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ON-DEMAND SERVICES

Content

Content is at the core of every VOD offering. It's estimated that 60 percent of all titles ordered in a VOD deployment are the same top 10-40 titles. Today many broadband system operators are offering Movies-On-Demand (MOD) systems, "advanced on-demand services," such as Subscription Video-On-Demand (SVOD), Free-On-Demand (FOD = advertising-sponsored programs at no extra charge), local content on demand and even network-based Digital Video Recorder (NDVR). A competitive offering includes Movies-On-Demand and at least one offering of SVOD. A new on-demand service is Time-shifted VOD programming: the broadband system operator records television programs or events and offers them on-demand to customers for free or for a small viewing fee.
Digital Cable from IOTV in New York, Connecticut & New Jersey
Examples of On Demand Content

Technology

With the advent of two new compression methods - MPEG4 AVC (H264) and VC1 it will be possible to offer DVD-quality video streaming over xDSL networks. H264 reduces the bandwidth requirements for delivering broadcast-quality and DVD-quality video to well within the limits of 1.5 Mbps DSL. Reduced bandwidth demand means an easier and larger IP video services market for Telco's, reduced costs compared to MPEG-2 and higher service density on existing infrastructure.

The Players

Harmonic
Harmonic Inc. is a leading provider of digital video, broadband optical networking and IP delivery systems to cable, satellite, telecom and broadcast network operators. Harmonic's open standards-based solutions for the headend through the last mile enable customers to develop new revenue sources and a competitive advantage by offering powerful interactive video, voice and data services such as video-on-demand, high definition digital television, telephony, and Internet access. Harmonic (Nasdaq: HLIT) is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with R&D, sales and system integration centers worldwide. The Company's customers, including many of the world's largest communications providers, deliver services in virtually every country.
Kasenna
Kasenna Inc. delivers on-demand video delivery solutions that enable network operators, content providers and enterprises to build commercial-grade networks and applications for delivering entertainment-quality video. Built on technology spun out of SGI, over 2300 hospitality, telecom, cable, enterprise, education and government deployments worldwide use the company's on-demand video delivery solutions. Kasenna's patented technology is available on the IRIX, Solaris, and Linux operating systems. Kasenna, [pronounced kah-SEN-ah], is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Together with Apple, Cisco, IBM, Philips and Sun, Kasenna is a founding member of the Internet Streaming Media Alliance. Kasenna is trying to garner interest in a groundbreaking new service called Total TV. It allows carriers to continually record everything they've aired for the last two weeks. It's truly on-demand TV.
N2 Broadband
N2 Broadband is the most experienced provider of open platform solutions that enable cable operators and content providers to offer on-demand services. N2 Broadband leads the cable industry in back-office video-on-demand commercial deployments, serving seven major U.S. cable operators in more than 70 cities. The company's N2 Network, a family of open platform products, is the industry's only complete on-demand solution that spans content creation and management through back-office service management in the cable headend. With unmatched experience in digital cable technology, the N2 Broadband team also provides best-of-class Operations Support Services (OSS) to protect cable operator networks and ensure network reliability. N2 Broadband provides its products and services to leaders in the entertainment and cable industries including Comcast Cable, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, iN DEMAND, HBO, Warner Bros., and Starz!
Concurrent Computer Corporation
Atlanta-based Concurrent has become a leading supplier in the emerging digital video server marketplace
nCUBE
nCUBE is a worldwide leader in providing On Demand media systems (VOD) and Digital Advertising Systems - hardware, software, applications and integration - for cable operators and telecommunications network
SeaChange
SeaChange provides digital video systems that are changing television. Its powerful server and software systems enable television operators to provide new on-demand services and to gain greater efficiencies in advertising and content delivery.
Nagravision
Nagravision has developed digital pre-encryption technology to be located at the very top of the transport chain (e.g. with the film producer): content remains encrypted from the moment of its creation until it is used. Furthermore, the fact that it is stored in encrypted form on the hard disk of the user's decoder forestalls the distribution of illegal copies: only a subscriber who has paid to receive a film, for example, will be able to watch it using his decoder in tandem with a smart card containing the decoding keys.
Synccast
SyncCast develops solutions for delivering digital content and related data via the Internet and other media (DVDs, CDs, etc.). SyncCast is also a leading CDN, globally load balanced, utilizing tier-1 Internet backbones. SyncCast offers several packaged solutions for Digital Asset Management and Digital Rights Management.
Teleste
Teleste offers a comprehensive range of product families for DVB Backbones, CATV and SMATV headends, HFC networks and related applications. Teleste is also a leader in video surveillance networks and in ethernet to the home solutions.

