General : Is the future of VMTV cloud based?

[Stuart]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09...epares_launch/

Very interesting article on the future of Deutsche Telekom's pay TV service. Apparently, since 2011, they have been looking to move the software that provides their service to the cloud, with centralised servers rendering the user interface and streaming it, along with IPTV streams for the video and audio.

I say it's interesting as it appears they will be ready to go live around the end of this year.

They say the advantages are that the client software does not need a powerful STB to run it. It can run on relatively low end STBs, and they also talk about using the service on HDMI dongles, tablets, Smart TVs and PCs (presumably Macs as well). In fact, it seems the service may be usable on anything that supports the full HTML 5.

Why do I think this might affect Virgin? Well, simply put, because Liberty Global is also threatening to use the same sort of technology.

They are going to have to look seriously at anything and everything that can make it easier and cheaper for them to get their services into people's homes.

I was reading a thread on here the other day by someone who moved home, tried to order cable (as there was, apparently, a full Telewest branded installation down his entire street), but couldn't because that street was never connected to the main network and is now 'abandoned' with no plans to commence service there due to cost. No sooner had this individual posted all this here at CF, than he got a mail shot from BT to let him know Infinity was due to be installed.

If Virgin Media sits still for very much longer it is going to find its incumbency is worth very little and there will be fewer and fewer places where it retains the ability to claim that it alone can offer super-fast broadband.

If it is still so saddled with debt that it has no choice but to sit back and watch BT march in and connect customers, even in streets where the CATV ducting and cabs are already in place, then it is going to have to look at cost-cutting delivery methods like this. If it doesn't, you can bet BT will. BT Vision isn't always going to be the lightweight service it currently is. It won't be an awfully long time until it can serve more of the country than VM, and then what?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Chris

If it is still so saddled with debt that it has no choice but to sit back and watch BT march in and connect customers, even in streets where the CATV ducting and cabs are already in place, then it is going to have to look at cost-cutting delivery methods like this. If it doesn't, you can bet BT will. BT Vision isn't always going to be the lightweight service it currently is. It won't be an awfully long time until it can serve more of the country than VM, and then what?

Actually, IIRC, VM did say years ago they would be looking at an IPTV based system and while they do have TV Anywhere, it's lacking a lot of channels.

The problem Virgin have is that BT have spent a lot of money ensuring that a large chunk of the population can get broadband from them, and are spending an awful lot of money ensuring that at least the major towns and cities have fibre access to the BT Network. This gives them a huge potential audience for their services.

They have also shown they are willing to compete on content, and have the funds available to do so.

In short, VM have to pull their finger out and start competing.

[Doug P]

Have to say do not understand a word of the above... oh well....

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Doug P

Have to say do not understand a word of the above... oh well....

I'm no expert but 'Cloud' is basically a data centre , think services like Kindle , iTunes , Netflix , Lovefilm instant , NowTV etc. Taking Netflix as an example you can stream content from anywhere with an internet connection on a multitude of devices , if you don't complete what your watching its bookmarked in the cloud allowing you to continue elsewhere or on a different device meaning no need for local storage (HDD). I'm sure someone can explain it better than me.

[Doug P]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

I'm no expert but 'Cloud' is basically a data centre , think services like Kindle , iTunes , Netflix , Lovefilm instant , NowTV etc. Taking Netflix as an example you can stream content from anywhere with an internet connection on a multitude of devices , if you don't complete what your watching its bookmarked in the cloud allowing you to continue elsewhere or on a different device meaning no need for local storage (HDD). I'm sure someone can explain it better than me.

Oh thanks Muppetman... bit like my Kobo ereader?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Doug P

Have to say do not understand a word of the above... oh well....

Basically, a major limiting factor on what Virgin (or any Cable Company) can provide is simply the amount of processing power available in the set top boxes. If these were installed some time ago, they probably don't have a lot.

As software gets more advanced it tends to require more and more processing power, and most cable companies will have a lot of old Set Top Boxes that are otherwise good, but lack processing power. Replacing all of them would cost millions, take a long time and you would still end up with the problem of some boxes getting missed.

For situations like this, it's actually cheaper to build a data centre, use THAT to run the software, then just install a small "client" application on the set top box that merely sends all the commands to the data centre, then displays the results for the user.

In terms of new customers, it would give Virgin the advantage that they could buy cheap set top boxes with almost no processing power and just a slot for the encryption card, which would cost them a lot less than the current Cisco and Samsung boxes. Not to mention that Tivo could stop being a seperate box. The data centre would act as the Tivo's hard drive, streaming programmes in much the same way as the current on-demand system does.

[passingbat]

From the bits that I've read on the cloud, the usual gremlin pops up to delay things: Rights management.


Given that VM have had problems getting the rights for Tivo to Tivo streaming sorted for the main channels, unless there is a shift in content providers' attitude to this, it could be an uphill battle.

Cloud delivery by VM is not a new concept, thought up by the new owners; Neil Berkett spoke about that being the objective a long while before Liberty Global took over.

I think it is a good move; with the uptake of streaming services like Netflix and Lovefilm that many of us use, it seems like a very natural move to content delivery.

[Horizon]

Originally Posted by passingbat

From the bits that I've read on the cloud, the usual gremlin pops up to delay things: Rights management.

I agree. And despite what Kevin Spacey said recently about Netflix and other streaming services taking over from traditional broadcasters, people still like to have their own personal recordings of tv shows and own films on dvds to watch whenever they want.

[spiderplant]

Here's one we prepared (much) earlier.

http://informitv.com/news/2004/09/14/yoomediaandictv/
http://www.cedmagazine.com/news/2004...recent_blogs=0

[HDFootyMan]

Interesting:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/11/tivo-network-pvr/

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), a global leader in the advanced television entertainment market, today announced that it would debut a prototype of its next generation cloud television offering, which includes new TiVo® features delivered with a Network PVR, during the International Broadcasting Conference 2013 (IBC) in Amsterdam.