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VOD Rising: Preferred By Some Lazy TV Viewers Over DVR

Talk about your lethargic TV viewers!

Yesterday, Disney-ABC Television chief Anne Sweeney said 20% of DVR owners said they prefer to watch video-on-demand rather than use their DVRs.

How much easier can DVRs be? At best, viewers only need to hit the same button twice on DVR. Once to say, “Yes, record.” And then again when prompted: “Are you sure you want to record this?”

Marketers really need to concentrate on these lame TV viewers — perhaps find other messaging. If they are too lazy to deal with DVRs, they are probably too lazy to respond to other media — as well as schlep into their cars to go out and buy products from Target, Best Buy, Kmart, or Whole Foods.

Separately, Sweeney also says viewers of ABC TV shows online are phenomenally happy to grab free viewing in exchange for sitting through four commercials. No word on whether they are happier to do this than watching via DVRs and zapping through commercials.

The only tedious part of the DVR experience, is in fact, fast-forwarding through commercials. Now ABC, with its new VOD initiative, has taken out the guesswork.

You don’t have to zap through commercials –because you can’t. ABC will only give cable operators a VOD program deal if they disengage the fast-forwarding function.

Weirdly, this seems okay for most viewers. Ninety-three percent of viewers say watching VOD with commercials is fine because they can start a program when they like.

No doubt ABC will make it a bit easier for viewers with VOD, trimming back the number of commercials to be seen on a typical VOD airing to perhaps ten 30-second messages.

That would amount to five minutes of non-program interruptions, rather than the 15 minutes or so viewers get via traditional TV airings.

No wonder marketers seemingly are ga-ga over VOD. In particular, ABC gives them what they always wanted — less clutter, which is, not surprisingly, what TV viewers always wanted as well.

It may even lull them into more laziness, making them forget about fast-forwarding — for the moment.

mediapost.com

Today’s HDTV, or Next Year’s?

BUYERS of consumer electronics are haunted by one question: Should I buy now or wait for new features, better performance and lower prices?

Certainly anyone who has considered buying a high-definition television has had that thought. The prices on 40-inch and 42-inch high-definition TVs have dropped almost 39 percent this year. Riddhi Patel, principal television analyst for the market research firm iSuppli, expects them to drop another 30 percent next year. She said that 47-inch and 52-inch sets, whose average price fell more than 40 percent this year, could drop another 25 percent before the end of 2008.

For consumers who care greatly about what advances are just around the corner, the only correct answer would be to wait. But with technology, that’s almost always the case.

Of course, gadget marketers can’t afford to have that kind of thinking take hold. First adopters, those willing to pay top dollar for the latest features, drive the industry. So the marketers make a compelling argument: future-proof your purchase by buying a top-of-the-line device so it will remain state-of-the-art as technology inevitably leaps forward.

To save money, a consumer could buy an HDTV with screen resolution of 720p — industry jargon for a TV with about 1 million pixels of color composing the picture on the screen. It sells along with TVs having a resolution of 1,080p, which has about twice as many pixels. In general, more pixels means crisper, clearer pictures. However, the difference in price for a 720p liquid crystal display, or L.C.D. HDTV set and a 1,080p can be relatively small.

Best Buy, for example, sells a Samsung 1,080p 40-inch L.C.D. set for $1,500 while the 720p version costs $1,350. Feature-laden HDTVs, those with the highest resolutions, contrast ratios and hookups in the back for every imaginable device can cost more than $3,000.

A case can be made that it is wiser to disregard any thoughts of future-proofing when buying a TV. For TV watchers, an HDTV with 1,080p is currently more than users really need because even high-definition programs are broadcast at a lower resolution than 1,080p. To take advantage of 1,080p, you would need a compatible game console or a high-definition DVD player like Blu-Ray or HD-DVD costing hundreds of dollars more.

Prices are dropping, but it will be at least a year or two before the new high-definition DVDs become a mainstream product. Buyers may realize that what they bought not that long ago is out of date compared with whatever is on the market now. This can be especially distressing if technical standards change.

Consider the buyer who future-proofed a TV purchase five years ago. In 2002, the average selling price for a 50-inch HDTV was about $8,900, according to the research firm Pacific Media Associates. Fujitsu had a $15,000 high-definition set that was unable to display today’s 1,080p resolution. It had inputs for S-video, composite and component cable to move audio and video signals from game consoles, VCRs or DVD players. But it lacked a place to plug an HDMI, or high definition multimedia interface.

