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June 30, 2005
HBO scoops itself on VOD
Select quotes about its new series called Rome from Broadcasting & Cable, 6/29/2005:
"... HBO has moved the epic drama's premiere date up from September to Aug. 28 ... The move will enable the show to debut closer to a free [VOD] preview the network is offering the following weekend. The preview will include Rome’s first three episodes on HBO On Demand for all digital-cable customers."
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"As a result of the scheduling change, episode three will be available on demand before it runs on the linear network – a first for HBO. The preview weekend is Sept. 3-7; episode three debuts on the linear network Sept. 11."
HBO invested a whopping $100 million in the 12-episode season of Rome, a co-production with the BBC. The network says this campaign for viewers is the largest it has done around a new series.
To woo subs, the premium network regularly offers free preview weekends, although it does not usually schedule new show premieres to coincide with the freebies.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 01:02 PM | Comments (233) | TrackBackAdpocalype Now
Here is another example of how advertising works its way into video no matter what the medium happens to be.
At www.moviefone.com/shorts, visitors can view and rate short films. I think that initially there are 13, but more are planned because Moviefone is putting out a general call for submissions to a “summer short film contest.” They include several comedies previously seen only at major offline film festivals like Sundance and Tribeca.
America Online has struck a deal with Ford's Mercury Milan to sponsor all of the short films for at least the next 12 months. Its placements will include branding for its Milan sedan on AOL's media player, a :15 pre-roll video ad, and other executions throughout the AOL Network.
It appears that everyone gets what they want. Amateur, up-and-coming, and established filmmakers get a shot at connecting with a wider audience. Moviefone builds a community at their site and receives some revenue. AOL’s portal gets a fresh supply of video ad inventory that they can cross-sell with their other inventory. In a ROI-driven marketing context, Ford Motor Company can target young and independent consumers who are seeking something different. Presumably, John-Q public gets free access to video content that might not otherwise be seen.
I love the sight of video on the Internet – it looks like capitalism.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 12:37 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBackJune 27, 2005
NFL Nets VOD Sponsors
(excerpted from the 6/27/05 edition of Multichannel News)
NFL Network has signed up a pair of national sponsors — to be named in July — for its video-on-demand highlights packages, and continues to discuss means for cable operators to get involved on the local level. NFL Replay provides 10-minute highlights of each weekends games, up to 16 per week. NFL Blitz features a variety of bests — as in catches or tackles — over 30 minutes.
There has been plenty of back and forth with Comcast Corp., the nation's largest MSO and foremost VOD proponent, about local-sponsorship deals, said Shaw. Local VOD insertion could be driven from the Comcast Media Center in Denver.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 09:14 AM | Comments (19) | TrackBackJune 22, 2005
CNN's Internet of Video
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There is a significant difference between Internet Television and IPTV. In the Internet of Television approach the publisher has a direct communication channel to the viewer. Here is another example of that from a traditional television network -- CNN.
CNN.com provides users with free access to CNN's video content from top news stories of the day. Video clips are made available across 14 categories, including Top Stories, US, World, Politics, Business, Sports, and Entertainment. CNN also produces a two-minute, Web-only hourly news update, anchored by Web-exclusive hosts.
Videos are now shown in wide-screen format on a newly redesigned media player. That player incorporates an "ad curtain" to show a persistent 728x90 leaderboard banner across the bottom of the player, which generally coincides with the :15 or :30 pre-roll video ad.
The media player lets users search for videos from the last seven days by keyword or topic, as well as browse videos by headline, news category, time of publication or popularity.
CNN.com is planning to launch a premium video news service in the fall with multiple live video streams, access to CNN's video archives and other user-customized options.
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What is the difference between Internet Television and IPTV? |
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Read the Mike Quigley article about IPTV. |
June 21, 2005
Timely Disaster Advice -- Plus VOD Ads
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(excerpted from the 6/20/05 edition of Multichannel News)
Hurricane season is blowing new local ad-sales revenue to several Comcast Corp. systems. They’re collecting money from advertisers in exchange for letting them provide subscribers with on-demand advice on how to prepare for the storms.
Earlier this month, Comcast systems in the hurricane belt added a “Hurricane On Demand” section to their free video-on-demand offerings. The clips, which run from 90 seconds to four minutes, range from a car dealer giving tips on how to prepare for an evacuation to homebuilders discussing how to rebuild if a major storm destroys dwellings.
