I often get asked what IPTV is. For those of you who are web savvy it should be fairly simple to explain. For those who don’t know, it is basically Television over the internet. The short term IP means Internet Protocol. Since broadband has taken off like a rocket to space, we are clearly able to watch TV, films, video clips and commercials in real time, over the internet.
OK, now that’s fairly easy to understand; but there is a much wider discussion going on about the future of IPTV and the business models in order to get this right over the internet.
There are two main factors involved.
1 – Broadcasting Rights
2 – Advertising Models
Everyday, broadcasters and cable companies are losing their audiences to Internet Video Platforms, such as blip.tv, joost.com, hulu.com. They are trying their best to come up with a solution in the fight to keep their viewers. In the UK the BBC has introduced the iplayer. Channel 4 introduced 4oD and ITV launched a catchup service on itv.com. The catchup services which all UK broadcasters provide have proved to be massively popular. The two main questions are, how do they monatize this service to keep it going? and how can they obtain the rights to distribute content over the internet?
The broadcasting rights to show content over the internet were not part of the deal when UK broadcasters purchased content to air on TV. Now the game change is shifting over the internet, the big US content providers are playing hardball and retaining these rights. With this in mind, Hulu.com shouted out last month.They are opening up their platform to the UK.
It’s a massive subject.The US Content Owners don’t want to lose the revenue of IP (intellectual property) for one second!
Boxee.tv has come up with a brilliant solution! It provides one platform to view all your digital media. It integrates your hard drive and all the online media websites you watch and listen to. You may never have to visit different sites again!
Since the revolution of broadband we have seen a massive upswing in online video. This, coupled with the price drop in consumer technology and basic editing software which is included on most operating systems, almost everyone has become a Video Director.. Well, it’s so easy to upload a clip to youtube.com and broadcast yourself to the world that I believe this makes it one of the most exciting industries to come out of the internet and it’s opened up a whole world of creativity to be enjoyed, both on the consumer side & business sites.
We have all known for a while that the way forward for business on the internet is to get much more interactive, by introducing video on their websites as the best way to engage and communicate with their customers. Business from all sectors has been a bit slow to embraced online video as a medium to communicate for reasons I will discuss in another blog! BUT this makes me happy as the market is still very young and there is a massive opportunity!
Internet entrepreneurs from all sides of the planet have been waiting for this revolutions and the service providers have been trying to come up with a content management solution to managed, report, deliver and encode the video in one platform. This makes it much easier to manage their growing online content requirement! The best sites I have come across that achieve this are Brightcove, Move Network, Maven Networks, Narrowstep, The Plaform and Kit Digital (formally Roo). there are a few new others on the block, like Kewago, Ooyala, iolo & best TV, vimeo.com
So you see there is no shortage of businesses to help get your content online!
I have decided today that you will receive a weekly blog from me or someone in the realitypod team. We want to share with you all aspects of video productions. The updates will include technical issues I’ve had to overcome, places I have filmed at, people, actors and directors I’ve met or anything that have inspired me to write a blog!
Today i have decided to cut a Showreel together from all my interviews that I conducted on the F Diamond, Fashion TV Boat. I have to say interviewing and partying with these girls in Sardinia this summer was just fantastic. The full interviews can be found on www.ftv.com
Presenting is not usually my thing, as I love to shoot, direct & edit… Well I guess you’ll be seeing a lot more of me on camera…
