Advanced Television

Smart TVs prime move to hybrid video services

May 9, 2011

Growing sales of Internet-enabled or connected TVs will help push video service providers to move more quickly to develop offerings that combine elements of conventional pay-TV with over-the-top (OTT) Internet video in an effort to maintain service revenues, but the migration path to hybrid video is uncertain at this point, according to the latest report – Connected TVs Will Help Drive Big Changes in Video Services – from Heavy Reading Insider.

“Connected TVs clearly will have an impact on the pay-TV world and IPTV in particular,” notes Danny Dicks, research analyst with Heavy Reading Insider and author of the report. “The big question right now is how disruptive connected TV will be to the establishedbusiness models of pay-TV providers and their ecosystem of suppliers, and to what extent connected TV will spur innovation in service design and delivery in what is already a very dynamic industry.”

According to Heavy Reading Insider, IPTV and other pay-TV providers must speed up their development of hybrid services, learning both from the experiences of those innovative operators that have launched such services and from the success of connected TV manufacturers’ services and those of their platform providers, Dicks says. “They need to think more creatively about ways they can embrace connected TVs as part of their offering. Dealing with connected TV manufacturers might offer a way to develop new services that complement the existing delivery of services,” he adds.

Other key findings include:

– Connected TVs offer a simple alternative to other device-based OTT video consumption – one that now poses a threat to pay-TV service provider revenue.

– Connected TV platforms are replicating essentially all the functions of pay-TV services, with an increasing amount of both free and paid content to choose from.

– Pay-TV service providers cannot afford to ignore the impact that connected TVs will have on their business.

– The IPTV community is looking at connected TVs both defensively and with an eye for new opportunities that may open up.

– Solution vendors must consider connected TV makers as a new route to market for their technology.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Connected TV, OTT, Pay TV