[opendtv] Re: The Guardian: TV should switch to internet, peers suggest

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2015 22:07:06 -0400

Bert

You are beginning to sound like those Geico commercials...

 "In the future TV will be delivered via the Internet rather than FOTA."

"Of course: Everybody knows that. But did you know that I can read minds?"


Regards
Craig

> On Mar 16, 2015, at 9:40 PM, Manfredi, Albert E 
> <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> This is more in line with what I'm talking about, Craig. The article is from 
> 2012. I remember that when the UK was scheduling their switch to digital OTA, 
> back in the 2000s, they said they would revisit TV's use of the OTA spectrum 
> periodically. And this is why.
> 
> Much has happened, at least in the US, in the past three years, concerning 
> access to broadband (or depending how we define broadband, something at least 
> good enough to stream TV material). This is not being lost to the public, the 
> FCC, or to the TV industry decision makers who respond to the public's 
> demand. Just as the telephone industry, and so many others, have been 
> migrating steadily to the Internet, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see this 
> happening to the TV industry too, even for those aspects now using OTA and 
> MVPDs.
> 
> But I'm sure I'm repeating myself. Mostly because Craig seemed to not to 
> appreciate that CBS All Access is not the end game.
> 
> Bert
> 
> ---------------------------------------
> http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jul/31/digital-television-internet-revolution
> 
> TV should switch to internet, peers suggest 
> Juliette Garside
> Monday 30 July 2012 19.01 EDT
> 
> The switch to digital television may be only the beginning, as a Lords 
> committee says that all TV should be broadcast via the internet, leaving the 
> airwaves free for mobile phones 
> 
> The switch to digital television is not yet complete, but UK households could 
> be forced to adjust their sets again with a parliamentary inquiry now 
> forecasting a second wave of switchover, this time from the airwaves to the 
> internet.
> 
> The government should draw up plans to have every channel, including those 
> from the BBC, broadcast over the internet, freeing up the spectrum for other 
> uses such as mobile phones, the House of Lords suggested on Tuesday.
> 
> "Eventually the case for transferring the carriage of broadcast content, 
> including public service broadcasting, from spectrum to the internet 
> altogether will become overwhelming," the Lords communications committee said 
> in its report on internet infrastructure.
> 
> The recommendation comes months after most of the country's 26m television 
> households retuned their sets from analogue to digital, with two regions - 
> the north-east and Northern Ireland - due to complete the process by the end 
> of October. Digital switchover increased the number of terrestrial channels 
> from five to 50, but the internet can transmit an unlimited amount of 
> content, at a lower cost.
> 
> However, Britain will need a better broadband network to cope with future 
> technologies, the committee concluded after a wide-ranging, six-month 
> investigation. It raises the alarm over the way Britain's network is being 
> built, describing government strategy as "flawed" and liable to widen the 
> digital divide between those communities with fast internet access and those 
> living in broadband blackspots.
> 
> "If broadcast services move to be delivered via the internet," said committee 
> chair Lord Inglewood, "then key moments in national life such as the Olympics 
> could be inaccessible to communities lacking a better communications 
> infrastructure."
> 
> BT, TalkTalk, Sky and Virgin Media are moving rapidly to connect more 
> television sets to the internet, so that they can offer video on demand as 
> well as conventional TV channels.
> 
> TalkTalk's YouView box, unveiled last week, offers internet access to 
> libraries of TV series and films for viewing on demand, as well as 
> conventional channels broadcast over the internet rather than through an 
> aerial. BT this summer spent £738m on acquiring Premier League football 
> rights to boost its own internet TV service, BT Vision.
> 
> The committee says the airwaves are better suited to mobile, and their use 
> for TV could be considered "wasteful". It says the date for a second 
> switchover could be some years away, but recommends that the government, 
> regulators and the industry start planning now.
> 
> "People will perhaps feel fed up, but going from analogue to digital may not 
> be the whole journey," said Inglewood. "Now we are finding we may go from 
> digital to internet."
> 
> A broadband connection could become a universal right, he said, as and when 
> all channels including public service broadcasters such as the BBC and ITV 
> are delivered over the web.
> 