HDMI, the latest standard, is a single cable that can carry uncompressed video and audio from a tuner, DVD player, digital video recorder or other source to a high-definition TV. Consumers can get those features even on today’s bargain-brand sets. Vizio’s $2,200 52-inch L.C.D. TV, for example, is packed with features that were not on the market a few years ago. The 1,080p set has four HDMI inputs and a screen that is resistant to burn-in and glare; both features were unavailable on any large screen TV a few years ago.

It is no coincidence that there are parallels to buying a PC and an HDTV. Not only are TVs beginning to resemble computers, but the economics are similar. Like makers of computer chips and PCs, manufacturers need first adopters willing to pay top dollar to get production of large-size TVs running at full capacity, which drives down costs. That, in turn, allows them to lower prices to attract the next level of buyer, whose demand starts the cycle all over again. As technology and increased production capacity make it cheaper to build products based on older specifications, companies lower the prices on existing products while introducing new features and better performance to entice high-end buyers.

But if a consumer bought a high-end PC with a fast processor, a big hard drive and plenty of memory for $2,000 or more two or three years ago, it might not be able to run the new Windows Vista operating system or some of the newer programs like video editors that use lots of random-access memory. It might also be wiser to buy the TV technology that serves your needs and not try to anticipate the future. Consumers debating whether to buy a $2,000 set that will suit you now versus a $4,000 model with many bells and whistles would probably be better off spending the $2,000 and using the savings to invest in a certificate of deposit. At 5 percent interest, in four years a consumer could have $2,400 to spend on whatever is new, which would probably be a lot more advanced than what $4,000 would buy today.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that early adopters made a big mistake. There are moments in the evolution of any technology when buying decisions become a bit less risky — when the pace of change slows or the market matures. HDTVs may be approaching such a moment.

When it comes to resolution, Dale Cripps, founder and co-publisher of HDTV magazine, says consumers are not likely to see anything higher than 1,080p for quite some time. The maturing of the HDTV market means you should not expect “a huge curve in the near future where we will have revolutionary technology that will blow us away.”

When it comes to future-proofing, Alfred Poor, author of “Professor Poor’s Guide to Buying HDTV” (Desktop Wings), says shoppers may actually have it backwards. More expensive sets are more likely to be “past proof” because high-definition programs look great on cheaper HDTV sets while costlier HDTVs with better technology typically do a better job displaying standard definition programs. “People often return their new high-definition TVs because regular shows don’t look as good as they did on their old TV,” he said.

Mr. Poor is no advocate of future-proofing. He advises consumers to buy what they would enjoy watching today. But then he starts making his list of must-haves.

He thinks it is a good idea to buy a set with 1,080p resolution and at least one, but preferably three or more, HDMI inputs. Because consumers are likely to have many devices like a DVR or DVD player, it pays to have a TV that can support them. And the newer HDMI 1.3 interface adds additional color depth and better audio, including better synchronization between audio and video to ensure accurate lip-synching.

Mr. Poor likes sets with L.E.D. backlighting but “it’s not awful if you don’t have it.” L.E.D.’s, he said, “can display richer colors and help reduce motion blur.” Because the lights have no mercury like the florescent tubes that backlight most L.C.D. TVs, the technology is more environmentally friendly.

To reduce motion blur, Mr. Poor also prefers L.C.D. sets with a frame rate of 120 hertz, or Hz, which means the TV can display twice as many images each second as conventional 60-hertz sets. The 120-hertz sets can display movies more smoothly with some high-definition DVD players.

Future-proofing may be an elusive goal. But for gadget lovers, feature envy is never going to be overcome.

By LARRY MAGID nytimes.com

FCC Approves Plan to Eliminate Cross-Ownership Ban

Broadcasters and Newspapers Could Be Owned By Same Company in One Market

WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- A divided Federal Communications Commission approved what could be the biggest change in the country's media ownership rules in more than a decade, allowing cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcasters in the same market.

