Day 1: Going Over-The-Top at IPTV World Forum
03/24/2010- Day
1 is over at the IPTV World Forum in London and we’re off to a great
start.
We’ve teamed up with wireless networking vendor AirTies this week to
showcase
our solution for over-the-top (OTT) video services. The world of
online video
is changing—and we’re right in the thick of this evolution of technology and
entertainment. Talk about exciting times.
It’s been non-stop for our CEO Paul Hamm, pictured with AirTies CEO Bulent Celebi. Paul’s been meeting with content producers, broadcasters, telcos and other industry representatives and sharing new ways to reach more people, in more places, with more ways to monetize by offering OTT video services. Throughout the day, people from around the world have been viewing the AirTies hybrid demo of OTT and digital video broadcasting (dvb-t) supported by our Endavo Media Management System. I think it’s safe to say, OTT is going global.
So syndicating the planet…here we come (that is, right after we grab some fish 'n' chips).
Day 2: IPTV World Forum Buzz
03/25/2010- Day 2 has now come to a close at the IPTV World Forum 2010 in London. And we were somehow able to snap a photo of our CTO Scott Bell sitting down—the first time all day.
Scott and CEO Paul Hamm spent the day demonstrating the integration of our media management system with AirTies hybrid set-top-box. It offers telcos, content producers and broadcasters the power of OTT videos services, and there is plenty of “buzz” about OTT at the booth.
- Visitors are already sold on the business potential of OTT video services. They’re focused on finding the best solution, one that integrates all the pieces of the equation, and Endavo/AirTies is an example of how it all comes together.
- They like the fact that Endavo/AirTies offers access to content already packaged and ready. They need content, beyond IPTV, and they want an easy way to acquire, manage, deliver and monetize it.
- AirTies users note its UI speed and ease of use, and they certainly like the integrated home networking and wireless access capabilities when it comes to their OTT set-top box offerings.
- Overall, flexibility, ease of deployment, ease of use (consumer QoE), and access to content/services beyond IPTV are major factors being cited as important to operators evaluating OTT solutions.
Now that the day is over, we finally get a chance to truly sit back,
relax and watch some OTT-TV. Until tomorrow…
03/26/2010- IPTV World Forum 2010 has come to a close and while we make our way back across the Atlantic, we leave knowing that the OTT video revolution is in full swing around the globe.
It was no surprise that most everyone at the show “gets” OTT. But the market is still struggling to marry up IPTV with OTT to create business and delivery models that make sense, and then figure out where they play in the new converged world. As we demonstrated with AirTies, the trend is toward hybrid OTT and IPTV. One thing is for certain, however. Everyone needs content AND a platform. So while the market understands that the OTT/hybrid delivery model is there, a big concern is getting content into it. This of course is good news for Endavo as it is core to our solution. In fact, when Massimo Marinelli from UBS Investment was asked where he’d invest $100 million in the media services arena, he said content distribution platforms.
Another big take away from the Forum was the desire for an iPhone-like consumer experience on the TV. In order for the Internet to truly make its way into the TV realm, there needs to be more widgets, apps and sites designed specifically for IPTV. For telcos, they have an advantage in this because they own the pipes to manage OTT/hybrid service delivery to deliver a better quality user experience. In fact, SoftAtHome, which Endavo demonstrated with on the Etisalat booth during the Gitex event, is already doing this. The company showcased a new version of its application that has more of an iPhone-like experience. SoftAtHome is saying, “instead of trying to build services around the current TV experience, we need to build a new experience on the TV (like the iPhone) that happens to include TV.”
Three-screen is still hot—as it gives operators an opportunity to increase user base, activity and average revenue per user (ARPU). And while the best ways to monetize content are still being debated, paid is winning out over ad based as the preferred model. Free content is being replaced with a freemium model, which offers a mix of free services with intent to up-sell to premium services.
While OTT is still defining itself as a market, the keys to success are apparent: Quality content, interactive features and the ability to watch anywhere, at any time, and on multiple screens. Sounds like a job for Endavo…as we continue our mission to syndicate the planet.
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