The Manufacturers

Access Devices
Access Devices (ADL) designs, manages manufacture, and sells Digital TV access equipment and Internet Protocol TV equipment, generically referred to as set-top boxes (STBs). The company currently has a range of designs for Digital TV decoders (DVB-T) and IPTV (video-on-demand over DSL).
Netgem
Television for a smart home.
Amino
Amino Communications is a leading provider of consumer premises equipment (CPE) for broadband digital television applications.
Pace
Pace Micro Technology is the world's largest dedicated developer of digital TV set-top box technology and the only company to design digital TV set-top boxes for all broadcast platforms - Cable, Satellite, Terrestrial and Digital Broadband Media (IPTV).

Anti-piracy systems for pay-TV

Each STB usually has one CA system integrated. This is enough for most pay-TV systems. The box is tied with the subscription, so only used on one network and one CA system.
Most common Conditional Access (CA) vendors: NDS (VideoGuard), Nagravision-Kudelski (Nagravision), Conax (Conax), Motorola, France Telecom (Viacess), Canal + (MediaGuard), Philips (Cryptoworks), Irdeto (IrdetoAccess), General Instrument (DigiCypher II).

Propietary Middleware Platforms

OpenTV (OpenTV Core), NDS (NDS Core), Canal+ (MediaHighway), PowerTV (PowerTV), Microsoft (Microsoft TV), Nagravision-Kudelski (Tsunami), Liberate (Liberate).

Open Middleware Platforms

MHP, OCAP, ACAP, JavaTV, ARIB-B23.

INTRODUCTION

May 2006: Analog video providers want to go digital. Digital video providers want go high-def. And just about everyone is curious about how to integrate IP technologies into their plans. But as broadcast companies find their way in an IP world, the tools of their trade look more and more like those that have been around the computing and telecom space for ages.
Fact is: "Once you go IP, you never go back."

IPTV May 2006

Streaming video and broadcast television has historically had limited distribution. Only cable companies and satellite companies participated in providing consumers entertainment and programming. Now the internet offers a new distribution option, Internet Protocol Television or IPTV. But should it be limited to just the PC? Streaming video and broadcast TV should offer consumers and businesses access anywhere and anytime. Whether the media output device is a PC, the Television in the home, or the Cell Phone on the roam. Not just downloadable but instantly streaming to all of these platforms.

Recent market surveys continue to show strong investment by companies in IPTV related markets.
Global IPTV rollouts have now reached over 2m units spread across over 150 operator networks. In the majority of cases those rollouts are based upon the same set of core components.
Analysts have identified worldwide IPTV service revenue to skyrocket to over $44 Billion in 2009.
Growth in new IPTV subscribers is increasing briskly, topping 53 million worldwide by 2009 with CAPEX growing from $304 million to close to $4.5 billion.

The Goal: an iPTV Platform that delivers high quality video to your home or business using your existing high-speed Internet connection.

