[opendtv] Re: And the Yang
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:36:15 -0400
At 6:38 PM -0400 4/9/11, Albert Manfredi wrote:
Logically, the cable network complainers have no case, IMO. For
instance, would they object if I watched their live stream TV
programs, from my MVPD, on one of those small kitchen-counter TVs? I
doubt it. Or on a small notebook computer? I doubt it. And yet,
these are often screens that are no larger than those of tablets. So
why the obsession about tablets? Their excuse about wanting to
ensure "security, product quality and audience measurement," seems
tenuous at best.
Good points; I assume you are talking about the media conglomerates
who are complaining not the cable networks who are trying to deliver
bits to new devices.
I would only add that tablets are mobile and will ALSO be used
outside the home; The congloms believed they were delivering their
content to a "HOME," at least until they started measuring viewers in
sports bars...
So it may be natural to believe that a device that can be viewed
outside the home, even in a sports bar, is something new and requires
separate rights.
Clearly the congolms are concerned about the SECURITY OF THEIR
CONTENT; It is not difficult to pirate MVPD content, but stuff that
is streamed over the Internet has been notoriously insecure.
Concerns about product quality are a joke. All they care about is
good enough. IF the congloms cared about quality they would NOT have
allowed the MVPDs to compress the quality out of everything.
Concernes about audience measurement are the real issue here.
Why they are concerned is difficult to understand, as it is
incredibly easy to keep track of every individual user when stuff is
streamed to a tablet. It is the traditional TV that is difficult to
track. Could be watching stuff off the air, in which case it is
almost impossible to track without a device attached to the TV. Even
cable can be hard to track, especially on older analog TVs without a
STB. Or the TV could be turned on with nobody watching...
Saw an interesting message on my notebook from Pandora.
They shut down the stream, assuming nobody was listening after it had
been on for more than 8 hours. The message asked to confirm that
someone was actually listening, as they must pay for every song they
stream. You can bet that someone is going to monitor the motion
sensors and perhaps the front facing camera on a tablet to verify
when someone is watching...
But on the other hand, there has to be a way for tablet makers to
make themselves invulnerable to such specious complaints. It is
almost as illogical and annoying to me that they don't do this.
For now it is better to let others fight the war, and to work behind
the scenes to move things in the right direction. You can bet that
Steve Jobs, who sits on Disney's Board, had a hand in the ESPN
decision to allow mobile device access even when away from home for
the people who are already paying about $4/mo for ESPN.
In short, my take is, there are no good guys in this.
Perhaps. It all boils down to how we are willing to pay for content.
Extending the usefulness of an MVPD subscription to your mobile
devices may be very appealing to consumers who are already sending a
check to the MVPD each month - especially if it does not cost more.
The congloms fell in love with cable and DBS for two main reasons:
1. They have the infrastructure to collect money from the consumer
each month and are increasingly able to provide detailed audience
measurement.
2. They have been willing accomplices in the development of a second
revenue stream via subscriber fees.
So the issue really boils down to:
The MVPDs extend the reach of a subscription to new devices to keep
people from cutting the cord.
OR
The congloms force us to pay again for content we are already paying for.
And of course, there is a third option. New Over-the-top services
like Netflix and iTunes expand their infrastructure to compete with
the MVPDs, most likely using some form of ala carte pricing.
One way that we have already discussed ad nauseam is for (t)ablets
to accept the same type of IP streaming that the networks have
already agreed to, when they allowed cable systems to send IP
streams of their programs to their subscribers. But in these
articles, it seems to be the iPad or other tablet "apps" that create
the knee-jerk reaction from the congloms. Can't that problem be
solved too?
This is NOT a technology problem. It is a business model problem.
The apps are simply causing existing systems to "leak" in innovative
ways that force the congloms to react. The fact that the congloms are
reacting in very different ways suggests they don't know what to do.
Why not allow tablet owners to configure their own apps, at the very
least for the limited purpose of logging onto web sites to fetch
whatever live IP stream their heart desires? How hard can this be.
Should be just as easy as setting up my "favorites" in the browser
of the PC dedicated to my TV system. Are the congloms going to
object to the existence of "favorites" or "bookmarks" in web
browsers now?
It could be done EASILY today but for one thing. The ability to the
site/content owner to identify the target device for the stream and
NOT serve devices they don't like.
In tablets, I would think the designers could provide a simple
template, for users to write their own TV web site "apps." Or is
this also a matter of the tablet makers wanting to exercise much
more control on the use of THEIR OWN intellectual property?
Clearly it is relatively easy for developers (including the MVPDs) to
create these apps; it is equally clear that Apple (and the Android
crowd) are more than happy to put these apps in their stores, as it
helps drive the demand for these new mobile platforms.
As for the consumer, bookmarking of web content is already supported.
In addition to being able to watch MVPD content on mobile devices,
the main feature of the MVPD apps is to provide a far better (inside
the walled garden) search engine than those currently available on
the MVPD STBs. My guess is that the next most important feature is
the ability to remotely program the DVR.
Regards
Craig
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