Also among the national advertisers: State Farm Insurance and Ryland Homes.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 08:56 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBackJune 18, 2005
Verizon vs. New Jersey
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Verizon and SBC have suffered some legal setbacks recently in their quest to implement IPTV as an alternative to cable television.
In an article entitled "Verizon Will Try New Strategy To Advance Its Television Plans," the Wall Street Journal explains that Verizon is now seeking a state-wide carriage solution in New Jersey. It is offering to pay the state's municipalities higher franchise fees in exchange for statewide approval. Verizon is the largest phone company in New Jersey.
[Some] "New Jersey lawmakers ... [will] introduce Verizon-backed legislation this year. Under the proposal, a company seeking to offer TV service would need approval just from the state Board of Public Utilities. Companies getting statewide approval would pay municipalities higher fees ... 3% of annual television revenues, rather than 2%."
Verizon failed to get similar measures in Texas and Virginia passed. Neither of those attempts had the fee increase in them. Verizon officials say they have incorporated lessons from those defeats.
Now, this is what I don't understand about the Telcos' business strategy: why would you pump billions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades, announce that you were going to be in the television business, and only then wake up to the regulatory game? I have never known a local governmental body that wants to voluntarily reqlinquish either power or authority. Also, the cable companies have every reason in the world to hamstring a new entrant with the same regulations that they have suffered through for decades.
So, why did Verizon think they could just waltz in and offer television service with no hastles again? It seems to me that while they are in the early stages of defining their competitiveevision offering, they had better get smarter business executives in place in their IPTV division and pronto.
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I questioned SBC's strategy of testing IPTV in Texas a while ago. Read that critique. |
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Broadcasting & Cable has an article about what happens when competition outpaces regulation. |
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Verizon has a good team in place signing up television networks. Read about their NBC deal. |
UPDATE:
“Their big objection to complying with existing franchise deals is the market-wide buildout requirement,” says Paul Gallant, media-policy analyst for Stanford Washington Research Group.Posted by Martino Mingione at 08:27 AM | Comments (149) | TrackBack
June 14, 2005
Media Concentration
I suspect that after television converts to an "on-demand" environment and advertisers perfect new ways of using that medium, we undoubtedly will see media concentrations like what has already happened on the Internet.
The above chart comes from the IAB's 2004 report. It shows what Internet marketers have known for a long time -- that the top 10 Internet media companies have consistantly harvested over 71% of all Internet ad revenue for quite some time. The top 50 companies earn over 94%!
Those media companies who repeat this feat in VOD should be good investments. As they become known, I will make sure to report on them here.
June 13, 2005
When Will Popular TV Shows be Available On-Demand?
Video on Demand advocates highlight consumer satisfaction when discussing VOD's bright future. Rarely do they point out that the most popular shows on television cannot be seen on-demand unless you record it to your DVR first. The only two alternatives are to wait for DVD releases or use a BitTorrent client to download it to your PC.
Sure, you can get HBO or Showtime on demand today, but only if you already subscribe to those packages through your cable television provider. Other than that VOD is a collection of low-demand items.
Despite that handicap, Comcast alone is expected to serve up over 1 Billion VOD streams in 2005. Sounds impressive, but consider this:
• Comcast refuses to pay directly for content and other operators feel the same way. With cable bills at an all-time high and satellite picking off price-conscious subscribers, cable operators say “We paid for this content on linear channels, and we won’t pay extra for on-demand rights.”
• Comcast has made on-demand rights part of its negotiations with networks. For example, the cable operator secured on-demand football highlights and out-of-market games in exchange for carriage of the NFL network. But without direct payments, the more popular a TV program is, the less likely it is to appear on VOD.
