A New Era for Television: London Completes Digital Evolution
I was part of a little piece of television history recently, when I braved the wind and rain in south London (what's new?) to celebrate the digital switchover in the capital and the surrounding counties. The event held at the Crystal Palace broadcast tower signified the end of analog television for nearly 12 million people, leaving only Tyne Tees and Northern Ireland to complete the UK digital TV puzzle.
I attended the event with my Ericsson colleague, Noel Matthews, TV Business Development and we were treated to a thoroughly entertaining celebration of British television. A panel of guests featuring Sir David Attenborough, Professor Brian Cox, Sir Peter Bazalgette and Chris Evans reflected on their contributions to UK television and shared their most memorable moments from the last 75 ye
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Improving Fairness in HTTP Adaptive Streaming
There is a great deal of interest in HTTP adaptive streaming at present because it can greatly improve the user experience for video delivery over unmanaged networks. There are many network impacts from implementing HTTP adaptive streaming and I believe we have found a novel approach to traffic management. If we can successfully implement these new network management techniques, they could be applied to optimize fair bandwidth allocation between competing streams.
Seamless adaptive streaming operates by dynamically adjusting the play-out rate to stay within the actual network throughput and device capability, to a given endpoint, without the need for 'rebuffering'. So, if the network throughput suddenly drops, the picture may degrade but the end-user still sees a picture. This activity is driven from the client device requesting chunks of dat
Ericsson Hits the Jackpot with TV Technology STAR Award at NAB 2012
I have many good memories from my recent trip to NAB 2012 and I am particularly proud of our TV Technology STAR Award for the AVP 3000 Voyager, part of the brand new AVP multi-codec, multi-function video compression and processing platform. We are hugely honored to receive the accolade for preeminent technological innovation, especially in a market where we have been innovators for almost two decades.
AVP 3000 is undoubtedly the most advanced live content acquisition solution on the market and we are delighted that the award came so quickly after the launch of the AVP platform at NAB.
From Vegas to Bali: Multi-screen Discussion Continues in Asia Pacific
Two weeks, two continents, two completely different conferences. After taking part in two very productive talks on MPEG-DASH at NAB in Las Vegas, I travelled over 8000 miles across the Pacific to speak about multi-screen TV at Asia Pacific Pay-TV Operators Summit (APOS) in Bali. I think it's safe to say the locations could hardly be more contrasting!
I certainly wasn't expecting to be greeted by a 30 foot long python at the FOX International Channel party (he secured a plus one invite with one of other guests).
Nationwide HD Content for PBS Member Station Viewers
I am very pleased to be involved in an important partnership deal for Ericsson with the U.S. public broadcasting service, PBS. It has selected our MPEG-4 AVC content distribution system to feed more high definition (HD) content to over 350 member stations across all 50 American states, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa.
The American television market is one of the most competitive in the world. U.S. consumers want to access a wide range of premium content and they are increasingly turning to HD to enhance their television experience. This places a greater demand on broadcasters to invest more money in encoding platforms.
US viewers promised 'Best seat in the house' with NBC Olympics
Like almost every sports fan I know, I am eagerly anticipating this summer’s Olympic Games in London, which will be yet another fantastic showcase of the world’s greatest athletes. That’s why I am very pleased to be part of yet another partnership with NBC Olympics to deliver solutions and support services during its coverage of the 2012 Games.
We have enjoyed successful working relations with NBC in the past, with our previous collaborations including the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, as well as the past two winter Games in Vancouver 2010 and Torino 2006. I'm very excited to see how our latest solutions will enhance NBC's coverage even further.
Chinese TV Enters New Dawn of 3D
I am really excited to be involved in a landmark partnership deal for Ericsson with China Central Television (CCTV), to power the first 3D channel in China to a potential audience of more than 113 million homes.
The move towards 3D will hold particular interest for sports fans in China, especially with the Olympic Games fast approaching. Just imagine the sight of Chinese favourite Liu Xiang powering his way over the 110m hurdles, as millions of fans across China avidly cheer him on towards the gold medal he was cruelly denied through injury four years ago.
Next Generation Compression Platforms - A Winning Hand for Broadcasters
After travelling over 5000 miles from the UK, I've finally arrived at the home of the casinos, crooners and countless world championship boxing matches. Viva Las Vegas! I'm here for the annual NAB Show where we're launching a number of new products which will extend our position in enabling broadcasters to acquire, exchange and deliver high-quality content with best-in-class video processing performance.