On a 3-2 party-line vote, the FCC approved Chairman Kevin J. Martin's plan to eliminate its more than 30-year-old ban on cross-ownership. Instead, newspapers will be able to buy any broadcast station that isn't among the Big Four networks in the top 20 markets; publishers may also be able to buy broadcasters in smaller markets by promising to add at least seven hours of news a week to the acquired stations' programming.

Last-minute changes
In a last-minute change, the FCC gave permanent waivers to newspapers and TV stations in 42 markets that already have cross-ownership, some in violation of the new rule. All will get permanent waivers, a move that will allow Gannett to keep the Arizona Republic and a Phoenix station; Media General to keep four stations and newspapers; and Shamrock Communications to keep a broadcast property and newspaper in Scranton, Pa.

The FCC also added a new exception that will let TV stations and newspapers buy "failing" rivals, despite the new requirement, and allow News Corp. to keep two TV stations in New York as well as the New York Post.

By taking its vote, the FCC rejected all calls for delays from consumer groups and senators who warned the FCC didn't sufficiently understand the potential impact consolidation would have on local programming. Others warned that the rule change reduced opportunities for minority-owned and women-owned businesses to buy broadcast properties, and that enough time hadn't been provided for the public to comment on a final proposal.

Despite the vote, the fight is far from over. Some legislators promised to try to overturn the FCC vote in Congress.

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president-CEO of the Media Access Project, called the FCC action "an extreme and unjustified change" and said today he would challenge the latest FCC action in court. "Unless Congress intercedes, we're going to have to go back to court to make sure the public isn't harmed by this ill advised action," he said.

Previous attempts to re-write rules
Today's vote caps a saga that began in 2004 when a previous attempt to ease media ownership rules under former Chairman Michael Powell was rejected by an appellate court and sent back to the FCC. Mr. Powell had proposed far broader changes that would have allowed one company to own three TV stations, eight radio stations, the local cable system and the local newspaper in big markets.

Mr. Martin offered a more limited proposal, but it would still be the biggest change in FCC rules since Congress passed a revision of communications rules in 1996.

The cross-ownership proposal was offered by Mr. Martin and supported by Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert McDowell, but angrily opposed by Democratic commissioner Michael J. Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.

"It's a terrible decision," Mr. Copps said. "In the final analysis, the real winners today are businesses that are in many cases quite healthy, and the real losers are going to be all of us who depend on the news media to learn what's happening in our communities and to keep an eye on local government."

Both he and Mr. Adelstein charged that the last-minute changes were offered in the dead of night with no public input, and represent a major concession to broadcasters.

Mr. Martin, Ms. Tate and Mr. McDowell all argued that the rule changes were "modest" and Mr. Martin rejected that there was any rush to judgment.

'Impossible to achieve consensus'
"I reject the claim that the process has been unfair or too rushed," he said. "For a year and half I have attempted to respond to legitimate concerns. At each step as I was crossing the goal line the goal line was moved. I've finally reached a view that it is impossible to achieve consensus."

The vote was among a series of major steps the FCC took on Tuesday. The commission also:

Approved a series of proposals in a bid to aid minorities acquire broadcast stations. Minority groups criticized the proposal, saying the proposals mostly benefit small businesses rather than minority-owned companies and could hurt minority companies.

Revisited and reiterated its rule barring any single cable company from serving more than 30% of the nation's cable subscribers. An appellate court has sent the rule back to the FCC for review.

A third proposal -- to launch a rule-making proceeding to examine whether new examples of product placement and integration of products into TV shows are warranted -- was delayed.

By Ira Teinowitz

IPTV World Forum Asia - 3rd Annual

IPTV World Forum Asia

December 5-7, 2007

Singapore - The IPTV World Forum Asia conference and exhibition will reflect the marked progress of IPTV deployment in the region, gathering together companies who are driving its advance across Asia.

Asia's Leading IPTV Event

Please click here for the 2007 brochure

Online Conference Registration

Over 1500 attendees pre-registered
.