| "For the really good stuff that is on the sidelines to get onto the platform, there has to be an economic model that works." |
| Source: David Zaslav, President, cable division at NBC Universal |
| "Comcast is at loggerheads with networks and others who own some of the most popular television programming." |
| Source: The Wall Street Journal, 1/27/2005 |
| "[Les] Moonves would like to be selling previously-aired episodes of CSI at $1 per viewing.” Asked about CBS’ experience with Comcast’s VOD venture, Moonves says that “the results are really rather inconclusive.." |
| Source: Broadcasting & Cable, 6/6/2005 |
| "We don't want the consumer to have to subscribe to six different on-demand services. The Internet took off because it was largely free... If you had to pay per click, I don't think the explosion of consumer usage would have occurred” |
| Source: Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast |
| “One sticking point with [talks about VOD program distribution is with] cable systems operator Comcast [is] the issue of how content providers would be compensated. Comcast envisions VOD essentially as a free service for its subscribers.” |
| Source: Bob Iger, CEO of Disney in AdAge Magazine, 6/8/2005 |
In the long-run VOD advocates will be proven correct. But in the long run we are all dead, too. So, when does it happen? Answer that question and you know when traditional television rules die.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 07:11 AM | Comments (22) | TrackBackJune 10, 2005
SeaChange launches Multiverse
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SeaChange International has been going gangbusters recently with the number of its press releases and announced partnerships. InformITV points out that at the Supercomm show in Chicago, SeaChange launched its Multiverse software platform. It is designed to enable broadband network operators to create video services across TVs, PCs and mobile devices.
For those of you who don't already know, SeaChange has almost 80% of the digital ad inserter market in the U.S., and the market share leadership for cable VOD servers.
The SeaChange Multiverse Suite enables broadband operators to package, promote and administer on-demand and broadcast video applications to any IP-connected device. SeaChange also offers several fully integrated on-demand applications for Multiverse, including time-shifted TV, games, and DVD-on-demand.
Several telcos around the world are apparently are evaluating the system as they prepare for commercial broadband video deployments.
“Multiverse simplifies video for broadband operators so they can begin to bring exciting and useful applications to subscribers wherever they are,” said Yvette Kanouff, the corporate vice president of strategic planning at SeaChange.
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SeaChange introduces VOD Advertising Solution. |
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Check SEAC's latest financial results. |
June 09, 2005
Disney believes in VOD
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In an article appearing in AdAge today, Disney's new CEO says that his company needs to "leverage the great migration" of viewers to consumer-controlled media formats." Phew! That's a mouthful. Let me just abbreviate it to this: Disney believes in VOD.
I have deliberately stopped posting references to media people who feel compelled to say the obligatory words about 'consumers are in control' and 'audience fragmentation' etc., because everyone says that now. I will try to post references that only give us hints as to how each player wants to frame what comes next.
In that context, this article did give us some hints:
[Iger] sees the ESPN new-media model as a direction for other Disney media properties. "That's the profile I want to create for the whole company ... content that lives on all media platforms." ESPN provides live sportscasts and interactive games through broadband online channel ESPN 360. The company has also launched ESPN Mobile, its own branded cell phone.
Mr. Iger characterized ongoing talks with Time Warner Cable and Comcast about VOD program distribution as "pretty productive," and predicted that viewers might see such shows as early as 2006. One sticking point with cable systems operator Comcast has been the issue of how content providers would be compensated. Comcast envisions VOD essentially as a free service for its subscribers.
Note: the last sentence above is a common refrain from the content owners.
UPDATE:
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CBS would take $1 per VOD view?. |
$1 per VOD viewing for CSI?
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In an article in Broadcasting & Cable, CBS Chairman Les Moonves had some VOD comments. Here are a few excerpts:
One aspect of the TV business that will be slow to develop is video on demand. Broadcast networks have been working with cable operators on VOD, but are not willing to offer premium product, primarily scheduling shows that have little library value.
Ultimately, Moonves would like to be selling previously-aired episodes of CSI at $1 per viewing.
But asked about CBS’ experience with Comcast’s VOD venture, Moonves says that “The results are really rather inconclusive.
UPDATE:
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Disney sees ESPN as a model for VOD. |
June 08, 2005
MeeVee Launches Beta Version
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Traditional television: 500 channels and nothing to watch. The future of VOD: 500,000 streams and I don't know what to watch. You don't really want your VOD service to notify you of every new content. You probably want recommendations that are appropriate to you.
MeeVee, a start-up specializing in personalized programming search and recommendation, has launched a beta version of its service on its Web site. Membership is free.
It was very easy to sign up and it quickly found my television provider and local channel line up from only my zip code. In addition to TV Guide like functionality, it lets me search much farther into the future than my DVR does. It also has a Netflix like rating system which (presumably) will guide me to recommendations based upon my likes and dislikes. That is a service I appreciate from Netflix, so it will be interesting to see what MeeVee comes up with for me in the future.
While the web access to the service and weekly email is nice, it really would be best if MeeVee were already inside my DVR. Then, I would want it to automatically tape strong recommendations since I often go long periods of time without searching for something new to watch.