Vegas is without doubt one of the most flamboyant locations on the global exhibition circuit and NAB is a fantastic event that allows us all to touch base with a number of colleagues and industry friends.
Chunghwa Telecom - Leading the Multi-screen Explosion on the Asian Market
The annual IP&TV World Forum is one of the events I look forward to most on the Ericsson event calendar. For me, it is a fantastic platform to meet and exchange ideas with other leading industry minds and an opportunity to discover new stories and emerging trends.
This year, I joined Chunghwa Telecom's Managing Director, Multimedia Department, Northern Taiwan Business Group, Dr.
Blockbuster Movies, On-Demand for Chinese Viewers
I'm sure I'm not the only one to notice we're in the middle of a very busy period of industry events! At the CCBN show in Beijing, we were innundated with visitors to our stand and I think many of the Ericsson team lost count on day one of the number of demonstrations they delivered of all our various solutions and services.
It's always a pleasure to attend CCBN, the largest TV technology and equipment expo in China, and to interact with some of the 90,000 attendees from more than 30 countries worldwide. For me, one of the highlights of this year's conference was the level of interest generated by our partnershiop with YOU On Demand, the first national Pay-Per-View (PPV) and video on-demand (VOD) platform in
It's Time to Move Towards MPEG-DASH
What's the future of multi-network solutions in the real world? It's hardly the most straight forward question but it formed the basis of a recent breakfast conference debate I attended a few hours before the start of the 2012 IP&TV World Forum in London.
I was invited onto a panel of broadcasters, network operators and industry leaders, which included my Ericsson colleague, Head of IPTV Marketing, Alan Delaney, to face an audience who seemed rather grateful for the free coffee and bacon sandwiches! We addressed how different businesses have responded to new technologies rivalling TV and IPTV, the potential threats from pure play OTT provi
OTT - Embrace it, don't fear it
Service operators need to make a choice. Do they want to ignore the growing consumer interest in OTT services or are they ready to embrace the trend and leverage some of the opportunities while the television industry contintues to re-establish its hierarchy?
By Giles Wilson, Head of TV Technology, Ericsson
Service operators need to make a choice. Do they want to ignore the growing consumer interest in OTT services or are they ready to embrace the trend and leverage some of the opportunities while the television industry contintues to re-establish its hierarchy?
Multi-Screen/Multi-Platform Debate Descends On London
The annual IP&TV World Forum has begun! Find out why I am looking forward to seeing how the industry is delivering on the new multi-screen TV experiences consumers want and addressing the inevitable coalition of broadcast and IP.
The annual IP&TV World Forum event began at Olympia, London and I am looking forward to seeing how the industry is delivering on the new multi-screen TV experiences consumers want and addressing the inevitable coalition of broadcast and IP.
Is 4K the new 3D?
At the CES 2012 in Las Vegas, it was very clear that manufacturers of TVs are evolving the once-simple screen into a myriad of connected applications: Skype chat, connected video and audio services, weather, news and even visualizing the connected home.
Find out why Simon Frost, Head of TV Marketing at Ericsson, is excited about screen resolution.
Mobility - the new opportunity in town
On the first day of CES, Bruce Rosenblum, President of Warner Bros. Television Group, spoke about how mobile broadband is affecting the entertainment industry.
In this video he discusses the massive shifts in the consumer landscape and how TV has moved outside of the home and into a mobile environment.
He says that while all this new technology is enabling consumers to find content more conveniently, he also considers it a great opportunity to make material more accessible and to create a more intimate experience for the consumer.
How do you keep a fickle audience happy?
At this year’s Consumer Electronic Show it’s proving to be more about the intangible, such as applications and connectivity, than the tangible. In this video Ericsson's Dodi Axelsson talks about the importance of being able to access content from anywhere at any time and on any device.
Watch the video.
Are retransmission rules to be eliminated in the US?
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have introduced legislation that would eliminate "retransmission consent" rules.
Under those rules today, cable and satellite firms are obligated to carry local broadcast signals on their systems With the retransmission consent rules eliminated, cable/satellite firms and broadcasters would negotiate their own terms for carriage of broadcast programming. It is anticipated that elimination of the rule would end the ugly retransmission disputes that have threatened
Smart TVs aren't smart enough…yet.
Services and products that are successful in the marketplace have one thing in common, they manage to entice the consumers to buy them. They promise something the consumers want or at least think they want. Then there are the products that promise consumers a lot, but fail to deliver.