NeuLion
An end-to-end solution, the NeuLion iPTV Platform uses the public internet to stream multimedia content to any TV or PC, from a common library. The result is DVD-quality streaming video -- in real-time -- to any device.
ANT Software
ANT Software + Quative Ltd. (U.K.-based subsidiary of Kudelski SA): ANT will provide its Galio client TV application manager and browser as a front end for the new platform, helping deliver video on-demand (VOD), digital video recording, and Web applications to IPTV viewers.
Kudelski Group new areas of growth: Quative IPTV solution suites, Disney/Nagra Push VOD, Nagra Mobile TV and an advanced, customizable next generation security architecture for securing content distribution. NagraIP has been selected by neufCegetel in France, HanseNet (a subsidiary of Telecom Italia) in Germany, Jazztel in Spain and PanAmSat in the USA. Commercial IPTV services are expected to be a fast-growing Pay TV segment.
tvover.net
World of IPTV

IPTV Advantages:

IPTV is the Future – It's All Converging.
Global Distribution. Why be stuck in a closed network.
Instantly Available. When is the last time you wanted to wait for anything. Streaming content versus just download.
Reduce time to market for new applications.

ALL FROM ONE SUPPLIER:
YOUR BROADBAND MEDIACOM PROVIDER

Triple Play = Entertainment + Broadband Internet + Telephony

For digital service providers like telcos and cable providers, the "triple play" represents the ultimate way to increase profits and customer loyalty at the same time.

TV over phone lines (TV-over-ADSL), also known as TV over Internet protocol (IPTV), is already taking root in Europe, with offerings from France Telecom, Italy's FastWeb, Britain's HomeChoice (Video Networks) and others.

HomeChoice service, which today is priced at £35 per month and up, features 35 traditional, linear broadcast television channels, 23 digital radio channels, broadband Internet access, headend-driven PVR and a number of unique "hybrid" broadcast/VOD channels.
Full Unbundling (Unbundling Local Loop), Shared Access: Telcos vs. ULL attackers (2Mps Internet, VoIP, basic TV).

Examples of current HomeChoice ITV services:

V:MX
A collection of over 2,800 music videos, which are organized into 9 genre-based channels, and which viewers can search by genre, artist or track title. It allows viewers to pause, rewind and fast-forward, to skip videos they don't want to watch, and to compile personal favorites lists for later viewing (the top-30 videos that are most popular with HomeChoice subscribers are compiled each week into a channel, called "V:MX Chart"). You can sit back and watch like a regular channel, but if there's a music video on it that you don't like, you can just hit the Skip button, and it will go to the next video automatically. If the next video is one you happen to like, you can hit the Yellow button, and it puts that video in your favorites list. After you've built up your favorites list, you can go straight to it and play it all day long, if you like.
Scamp
An interactive "hybrid" service which is targeted at pre-schoolars. When kids decide, for example, that they don't want to watch the Teletubbies, they can skip that and go to the next program, or, if they like it, they can put it in their favorites list. Another thing they can do is press a Find button that brings up a video wall with all the characters on the channel: Barney, Scooby Doo or whatever. They just navigate to the character they like, press the OK button, and the service plays just cartoons with that character.
BBC News Interactive
HomeChoice ITV service that provides viewers with a menu from which they can select and view segments from the BBC's News 24 channel. It's all on-demand and always allows you to start from the beginning. Unlike the multi-screen news services on Sky, which require you to tap into a looped broadcast stream, and which make you wait until the stream starts over if you want to see the beginning of a segment.
Replay
A headend-driven PVR service, that provides viewers with on-demand access via the EPG to popular shows that have been broadcast over the past 7 days on BBC One, BBC Two or Channel 4.

Today, Cable & Satellite operators are still offering superior quality video streams to their customers, but in the near future this competitive advantage will dissipate and Telcos will offer equal quality streams to their ADSL customers.

Broadband Penetration along Market Maturity Stages
2wire
2Wire solutions offer service providers with a flexible platform to deliver and manage feature-rich Internet, telephony, entertainment, and other enhanced broadband application services.

INTERACTIVE TELEVISION SOFTWARE MARKET

In the interactive television software market the players include Gemstar-TV Guide, Microsoft, OpenTV, Liberty Broadband Interactive Technologies, NDS Group (a subsidiary of NewsCorp) and Liberate Technologies.

CONSULTING

digital-strategy
A Swiss-based consulting firm specialized in the digital media entertainment and telecom markets.