NMK - I want my IPTV

Broadcasters' strategies for IPTV

Basically - they don't have one - BBC maybe, and Channel 4. But no one else really. As no one knows how big this will get - so that's not surprising.

Mainstream Broadcasters

People who register on BARB are regarded as 'mainstream'.

Advertisers are questioning the efficacy of 'spot' advertising. Nervous about PVRs. 'PVRs destroy advertising - it's as simple as that.' Video on demand also enables you to avoid spot adverts. Recently subscriptions have overtaken advertising as the chief source of income. Advertisers are relying on the 22-23% of households that DON'T have digital TV.

BBTV is an extra platform. Mobile phones are also attractive. IPTV is very irritating because it invades my territory as a broadcaster and I have three options:

• Ignore it and move jobs before it comes to bite you personally
• Half-hearted move towards it
• Go all out and adopt it

But you don't have to do something just because you can! But this is not my advice in this case. They ahve to get 'stuck in'. If you're late for the party - it'll be too late to dictate the content agenda, user interface, payment and advertising structure.

Whilst the 'BBC is wallowing in a jacuzzi of cash' - it's still doing too much in IPTV. What does well is Dr WHo and Eastenders. Channel 4 will do a 'roll-up' of broadband platforms. ITV will follow suit. ITV has now become serious after the mess-ups of the 1990s. Look how successful the music industry were in starving iTunes.

The large mass of viewers are still with the mainstream channels. But the Telcos are mobilising - largely by 'buying in' good people from TV to run the business.

Last year ITV lost £50m of advertising over the previous year. In July they will drop 12%, in June they are expected to drop 4% over last year. This is a major problem.

People will not 'pay to view' for VoD - he believes. There's so much content out there anyway - there's too much TV. Why pay for more? Money from IPTV will come from advertisers. They will attach their brands to IPTV content. IPTV, if you can get it right will work on that basis.

Broadcasters don't want to cede their control of production to independent producers. There's lots of value added by the channel controllers in choosing and packaging winners. 'They're not completely useless'. Compare how broadcasters are viewed by the public versus the public's views of the Telcos.

Niche broadcasters
Makes no sense to churn out a channel with 2 hrs of not very good content. But IPTV could have been designed for them. They will migrate to IPTV because it's so much cheaper for them.

Q re regulation from Jo Twist and TV without frontiers
UK govt is standing up to EU re regulation.

A - IPTV is developing in Europe as it enables people to bypass the conventional programming model. Ofcom needs to take the brakes off about branding attached to programming (pre
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