The service, which the company wants to offer on the set-top box, is based on patented metadata-generation technology. You can search real-time programming databases by keyword, program, actor or topic. It includes a search engine, a customizable listings guide, personalized recommendations, and a personal planner. Since the service is not inside my DVR, MeeVee tracks the broadcast times of the show, and emails the planner to me on a weekly basis to create what the company calls a "personal TV guide".
According to MeeVee, the technology that drives the service focuses on characteristics of TV shows, such as frequency and ratings, in order to ensure that search results are relevant to the end-user. It has advanced matching algorithms to provide recommendations based on viewing preferences. The technology also analyzes TV programs' characteristics to provide relevancy to searches and recommendations, based on data MeeVee receives directly from the networks.
MeeVee has just signed a deal with the NBC Television Network, under which the latter will provide video clips of its shows that will be made available on the MeeVee program guide. The company says that NBC is one of over 300 "strategic media partners" that are currently providing content to its service.
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MeeVee Adds Two New Execs to its Senior Management Team. |
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Gemstar Launches a Broadband TV Guide. |
Gemstar Launches a Broadband TV Guide
Gemstar-TV Guide, has launched a broadband version of its new VOD service, TV Guide Spot, on its Web site.
The service is already available to Time Warner digital cable subscribers and will be rolled out to Comcast digital cable subs in the early summer. It also shortly will be offered to TiVo subscribers with standalone TiVo service.
The service features short-form, original entertainment programming, designed to help viewers decide what to watch from the increasing array of programs at their disposal in the multichannel and VOD universe. It currently offers four shows:
"Watch This!," which Gemstar says will showcase "the most compelling programs in the week to come, including special episodes, premieres, television events and hidden gems";
"Catch Up," which will provide three-minute segments that update viewers on the plot developments to date of what Gemstar terms "television's top water-cooler shows";
"Big Movie Guide," which will showcase each month's top on-demand movies, with star interviews, movie clips, behind-the-scenes coverage and more; and
"MVids," which will showcase popular music acts, and let viewers know when those acts will appear on talk and variety shows that week.
Is it a coincidence that both TV-Guide and MeeVee launched web based services that you can access? Who knows, but I would be interested in hearing from you which approach you prefer. My bet is that MeeVee's personalized recommendations should be a more preferred approach.
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MeeVee Launches Beta Version. |
I wish to thank the folks at ITVT for the above information. To access the video, please go to TV Guide's web site.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 11:41 AM | Comments (755) | TrackBackJune 07, 2005
AgileTV and SeaChange
Breaking News: Cable operators deploying SeaChange’s VOD system with Motorola set-top boxes are now able to offer cable companies the Promptu navigation service from AgileTV.
Readers of this blog read of Agile's voice activated navigation last month after they received another round of funding.
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See AgileTV's interview on CNBC. |
AgileTV was founded in April 2000 and is privately held. The company is based in Menlo Park, California. The company’s major equity holders include Valence Capital Management LP, Insight Communications, Lauder Partners and private investors.
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Two weeks ago, SeaChange announced its dynamic VOD advertising solution. |
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This press release comes after SEAC announced financial results. |
Hillcrest announced that it will compete with a different form of VOD navigation. Hillcrest, like AgileTV, is a well funded navigation company without customers and reporting that it will soon deliver product.
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Read the Hillcrest announcement. |
SeaChange Introduces VOD Advertising Solution
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SeaChange International, Inc. (Nasdaq: SEAC) announced on May 24th an advertising solution in on-demand television including targeted advertising delivery with “ZIP-plus-four” precision. Later versions will allow targeting at the household level.
Available this summer, the SeaChange on-demand advertising solution lets cable companies "begin inserting advertisements into individual on-demand streams." Initially this solution enables ad insertions at the beginning and end of streamed programs. It includes stream splicing and execution automation to ensure that ads are inserted with high-quality video and audio and are measured with atomic precision.
“ Twenty-million homes have access to on-demand television and this year they’ll request over one billion streams,” said James Kelso, Vice President/General Manager of Broadband Systems at SeaChange. “This SeaChange solution provides all of the control and automation that operators need to begin harvesting the promise of VOD advertising.”
The new solution automatically ingests ads from spot libraries, prepares them for dynamic insertion (including conversion to VOD encode specifications), and orders placement based on time and on categories such as program, genre, network/content source, zone or ZIP-plus-four.
