Monday, January 6, 2014

“TV Everywhere” – Good, Bad, & Ugly


Some quick bits from the headlines about the diffusion of “TV Everywhere” –

Good – A plethora of new studies show that broadband access and speeds are continuing to grow (the backbone allowing realtime HDTV streaming).  AT&T’s telco cable systems are pushing wireless boxes.  A forecast from NPD Group predicts that connected TVs will grow by 44% over the next two hears

Bad – On the other hand, another survey is suggesting that while the technology’s connected, and content increasingly available, use may be lagging.  A survey reports that 82% of respondents didn’t know what “TV Everywhere” referred to, and only 4% know their login/account information for authentication.

Ugly – The looming problem of licensing: as networks and program creators work to push licensing fees higher and higher, there’ll be increasing push to limit access through authentication, and increased costs and burdens for audiences.  (See earlier post).  The real problem here is that while driving licensing fees up may be a short term revenue gain, it’s likely to also result in audience losses in the long term (which will harm both advertising and licensing revenue streams). 

Sources -  IP-Connected TV Devices Set For A Surge,  Multichannel News
Viewers Not Embracing TV Everywhere,  MediaPost Weekend 

No comments:

Post a Comment