That Was The Month That Was

July is proving an interesting month for the UK broadcasting and video market as companies change hands , focus and new enterants start to emerge.

First we saw the change of focus of Joost, which started with a fanfare , significant backing and support. Having been the driving force behind the groundbreaking Skype and Kazaa services, it looked like Joost’s founders could do nothing wrong. Alas reputation doesn’t guarantee success and this month Joost announced a reinvention refocus dropping its consumer video focus and reinvent itself as a business to business web-TV platform provider. The company had found it increasingly hard to stay afloat as a consumer-focussed independent ad-supported online video service.
Joost biggest problem was content, or the lack of great content and its model by the time it woke up.

to stream the video through web browsers it was too late as users had already gone elsewhere. Whether it will survive as a ‘white label’ service provider remains in question.

Project Kanageroo, a collaboration between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 which was thwarted by the Competition Commission earlier this year and now has been acquired by Arqiva, which owns and operates part of the UK's terrestrial TV infrastructure and is a spectrum licence holder.

Argiva aims to use the technology to launch a new video-on-demand service with content likely to come from a range of content providers including the three broadcasters involved in the original joint venture.

Meanwhile Argiva face stiff competition from Hulu who continue to have discussions with UK broadcasters including ITV and Channel 4 and plans to launch in the UK later this year. Their offer is likely to include a significant amount of US content and would provide a one-stop shop for video on demand content.

The BBC's director general has suggested other broadcasters could share its iPlayer VOD service, which allows viewers to watch BBC shows online at a time of their choosing.

The BBC has revealed more detailed plans for, Canvas, its proposed joint venture with ITV and BT. It is now clear that what is envisaged is a platform and it intends to work with industry bodies such as the Digital Television Group, the European Broadcasting Union and the

Open IPTV Forum in defining appropriate standards. It is envisaged that Canvas will support a wide range of revenue options, including targeted advertising, micropayments and subscription and how these will be supported, including the approach to conditional access, digital rights management and billing.

The idea of a ‘box’ that combines broadcast and broadband delivered programmes with an intuitive interface is attractive to consumers. However, although the BBC has a role to play in establishing technical transmission standards, do they have the same role in designing the user experience of the box.

We envisage many more moves emerging, but the real test and answer lies in what the consumers decide to back.

Hulu To Step Into Kangeroo Void

Its ironic that the day that news broke that Orange has decided not to acquire the technology that was developed for Project Kangaroo, Hulu announced it was coming to the UK in September.

Kangaroo was the UK video on demand venture service proposed jointly by the UK broadcasters BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, to position themselves in a global market and fully online. The service and some may say naively squashed by the government when it decided it wasn’t part of their Digital Britain plans and raised competition concerns. It emerged that Orange was considering making a purchase of Kangaroo's underlying IPTV technology for its Orange TV services in France and elsewhere in Europe, but now that is no more.

Hulu, the free online video-on-demand service backed by News Corp, NBC Universal and Disney, doesn’t face the same governmental controls and is set to launch in Britain in September 2009, with 3,000 hours of American content and ITV and Channel 4 as content partners. Hulu is also understood to be in talks with the BBC.

So rather than have a strong UK service we now all fall in with a very strong US one. It beggars belief what the legacy of this UK government will finally be but good decision making will not be high on many peoples lists.

It is rumoured that negotiations have paused due to Hulu wishing to retain control over Channel 4’s and ITV’s advertising sales on the platform. Who will give in and what ad model will prevail is unclear but it’s a shame that a UK solution was scuppered in the first place.

BBC take one step back and Two Forward

BBC has announced plans to simulcast on handsets at the same time as they are broadcast on traditional television. Live TV is under beta testing enables all handsets with a WiFi connection to view BBC channels which have been optimised to play on small screens and hear radio broadcasts but their owners will need to hols a full colour TV licence.

Some programmes with licence restriction will be unavailable but the service is planned to grow enabling it to be enjoyed not just on the Nokia N series and TMobile G1 but on an expanding number of handsets. The BBC already enables some mobile phone users to access its catch-up television service, BBC iPlayer, through their handsets, but this will be the first time it has streamed live broadcasts to phones at the same time as they are being shown on television.

Also the joint broadcasting TV venture between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 that was hypocritically squashed by the competition regulator may be rescued by network operator Orange.

Project Kangaroo, the video-on-demand joint venture is being eyed up by Orange who see it as complimentary to their television over the internet serviceIn November, Orange, which runs a television over the internet service in France, said it was considering different options for a launch in Britain.

So Is The UK Going Digital Selectively?

The anti BBC people will be no doubt rubbing their hands at the news that the Kangaroo joint project between BBC, ITV and Channel 4 is to be blocked by the Competition Commission. The service would have established an on demand video service to sell current shows from C4 and ITV and archived BBC shows. The reason given was that the posed service posed "too much of a threat to competition".

One week after the government had tabled a digital Britain plan another arm of the establishment has gone the other way and the losers will be the public. The logic was that the project would inhibit other on demand services developing a service. The reality is that the services are all under considerable pressure with ITV haemorrhaging ad revenues, Channel 4 and 5 close to a survival marriage and the knives poised as always over the BBC.

These companies may commission productions but today the majority of content is independent and it’s the delivery where the consolidation makes most sense. In a global market with strong international dominant branded players a UK consolidation makes more sense than a fragmented one that is potentially unable to compete on the global stage.

The BBC's iPlayer followed the lead of Channel 4and has proved a high success story and proof of the demand for a free service and ITV now also offers a similar service. Kangaroo would have enabled the BBC to offer its huge archive of material and importantly build a global brand enabling those outside the UK to use the service on a pay to view basis. It could have removed the current 7 day window. This could have been rolled out country by country on the back of BBC.com. As it is the BBC may have to live within their branded section of iTunes, further building Apple’s brand rather than a UK one.

The combined entity would have consolidated investment, user experience and enabled money to be funnelled into what really matters content and rights.

At a time when the UK government cries global with one breath it’s a shame their narrow minds stifle global opportunities with the other.

TV is about to change forever

Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom are not new to this blog and no doubt they will appear again. But whereas their previous ventures are known to nearly all they remain relatively unknown. When you mention Kazza to music downloader’s, there is an instant recognition of a the pioneer of peer to peer file sharing. When you mention Sykpe, the fact that there are some people who are still not connected to this phenomenon of free internet telephony is a mystery. But today Janus and Niklas have moved onto Joost and a free broadband TV service.

Joost aspires to be a global TV network, free to enjoy and sponsored by advertising. No longer restricted to the small video window, or short YouTube clip, but full screen, higher quality with entire TV programmes and the ability to share with friends.

The trick is harder here as they have to get users watching, get content owners to supply and keep the advertisers involved. They have already signed up 800,000 in an invitation only phase. So success beckons or does it?

In many countries it looks likely to happen but the UK’s terrestrial companies have ganged up to for Project Kangaroo, which is trying to do for broadband what Freeview has done for digital TV. Interesting time with the Beebs iPlayer due out and the other channels all make their offerings. Somehow I think this duo will still achieve much and are the ones to watch.