team, argues that the age of Internet TV is only now beginning in earnest, having been touted prematurely nearly a decade ago, long before technology and consumer vectors were in alignme...

The typical user experience for pay-TV services hasn't changed much over the years. That's all about to change, thanks to much needed innovation from OTT providers. Next-generation Interactive Program Guides (IPG) are finally emerging that help all consumers navigate through a proliferation of video content. As Internet Content and User Generated Content (UGC) migrate onto TVs and other video-capable devices, IPGs are transforming into Content and Service Discovery Guides (CSDGs), according to the latest market study by In-Stat . Consumers are embracing a growing array of video options. Consumers demand their choice of display device, content, timing and location. Visionary companies are offering content discovery tools to meet these needs and enable service providers and device manufacturers to offer the best end-user experience. Two years ago I described my own interpretation of a TV 2.0 user experience . But, the progress has been painfully slow because the incumbents previo...

A consortium of European TV industry leaders announced "Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV" (HbbTV), a major new pan-European initiative aimed at combining the broadcast and broadband delivery of news, information and entertainment to the end consumer through TVs and set-top boxes with a Web connection. The cross industry consortium includes broadcasters Canal+, France Televisions, and TF1, German research institute Institut für Rundfunktechnik, satellite operator SES ASTRA, as well as the software and media solutions providers ANT and OpenTV. The HbbTV specification was developed by industry leaders to effectively manage the rapidly increasing amount of available content targeted at today's end consumer. It is based on elements of existing standards and web technologies including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB and W3C. HbbTV products and services will provide the consumer with a seamless entertainment experience with the combined richness of broadcast and broadband. This e...