Triple play providers beware

The biggest non announcement in months

The largely unheard of partnership between NBC and NewsCorp recently to start serving video online through what many are calling ‘ NewTube ‘.

In terms of reach to the Internet community it will be a formidable player – with access to users through it’s network of portal providers ( MySpace ) and a approach to IP protection which suits advertisers and content owners alike, with advertising agreements with Cisco, Intel and Schweppes already in place.

The player

With attention spans becoming shorter and shorter the key is to ensure delivery of advertising is :

• on time
• contextually correct
• to the correct people

This is essential in order to maintain the premiums required to make the offering profitable.

YouTube , BBC’s iPlayer, iTunes Joost and NewTube

The control of the ‘ player ‘ is already becoming a crowded place in the online world with the above forming a few of the ever increasing tangle of software players on the market.

All of these players and other video serving portals will have to define and work on their delivery models, data and Technology in all if this is key. From the delivery and segmentation, to the response and interaction of both the adverts and programming alike.

There is no doubt over the months these will soon converge into a few (mainly based on content deals they are able to strike and the success or failure of the law suits being filed) it is Cable and Satellite who should be concerned.

Who is the next big Cable company?

For these companies who own no content ( even Sky is limited once you remove the Sports ) their quandary is the ever increasing number of PC’s and entertainment devices such as the Xbox360 and Playstation 3 making there way into peoples homes.

So is Microsoft lining itself up against the Virgins of the world to provide home entertainment through there console, the answer has to be yes.

While Branson goes for triple play ( TV, Broadband and Telephone ) all which is still delivered over a network into peoples homes which BT still owns, Microsoft is taking a stealth approach.

Broadband now enables all of these components to be delivered through exactly the same mechanism to not a grey box under the television , but a high powered PC with the ability to time shift programming, handle content on demand , provide interactive programming guides and occupy the gaming needs for the household.

The future is this

• Microsoft and Sony will push into the content delivery space within 12 months
• The PVR will be dead
• Cable TV network will be redundant
• Satellite network will be used for only the most far reaching corners of the globe

TV able console sales figures global http://www.vgchartz.com/

• Xbox360 - 9.68 million
• Playstation 3 - 3.16 million
  

Broadband UK from http://www.statistics.gov.uk

In 2006, 52 per cent of households in the EU-25 had Internet access at home. The UK was above the EU average, at 63 per cent, while the Netherlands had the highest proportion in the EU (80 per cent), followed by Denmark (79 per cent). Elsewhere in Europe, Iceland had a higher proportion of homes with Internet access, at 83 per cent. Greece had the lowest rate in the EU, at 23 per cent.