I have to be honest, I thought SeaChange was able to do this already. Never-the-less, it is a positive step forward for the currently almost non-existent VOD advertising segment.
To me, the more interesting development is that SeaChange says this solution provides the in-depth reporting on aggregate settop activity – view, rewind, pause, fast-forward – during ads. It also provides a view of VOD ad inventory, defining breaks and avails for groups of VOD programming, and indicates undersold and oversold avails. Its tracking of VOD trick mode activity during ad viewing is conducted independently of VOD program reporting.
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Rentrak also offers some VOD reports, too. |
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This press release comes at the same time as SEAC announces financial results. |
Hillcrest Unveils its HoME for Content Navigation
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After we have access to a bazillion things to watch on-demand, how will we find it? Here is a startup with no customers yet. I quote from their press material because they claim that "a consumer [can] browse 50,000 content choices with a few clicks of a remote control that has 90% fewer buttons than traditional remotes."
Rockville, Maryland-based start-up, Hillcrest Communications, unveiled its HoME application suite last month at the Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference.
The company was founded in 2001 by Dan Simpkins, who serves as its president and CEO and who previously founded Salix Technologies, which was sold to Tellabs in 1999 in a stock deal that valued it at $300 million. In January, 2004, Hillcrest completed a Series B funding round in which it raised $10 million from New Enterprise Associates, Columbia Capital and Grotech Capital Group.
According to the company, the HoME suite, which will be formally launched later this year, is designed to solve what it describes as "two critical points of pain" for service providers, consumer electronics companies and consumers: the proliferation of content choices and the proliferation of consumer devices. The heart of the application suite is dubbed "Spontaneous Navigation" which it claims "reinvents how content is presented and navigated on the television."
The main elements of the HoME application suite are:
The Loop (a remote control which features what the company describes as an "ergonomically designed interface," sporting just two buttons and a scroll wheel to control all programs and devices);
HoMEtv (an EPG that lists linear channels, VOD programming, and DVR-stored and Internet-delivered content);
HoMEmedia (a suite of applications that allows viewers to access, manipulate and display personal media, such as home movies, photos and music); and
HoMEbuilder (a software development kit that will customization of HoME's various applications).
Hillcrest says that it has filed "dozens" of patents for its technologies.
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AgileTV thinks you will navigate by voice command. |
June 06, 2005
Where's Digital Advertising Headed?
This morning, Eric Picard wrote an article entitled "Where's Digital Advertising Headed?" in ClickZ.
I bring it to your attention because it states very well one of the main thoughts expressed at this weblog.
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"I believe what we're doing today is just the beginning of the beginning for digital advertising.
"I say 'digital' instead of 'online' advertising because people equate "online" with the Web. We're about to see a media explosion, a seismic shift in the way we deliver all existing media (TV, radio, outdoor, and, yes, even print). As all media are delivered via IP, we'll begin applying all the knowledge learned over the past few years in online advertising to the emerging digital advertising landscape. All media are headed this way, albeit some sooner than others. The 600-lb. gorillas, TV and radio, are headed there first.
"TV will be delivered in an increasingly nonlinear fashion until eventually no linear content broadcasts remain. DVRs are just a simple bridging technology. They allow viewers to break an unfortunate model they simply don't prefer and slice linear broadcast media into chunks that are time-shifted to correspond with their own schedules."
Again, he is right because DVR's in their current form are much less necessary when all content is available on-demand. DVR's only help consumers gain control in a television world that is mostly linear. In a completely non-linear world, that function is quaint at best.
He goes on to say something that I know is correct but am surprised to read from an advocate of online advertising:
"Online advertising's complex landscape and negotiation tactics are simply not up to snuff."
Just last week I was in a conversation with Michael Donovan (the supplier of today's buyer systems to the largest agencies) and we were both in agreement that online companies supply tools, not entire solutions. That simply will not be acceptable to today's television buyers.
Read his entire article and you will better understand why I post news that comes from both these mediums.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 10:29 AM | Comments (87) | TrackBackJune 05, 2005
Deal Flow Is Dead, Long Live Thesis Driven Investing
My track record with building successful companies is pretty good but my history with venture capitalists is very poor.
I read a post this morning (Burnham's Beat: Deal Flow Is Dead, Long Live Thesis Driven Investing) that is so good about explaing changes in the VC landscape that I want to point it out. Perhaps it might assist those entrepreneurs out there who read my blog.
