You didn’t have to look very hard to see that the biggest thing at CES this year was continued buzz about 3D TV. From my standpoint, it seems the equipment manufacturers are ahead of the rest of the ecosystem to make this a mainstream reality.

For one, there is very little 3D content and little commitment to produce more. I heard a statistic that I can’t prove, but sounds about right: there is a total of 120 hours of 3D television programming in the world. And one reason that Hollywood is willing to invest so much in experiences like Avatar is to bring new life to the theater release window. In other words, to make 3D an experience you won’t have at home. It seems logical for them to hang on to that distinctive advantage as long as possible before making the same content available at home.

And of course, there are a lot of people who just got “spousal approval” for an HD flat screen and they aren’t likely to head back to Costco for a replacement technology any time soon. 

Is seems like there is at least a possibility of a HD-DVD vs. BluRay style overhang in 3D technology as well.  (more…)

Mark Holmes of ViaSatellite recently tackled the latest issues around content piracy and theft of service in Asia. While analog cable systems are the biggest target for piracy, satellite pay-TV operators are certainly feeling the impact of service theft. Quoting the deputy CEO of CASBAA, “The nature of the satellite business is that it doesn’t respect national boarders, so one broken satellite system in one market can impact markets around it.” 

Without dwelling on the negative impression given by statistics, Mark underscored the promise of a more comprehensive transition to digital distribution where operators across the region can recapture a significant revenue base. The potential is even more dramatic when the new opportunity for Internet distribution makes content available to those subscribers who live away from their home country.

This hits a trend that we’ve been observing– Internet video is completely changing the way expats consume pay TV. Operators see an opportunity to broadcast local programming to expats all over the world. As you can imagine, this is both a huge revenue opportunity and potentially a devastating piracy challenge. (more…)

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I can’t help but draw a parallel between the jaw-dropping architecture that characterizes the Dubai skyline and the TV systems of the near future contemplated by some of the region’s more ambitious pay-TV operators.  The IPTV World Forum meeting here this week helped to label the Middle East and Africa as potentially one of the most dynamic markets in the world.  But at the same time as the skyscrapers gleam and sparkle in the sun, the city is very much still a construction zone at street level with sidewalks and metro system alike having a distinctly work-in-progress feel. And that’s the way our industry seems at times – lofty vision with a lot of details left TBD.

But even as we trip over the potholes, perhaps it’s important to focus on the positives, which is truly important for a company like ours that stands to gain so much from the dramatic moves towards an IP infrastructure for our information and entertainment content. Luckily the show was filled with senior-level execs who were conducting due diligence in order to make some major decisions as they build their pay-TV platforms.

Let’s see at next year’s show whether those potholes get filled in.

Euro50

Our warmest congratulations goes to Per-Ola Wester of TeliaSonera for his place on the Euro50 list by Digital TV Europe. Per-Ola has been an instrumental leader of the hugely successful IPTV system deployment at TeliaSonera. He has also been shortlisted for the “Technology Leader” of the year award.

TeliaSonera is a notable customer for Verimatrix not only due to the highly effective technology integration that it represents, but also its expertly managed commercial growth. It is a service that now ranks amongst the  top tier of the industry and shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, concepts that Per-Ola and his team are exploring are likely to lead the way in demonstrating how the pay-TV world can expand its frontiers and deliver a truly compelling consumer experience.

Congratulations are also due to our close partners in this endeavour including Motorola, Tandberg and Edgeware.

The awards will be presented in London at the Euro50 Awards Dinner on November 17th during  the Digital TV World Summit. Stay tuned . . .

UPDATE: Per-Ola was in fact selected as the Technology Leader at the Euro50 Awards ceremony. We strongly feel that concepts Per-Ola and his team are exploring at TeliaSonera are likely to lead the way in demonstrating how the pay-TV world can expand its frontiers and deliver a truly compelling consumer experience. 

Congratulations!

My compliments to Andrew Glasspool and his colleagues at Farncombe Technologies for two important, closely argued white papers published this year that are barometers of the changing times we live in.

