Linear is old tech - on demand is the future
Well, that's what Virgin Media seem to think, and this interesting piece suggests that our cableco at least is set to move on from the traditional scheduled TV means of providing content.
This rather suggests that the days of more and more digital channels being added to VM may be coming to an end, in favour of a bigger and more comprehensive on demand selection from multiple sources. The question now is, how much longer do we have to wait before we see some more streaming services added to our TV packages? http://www.digitaltveurope.net/71015...pen-platforms/ Virgin Media: future of pay TV means more open platforms Only pay TV providers that aggregate multiple content providers together are likely to have a future, according to David Bouchier, chief digital entertainment officer, Virgin Media. Speaking at Marketforce’s Future of Broadcasting conference this morning, Bouchier also said that in the medium term, Liberty Global-owned Virgin Media faced the challenge of addressing two different audiences with conflicting needs. For younger audiences on-demand viewing is the norm, said Bouchier, but the majority still spend 83% of their time watching linear viewing. Most on-demand content is time-shifted viewing. Driven by the younger segment, there is a “dramatic decline” in the number of hours recorded on DVRs as people switch to on-demand, he said. “We have to provide a service…to both ends,” said Bouchier, in this “tale of two audiences”. Bouchier said that Virgin had “to go in a different direction to its competitors” with TV. “We are talking about moving away from simple linear TV and that [old] multichannel line-up,” he said. “Linear is the old technology and…not a valid pay TV proposition on its own.” Bouchier said “one brand is not enough”, meaning that Virgin has to provide a way for content partners to shift to an on-demand model. He cited the example of the Netflix app on Virgin’s platform, and the availability of on-demand viewing across screens on the platform, as showing the way ahead. Bouchier said that Virgin’s ability to bring multiple content sources together in a bundle delivers value to consumers and provides something that individual service providers such as Netflix can’t match. He said that the large global subscription video-on-demand companies are learning “a difficult truth” that the customer relationship established by the likes of Virgin Media, as a provider of bundled services, is “sticky” and “powerful”. For Netflix and others, keeping customers is a challenging business. “This [bundling] is core to our business. When you look at that fragmenting viewership…I am actually quite confident about where pay TV is going,” he said, arguing that no single online player offered sufficient value on its own. What Virgin needs to do is become “multi-service” player with market-leading broadband, he said. |
Re: Confirmed: linear is old tech - on demand is the future
It's the youth of today that are driving this and like it or not it will happen, personally I don't mind at all but media companies will have to change their game as will studios producing content.
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Re: Confirmed: linear is old tech - on demand is the future
As far as live sport goes on-demand doesn't work.
It would be good to be able to watch say last nights rugby league in full now (assuming you missed the chance to record it yesterday) Is this possible - no, at best you might get a few minutes highlights! Imagine the uproar if on-demand movies only gave you a 4-5 minute highlight package? The blurb says it is down to time-shifting, surely you can do this by recording the live programme and watching at a later time. |
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There is no reason at all why you can't see the whole match of a game that happened previously, as long as the broadcaster has the rights to do so. |
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But as we look in the mirror every morning, we are reminded that time does not stand still! |
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Sky already 'get it', which is why they have downplayed a little their commitment to getting sports rights at all costs, and why they have brought Now TV to our screens. The move to Sky on the internet next year will be the next big step. |
Re: Confirmed: linear is old tech - on demand is the future
OB, as much as I agree with you on everything else about linear tv, I cannot agree with you regarding live sports, there's no way in hell that I would pre record a live sports event to watch later, so linear tv for live sports events will always be here imo.
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but then they haven't got it, I really cannot see many internet only subscribers wanting to pay for their outdated business model of subbing to a load of channels in order to get access to the few you may want which is how I have read everything that has been published so far about their internet only Sky Q package. It seems to me its been designed to be exactly the same as their satellite package but I hope I'm wrong on that. |
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But you do understand that you can watch a streamed event live, right? |
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Reasons 1) often 2 or more matches on at same time that I want to watch (how else can I do that?) 2) I am out almost every Saturday - recording allows me to watch later in the evening (or at a later date) 3) my wife doesn't watch sport so I watch when she isn't around. All in all time-shifting is a fact of life for me. |
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Re: Confirmed: linear is old tech - on demand is the future
There is no conflict between streaming and watching live. You can watch live TV on the BBC i-Player, for example.
There appears to be a collective mental block on this subject! |
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