About the “build it and they will come” theory of venture investing:
It’s as if Venture Capitalists were Grizzly Bears: Just stake out a good position in the middle of the best salmon run, watch the fish go by, and occasionally swat the best looking fish out of the air. In this model VCs are cast as true renaissance men, capable of doing a communications equipment deal one day and an alternative energy deal the next. They have no need to be experts in specific industries but instead pass judgment on the quality and pedigree of start-up teams with the belief that their connections and experience can help get any company off the ground.
About Thesis Driven Investing:
In this model, VCs do not passively sit back and let deals come to them, but they go and out and “turn over rocks” actively looking for deals that fit their investment thesis in a particular space.
His post answers something I’ve recently experienced repeatedly. That is, VC’s actually seeking me out for insight and understanding within my particular field of expertise: advertising and video-on-demand. I also gives me hope that I might actually consider VC backing for my next idea.
Read the whole thing. It's worth it.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 09:43 AM | Comments (708) | TrackBackJune 02, 2005
VOD Availability Grows
According to the Yankee Group 2005 VoD Forecast, video-on-demand (VoD) deployments grew steadily in 2004, with 16.7 million digital cable homes capable of using VoD, up 47% from the end of 2002. Yankee Group estimates about one-third of all enabled subscribers are using the service, but usage varies widely from market to market. For example, several Comcast markets report 60% or higher monthly usage. There appears to be a strong relationship between content volume and usage. Marketing and consumer education play a critical role as well.
Advertising-Sponsored Content Will Be a Critical Usage Driver
VoD is constrained by the limited content offered today. Major studios continue to favor video rental stores with earlier release windows. Consequently, MSOs find it difficult to increase movies-on-demand (MoD) buy rates. Pressured by the MSOs, programmers are offering some programming on-demand. However, without a clear revenue stream, they aren’t developing original on-demand content or offering their most valuable programming for VoD.
Consumers value free content because it enables them to sample the VoD service without risk. If MSOs and programmers can develop effective advertising models for VoD, they can drive usage and generate revenue. Effective on-demand advertising requires two major initiatives:
· Timely and in-depth reporting of usage data
· Creative advertising models beyond the 30-second commercial
However, programmers must beware of MSOs selling against them. Multiple MSOs sell VoD spots nationally and locally. On occasion, they use VoD as a free value-add for local linear spot sales. This could hurt programmers’ ability to sell on-demand advertising and monetize free VoD (FVoD).
Posted by Martino Mingione at 08:57 PM | Comments (78) | TrackBackJune 01, 2005
IPTV Setbacks
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| HOME INVASION Cable operators and phone companies are stealing each other's customers |
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Two unrelated items over last weekend remind us that IPTV still has a ways to go before it becomes a large force in re-inventing television.
First, Verizon Communications Inc. and SBC Communications Inc. failed to win passage of a Texas law that would have made it easier for the telephone companies to sell television services in the second most-populous U.S. state. Now they must do what the cable companies had to do historically: get each local municipality to approve a charter to offer television.
"Competition for video services will occur much slower without a statewide video franchise," Steve Banta, president of the Southwest region for Verizon, said in a statement. "We regret Texas lawmakers did not have enough time to reach a compromise."
I can tell you that to get television franchises across the country involves a minimum of 8,000 individual charters (probably significantly higher) for the cable companies. That is a tough burden to place on telco's in their quest to compete.
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Read the entire story at Bloomberg. |
Second, Swisscom has postponed until some time in 2006 the proposed launch of its Bluewin broadband television service using Microsoft IPTV software. The Swiss telephone operator was due to become the first in Europe to provide a commercial internet protocol television service using the Microsoft IPTV platform.
Swisscom Fixnet says the commercial launch will not be possible in the second half of 2005 as originally planned, “as it has become apparent that the technology currently available is not yet suitable”. Adrian Bult, their chief executive said “High quality and full service provision take precedence at Swisscom”.
The announcement must be something of a concern for Microsoft, with whom they have been working closely to deliver the IPTV service. According to one report from a Swisscom representative “They aren’t as far along as they though they would be”.
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Read the entire story at InformITV. |
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Swisscom also selcted Alcatel as a vendor. |
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Microsoft and Alcatel have a strategic partnership. |
For my part, I am watching news of this project because Microsoft and Alcatel are also business allies in the SBC and Verizon IPTV deals.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 08:48 PM | Comments (624) | TrackBack
