[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

It has certainly been a roller coaster recently with all the new channels that have been added by Virgin Media, with the latest additions of BT Sport/ESPN (including HD and for no extra charge in XL) being the highlight so far. With a second major addition expected in September with Sky Atlantic and other missing Sky channels, this will pretty well conclude the drive to bring our platform up to a suitable standard for 2013.

But where are VM going after they have completed this phase of TV development? What can we expect to happen next, and when?

Bomber AF has hinted at a complete change in the way we access TV programmes in the future, and my guess is that we will be able to access any programme we want from the cloud. As people get more and more used to watching programmes outside the programme controller's schedule, this is the inevitable way to go. Linear channels will decline in terms of popularity and in a decade or so, there may well be far more people accessing their programmes from lists (whether from recordings, VOD or internet streaming).

I believe that we are moving towards a position where all programmes ever made in the past that have survived the clumsy destruction policies that applied in the 1960s ,70s and 80s will be available from the cloud. The big question will revolve around how the pricing structures will work.

I would imagine that there will be opportunities to watch on a pay per view basis and on subscriptions arranged through the likes of Virgin Media and other operators, such as Netflix, Sky and directly with studios. Subscriptions might allow the viewer to access a certain amount of material over a period of a month. There may be additional pay or content limited restrictions for the expensive stuff.
What this will do is signal the end of exclusive deals such as Sky's contract with HBO and enable us all to access the content we want legally. The presence of advertisements within programmes will decline as more money is collected directly through subscriptions, although we can still expect advertisements at the beginning of programmes.

Of course, the TIVO box will be the perfect medium for bringing all of this content to us, and the need for recordings might reduce as a result. But then again, maybe not. Some of us might want to trawl through the content periodically and then upload programmes onto our recorders to view at a later date. Perhaps we could record our own schedules. Sounds like fun!

Although I do think that this is the way we are going, I am not sure how long it will take for our current means of viewing to change. Some people will always be happy to have their viewing decided for them and sit through frequent and long periods of interruptions from advertisements. However, for most in this new digital age, this time wasting, mind numbing experience has become simply unacceptable.

I do think from what we have heard from the Liberty guys that Virgin Media will be leading the way with this approach, in which case, the excitement we have seen from Media Boy's 'Coming Soon' thread will be tame in comparison.

I would be interested to hear your views on how you see things developing, particularly those of you who are well versed in the technology and all things media.

And my, are things starting to happen! The anticipated Netflix addition for the TIVOs is now officially just around the corner (later this year) - and it's by subscription rather than pay per view! Brilliant!

Only a matter of time now before we can ditch the exorbitant subscription payments to Sky Movies. Just need to wait for the exclusivity deals to expire.