Over 300 speakers from telecoms, cable and mobile operators and leading content owners
Asia's leading IPTV event - with over 2000 visitors anticipated to attend and over 80 exhibitors
Operators speaking at the show include: MTNL, Singtel, PCCW, KT, Chunghwa Telecom, Shanghai Media Group, Pakistan Telecom (PTCL), NTT, Telecom New Zealand, True Internet Thailand, City Telecom, Bharti Airtel, TT&T etc
Leading content owners and broadcasters invited: Warner Brothers, Turner Broadcasting, Discovery Channel, HBO, ESPN, BBC, Disney, Sony Pictures
Cohosting and coexhibiting three leading conferences: The Connected Home Asia, TV over Net Asia and IP Cable Asia
Industry party in one of Singapore's leading venues - Forbidden City, Clarke Quay

Get ready for phase two of IPTV

Governments, regulators, telecoms and media companies across Asia look ready to develop television-over-IP because it offers greater reach than cable, more interactivity than satellite and draws upon economies of scale taken from the IP-centric information/communications industry. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that IP-based multimedia is the future of entertainment delivery in the region.

Asia already boasts some of the world's most notable IPTV deployments - most of them represented at last year's IPTV World Forum Asia. Held in China, that conference/exhibition uncovered some notable issues including the impact of video on voice/broadband churn and the potential divergence of the media market between mass-market family viewing and an online youth entertainment culture. It highlighted the extent to which IPTV is an engine for change, providing the catalyst for great telecoms companies to transform themselves from bandwidth suppliers to service providers.

This year, Asia's premier IPTV conference/exhibition will be in Singapore and will gather together the companies and people who are driving IPTV across the region. As usual, the big issues concerning go-to-market strategies, business models and technology will be addressed by executives who have been at the heart of their company's roll-outs. But the dominant themes for 2007 will be transformation, IPTV evolution and the entry into a new phase in IPTV's development, when telcos and alternative broadband providers will stop playing 'catch-up' and start setting the media/communications agenda.

IPTV is evolving and the demand for triple-play and quad-play bundles, for integrated telecoms/media services like voicemail and instant messaging on the TV, and for content portability across multiple networks, is a common theme. The competitive pressures vary from market-to-market but all telcos will have to exploit these trends before their rivals do.

The emergence of Internet TV is a threat that unites all last-mile network owner/operators, and also an opportunity for IPTV and content owners to exploit. Telecoms operators are entering the media business at a time of great disruption and can make sure they are beneficiaries by harnessing online service innovations within their video and communications offer.

The demand for peer-to-peer video sharing, user-generated content and video sharing websites, and for Internet-aggregated premium television and VOD represents a significant new market, dominated by the under-25 age group.

Satellite and cable are starting to understand the potential for cooperation with online brands and IPTV providers, often still defining their services, can work Internet media into their consumer offer from the start.

For those operators who are ready to acquire 'classic' premium television rights, the mass-market awaits and the way content is served to customers is changing. Linear schedules are still important but the real differentiator for IPTV is on-demand video, interactive TV, interactive advertising, on-demand advertising, time-shifting and the way service providers can help content owners target their advertiser audience in an age of media fragmentation and niche audience groups.

All of these themes are being addressed at IPTV World Forum Asia 2007. This conference will share experiences from multiple IPTV roll-outs and like last year, it will provide the insights that help media professionals trying to define their role in this marketplace. It will also help delegates prepare for phase two of IPTV, which is when broadband service providers have the chance to turn their telecoms heritage from a disadvantage in the content/media world to a compelling benefit in an era that will be dominated by convergence and network intelligence.

In phase two, we will see the emergence of the quad-play, playing into the hands of telecoms groups with mobile phone operations. The opportunities for upselling and cross-selling to mobile, broadband, voice and video subscribers is obvious and as mobile TV develops, the ownership of mobile networks will help companies to build unified, multi-platform television experiences.

The growing importance of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) is also good news for IP-centric network operators. IMS separates services from networks so that 'follow-me' scenarios can be created. Networks can become aware of where a customer is according to their connection and the device they are using to access services. So a subscriber could watch television at home, then switch the video session to their mobile device when they go to the shops and continue their viewing via mobile TV, for example.

IMS enables convergence of media and telecoms services on the TV and portability of content from the IPTV network onto mobile devices. It is the foundation for network PVR services that record content off classic TV but make it available for streaming to handheld devices.

Content portability, integrated cross-platform services and the quad-play will start to alter the balance of power between telecoms companies and cable and satellite. The influences of these trends will be felt across Asia just as they will in Europe and North America. All these themes will be central to IPTV World Forum Asia 2007 as we explore the boundaries of what IPTV is, and what it can become, across Asia.

Scroll through the list to find the