> However, services including YouView require a connection of at least 3 
> megabits per second. With an estimated 14% of UK homes unable to get even 
> 2Mbps, according to telecoms watchdog Ofcom, swaths of the population could 
> be left out of the next phase of the TV revolution. Government targets 
> promise only that everyone will be able to get 2Mbps by 2015, with 90% 
> getting 24Mbps.
> 
> "The government's strategy lacks just that - strategy," said Inglewood. "The 
> complex issues involved were not thought through from first principles and it 
> is far from clear that the government's policy will deliver the broadband 
> infrastructure we need - for profound social and economic reasons - for the 
> decades to come."
> 
> The government is urged to abandon its speed targets, which could widen the 
> digital divide by reinforcing the idea of a two-speed Britain, and instead 
> concentrate on making sure that every home is eventually connected to the 
> internet by a fibre line all the way to the exchange.
> 
> BT has been rolling out fibre at record rates, with 11m homes now connected, 
> but the technology it is using comes in for criticism by the committee. This 
> is because BT is only installing fibre to street cabinets, with old and 
> weather-sensitive copper wires carrying the signal to the doorstep. Those who 
> wish will be able to order fibre from BT all the way, but this will come at a 
> high price.
> 
> "It is our contention that the government have proceeded from a flawed 
> prospectus, that the progress being made may prove illusory," the committee 
> warns.
> 
> It also proposes to help the efforts of many communities left out of BT's 
> fibre plans to build their own networks by proposing a series of "hubs" 
> within reach of every village in the country. These hubs would allow any 
> company or community to plug their local broadband network, be it fixed-line 
> or wireless, into BT's network at a set price.
> 
> These hubs would increase the amount of money from the private sector for 
> building out broadband networks, and increase the speed of roll-out, the 
> committee suggests.
> 
> TV, but not as we know it
> 
> With a little help from companies such as Apple and Google, the internet has 
> changed music and publishing forever, and many believe that it is only a 
> matter of time before television goes the same way. Switching off the 
> terrestrial broadcast signal in the UK would mark the beginning of the end of 
> TV as we know it.
> 
> For many viewers, TV has already changed. First, we have what the industry 
> likes to call "time shifting". Digital video recorders can easily be 
> programmed to save a whole series, so that we are just as likely to get our 
> Downton Abbey fix a day or two after broadcast than we are to watch it live.
> 
> In a growing number of households, TV is just as likely to come over the 
> broadband connection as it is to arrive through the aerial or satellite dish. 
> The BBC iPlayer, so successful that it has prompted some good copycat 
> versions from the other public-service broadcasters, received requests for 
> nearly 2bn television and radio shows in 2011. While most people still watch 
> it on their desktop, smartphones, tablets and internet-connected TVs are 
> generating a lot more traffic than they used to. In December, 7m BBC 
> programmes were requested via connected TVs, an increase of 1000% on the 
> previous year.
> 
> And the choice of on-demand entertainment is set to grow. Sky, BT, Virgin 
> Media and, as of last week, TalkTalk all now sell internet TV services 
> bundled with a broadband connection. The TalkTalk set-top box, priced like 
> BT's for the mass market, will offer US television series like Lost, and 
> Hollywood films on a pay-per-view basis.
> 
> Instead of buying the DVD boxed set, customers will be able to summon up and 
> pay for a series using their remote control. Some sets now also have access 
> to Lovefilm, the UK film rental service bought by Amazon.
> 
> Eventually, televisions may have their digital video recorders and internet 
> connections built in - no box required. The programme guide will be stored 
> online, and the remote control will be replaced by a mobile phone running a 
> specially designed app. In fact, many believe that Apple is developing a set 
> along just these lines.
> 
> All of this means that a new way of watching is emerging. Instead of letting 
> the channel controller decide the time and content of our evening's 
> entertainment, the internet is giving viewers the power to choose for 
> themselves.
> 
> On these connected screens, the traditional television channel, broadcasting 
> one programme at a time, with a menu determined by the time of day, may no 
> longer have a reason for being.
> 
> . This article was amended on 31 July 2012. The original version wrongly 
> suggested the switchover to digital television in the UK was complete.
> 
> 
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