Now, we’ve all complained about tradeshows – they are costly, require a large amount of company resources to make them successful and can be murder if you don’t have the right footwear.

But at the end of the day, it provides us with a great opportunity to meet with customers, partners and prospects and have meaningful conversations about their conditional access and content security plans. In speaking with service providers – cable, satellite, IPTV – we have picked up on a major theme. They are all contemplating landmark updates to their network to improve their competitive profile, capture additional revenue or simply better serve current subscribers.

More specifically, we are seeing four main trigger points for operators to transition their network and upgrade their content security platform.

• Analog-to-digital transition
• Digital cable-to-IPTV migration
• Cable switch-out to all IP
• Hybrid digital terrestrial/IPTV
• The adoption of IP for video delivery of satellite

Fortunately for us, these transition scenarios take advantage of proven IP-based standards and technologies. It also reinforces our position that eventually all pay-TV networks will be categorized as simply digital TV. Two-way interactivity of IP will underpin almost every aspect regardless if it is a telco TV network or a hybrid satellite/broadband combination. 

Based on strategy sessions with customers, we have identified a unique set of complex issues operators need to consider when upgrading their content security. Namely, they need to make decisions around their long-term “revenue security” strategy.

 Our team has developed a white paper that explores these issues and provides common migration approaches that can be downloaded from our site, “New Content Security Strategies Transform Pay-TV Service Migration: What Operators Should Consider when Upgrading their Networks.”

We have received positive feedback on the paper so far. Please let us know what you think.

And we’ll see you at our next tradeshows: Philippines Cable Television Show (Mar 16-19), IPTV World Forum in London (Mar 23-25) and Convergence India (Mar 23-25), with comfy shoes! 

It would seem that it’s about time that someone called Adobe’s bluff here! This might be construed as a clash of CEO personalities, a Silicon Valley technology tiff or simply good PR tactics, but I sense something more profound at work. Why should a single proprietary video codec, file format and delivery protocol become the de-facto delivery standard for OTT services?

Doesn’t this go against every other basic tenet of  standards use in web publishing? And doesn’t it fundamentally limit the ecosystems that help to monetize video in every other delivery system globally? H.264 video is the acknowledged open standard – yes backed by Apple, but also by every other vendor in the video world. Even Microsoft is on board now after trying to bend the world to their own video codec and file standards.

We should not confuse Flash video with Flash as a presentation engine. Lets face it – if you want to use Flash as an authoring system for animated web pages – good luck. It’s obviously found a niche there. But please don’t try and pass it off as the salvation of Internet video delivery.

As one of the more future looking alternatives, Apple’s HTTP adaptive video treaming proposal provides video monetization options that doesn’t lock us into siloed Flash delivery systems. It enables the use of best of breed hardware and software subsystems woven into the fabric of the web that lies behind HTML 5. And as we can see the iPad (and perhaps its imitators) being the preeminent non-TV video device in the home of the next few years. That’s probably a good thing for the video industry as a whole.

Am I overstating the issues here? Please share your thoughts.

And for more insights into HTTP streaming and its effect on OTT video delivery, please download our white paper, Adaptive Rate Streaming: Pay-TV at an Inflection Point.

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.  We are seeing competing standards from organizations like CEA and SMPTE, plus the announcements from Panasonic about displaying 3D TV images at 1080p along with a Blu-ray disc player supporting the same resolution. The standards battles that are upon us will surely slow down development.  Peter White of Rethink Researchwrote a great piece on the topic in the latest Faultline, 3D’s cold shower – 3D Standards merely sub-standard. Check it out. 

Speaking of Blu-ray players . . . one thing that struck me at CES was that the most promoted feature of new Blu-ray players has nothing to do with playing Blu-ray discs!  Instead, there seems to be a race to collect box-top logos for internet delivered video services like Netflix. 

Since Blu-ray is all about the quality of the picture and streaming video is all about easy and direct access to content, it will be interesting to see how consumers choose.  If convenience trumps quality, it could be fatal for Blu-ray discs. Do you agree? 

Please come visit us at CSTB 2010in Moscow, Feb. 2-4.  Our very own Steve Oetegenn will be presenting on, “Emerging Delivery Technologies that Can Enhance your Business Model.”

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.

While some of these operators are rebroadcasting signals illegally, legitimate operators have the opportunity to enhance the subscriber experience with better quality and better selections of content. Asian operators have a special opportunity to service migrant populations and communities of temporary workers.

To reinforce another point in the article, Asia represents a lucrative market for content security providers. Cost is clearly an issue in this often low ARPU region; however technology and rising awareness of service theft are changing security dynamics. Operators upgrading to digital have a more compelling desire to protect their programming assets, and more advanced layered security approaches are making revenue protection way more cost effective.

Software-based content security is catching the attention of operators that are weary of the millions of cloned smart cards in the region. Software provides the flexibility to stay ahead of the hackers with renewable security and layered techniques like watermarking or fingerprinting. Even legacy smart card vendors are getting serious about software-based security.

We are certainly excited about the opportunities in Asia as hybrid networks, enabled by IP technologies, are on the agenda of most major operators.

Read Mark’s article where he breaks out some figures on piracy type and estimated costs per country.

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!

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.

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. They felt they had more control with fixed networks where the end device was a set-top box, so the threat of theft of service was potentially lower. In addition, content owners saw the emerging Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) as a potential threat and imposed much higher security requirements in order to gain rights to premium programming. Despite claims to the contrary from smart card vendors, software-based security was deemed acceptable in a two-way network and content protection was key to a full channel lineup to attract subscribers.

With the appeal of hybrid networks and novel OTT (over-the-top) services, all types of pay-TV operators find themselves in new revenue security territory. Cable and satellite providers are making strategic decisions to add more interactive services, many of which are delivered over IP-based networks. They are finding that software-only security solutions offer a more economical alternative, which are far easier to deploy, compared with smart cards that simply do not translate in the two-way environment, in particular in the case of mobile devices. 

IPTV providers are now looking into OTT services that deliver content outside their controlled, managed network. They need layered security solutions to take advantage of different delivery mechanisms outside of the living room. Plus IPTV operators with rights to exclusive content have become an attractive target for hackers, so theft of service prevention is a higher priority.

You can now put revenue security on the list of how these pay-TV services are converging. Operators require a flexible protection solution that can handle different networks, delivery formats, multiple end devices and the addition of new services – the ultimate goal is help monetize content, increase ARPU and reduce churn.

Come see me at Digital Hollywood Fall where we will tackle the latest DRM standards and actual technology implementations – today at 12:30!

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 . . .