Their most recent paper, published this  week, on the Common Scrambling Algorithm (CSA) mandate that many pay-TV deployments must accommodate illustrates very succinctly how technical decisions that once were wholly supportable now hobble the transition of traditional pay-TV players to the new competitive world. My only misgiving here is for any sense in which the specifics of this issue might reflect on the reputation as a whole of the DVB. The guidance of the DVB and its contributors has been instrumental  to organize and commercialize digital pay-TV around the globe, and continues to do so. 

The timely critique of a single technical standard should only be a cause to celebrate open debate – and legacy CA players who rush to the defense of this particularly sacred cow should see it as such. Rather, like scientists who see a grand theory smashed on the rocks of experimental evidence, we should recognize that the changing landscape does require a new assessment of the relevance of certain standards and grasp the challenge that this brings.

Traditional pay-TV operators have always been highly focused on revenue security by way of theft of service prevention – for two main reasons. Subscriber fees are obviously a significant revenue source and piracy through theft of service is very prevalent, particularly in certain markets (See CASBAA for country-specific piracy rates). Smart cards were really the only solution available back in the one-way broadcast days and content protection was certainly a secondary objective. 

Compare that with IPTV operators. In the early days, theft of service was never a forefront requirement when building their networks – for two main reasons. (more…)

At the recent Television 3.0 conference in Los Angeles, I was pleased to find some fresh and interesting perspectives on mobile TV from execs at CBS Interactive and their mobile TV partner Transpera.

They set out to dispel some commonly held “truths” regarding behavior on consuming mobile TV based on current research.  For me, it added up to the fact that people are using mobile devices to extend their normal viewing habits, around and outside the home.

With the advanced user interface and intelligence of latest generation smart phones, consumers are quite happy to watch full length sitcoms and even movies. Low-quality YouTube clips and mobisodes are not the killer apps that were previously envisioned for mobile TV.

As mobile TV becomes more mainstream, it is important for the content owners and services providers to create the right mix of usage rights and protection on higher value content. As we all know, getting the right balance of protecting assets and meeting customer expectations can be precarious.

I was happy there was at least one bright spot in a rather underwhelming conference . . .

Seems that I wasn’t persuasive enough in my discussions at IBC 2009 with Ben Schwarz at VideoNet where we talked about extending pay-TV models into Internet delivery. Overall, I’m happy to be described as living in an alternate reality where sites like today’s Hulu do not represent the entire future of video services. I hope that I can offer a view about broad choices in video entertainment sources and business approaches, even where these contrast with the fashionable view of the future where everything will be “free”.  

An alternate reality like this might well be considered alongside  those of recent times in which house prices don’t go on rising without limit, Iraq had no hidden nerve gas or nuclear weapons and revenue-free Internet companies were unworthy of billion dollar IPOs. What would a content security company be doing if it did not help its customers extend their businesses and find ways to monetize OTT? Follow the herd, avoid the issue and jump into the middleware quagmire?

I am happy to continue this relevant industry discussion.

I got a warm reception this week at the STB 2009 conference in San Jose where many speakers were presenting on the convergence between pay-TV and Internet delivery channels. Also see Jeff Vinson’s blog write up. On the topic how to live in a multi-DRM world, I presented it as a challenge from both a technical and a business perspective. As our friends in the DECE like to say, how would it seem if DVDs you bought from WalMart only worked in DVD players from WalMart – you probably wouldn’t be very happy to only have this restricted option. But this is the  issue that we see with much of the online video distribution today – different vertical silos have been erected for purchase and playback in pay-TV systems, online stores and portable players.

It can be argued that the business challenge is even greater than the technical one. Even if the same file format is offered, the synchronization of rights from one silo to another simply does not exist. Verimatrix is offering an approach (MultiRights) that can help harmonize rights between DRM systems operating under a single operator umbrella, but its going to take broader cooperation to solve the silo to silo communication issues.

We continue to work this axis, believing that the health of the overall industry – and an effective defense against illegitimate distribution channels – is to be found in a simplified and effective legal sales environment.