In the Ericsson ConsumerLab TV Video Consumer Trend report 2011, what consumers want most (and are most prepared to pay for) in their TV experience is HD quality, fresh box office movies directly to the TV, time shifting and an ad-free TV experience. At the other end are smart
A platform-neutral regulatory framework proposal emerges in Australia
Australian Convergence Review Committee announced its recommendation of far-reaching reforms and a new regulator for the digital economy in its
The intertwined relationship between digital creativity and digital productivity
Art feeds the soul. But who feeds the artist?
"...Art feeds the soul. But who feeds the artist? Often, this debate focuses on copyright, especially enforcing copyright. But this isn't the whole story...Economically, we want financial reward so that artists can benefit from their hard work and be incentivised to create more. I am an unconditional supporter of these objectives.
EU Court of Justice: Censorship in Name of Copyright Violates Fundamental Rights
The European Court of Justice historic decision in the Scarlet Extended case ruled that forcing ISPs to monitor and censor their users communications violated EU law,in particular, the right to freedom of communication.
At a time of ever increasing pressure from entertainment industry lobby groups, the decision suggests that censorship measures requested by the entertainment industry are a disproportionate means to enforce an outdated copyright regime.
Studio's Power Struggle with Cinema Operators over Premium VOD in the US
In the April 2011 report, Escalating Premium VOD Power Struggle Favors the Exhibitors, Eric Wold and Greg Scott, Marriman Capital (US), highlighted the main pain points in the channel conflict between physical and digital distribution of filmed entertainment.
The authors' opinion is that it is the cinema operators that have the most power to wield and that studios are likely to either bend on terms or back down completely - or risk losing their most important release window and a major revenue source.
Operators take on Social TV at the Monaco Media Forum
TV is becoming increasingly social with a range of applications now available to consumers. Seeing Orange TV Check, an over-the-top service, presented by Patrice Slupowski from Orange at the Monaco Media Forum last week was really intersting in light of recent developments.
The TV Check service is a social TV application for smartphones. The user simply points the phone at the TV screen and the service recognizes the program that is on TV.
‘Worlds collide’ at Monaco Media Forum
Last week I attended the Monaco Media Forum, an annual event that brings together leaders from the media industry. Giants such as Google and Turner Broadcasting Systems, along with hot startups such as Soundcloud and Readmill, were there discussing leadership in the digital media revolution.
Nikesh Arora, Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer at Google, talked about ‘worlds colliding’ using the example of advertising. He said that today, we have traditional advertising and online advertising, but in the end, both will merge into one: advertising. It will become obsolete to discuss different forms.
Set Spectrum Free - Incentive Auctions
The first spectrum auction in the US was held in 1994, and auctions are now accepted in a wide range of regions worldwide as a tool to distribute spectrum efficiently.
Ericsson comments on the EC Green Paper Audiovisual Works Online in the EU
Ericsson is pleased to be able to respond to the GREEN PAPER on the online distribution of AV works in the European Union.
Global Best Practice in Broadband Implementation
Dr Bob Horton, Senior Telecoms Expert, ITU and private consultant
The Report deals with the six important levels of decision making comprising a National Broadband Plan in the form of a Decision Tree and discusses best practice at each of these decision levels. Different approaches for developed and developing countries are addressed, and there highlights of country practices embedded in the report. In additi
Technology Neutral Copyright has a positive impact on investment, job creation and innovation in ICT
The following economic research paper validates the desirability of a technology neutral approach to copyright and copyright licensing.
In 2008 in the US, the court clarified that Cablevision was not directly infringing copyright by providing a remote Digital Video Recorder service outside of the consumer’s home. This allowed consumers to record and store authorized TV content on a device located in Cablevision’s facilities. This ruling was based on flexible, technology-neutral limitations present in U.S.
You on demand to deliver Hollywood blockbuster movies to China
Ericsson continues to enable next-generation television services in the People’s Republic of China, providing advanced content management and protection solutions to YOU On Demand, China’s first national Pay-Per-View and Video On Demand platform.
Ericsson and YOU On Demand are deploying the first secure internet protocol delivery system of digital content to cable operators throughout China. The system ensures that content owners can be confident that their digital assets are protected at every stage of the delivery process and that cable operators have access to the premium Hollywood and domestic content their subscribers want.
The digital consumers are here and waiting...and waiting – where are the flicks?
What if there was a very high consumer demand for premium digital media content? Check.
What if technology and services existed that could address that need and create a larger, more diverse and thrilling media market? Check.
What if it was possible for digital media service companies to access and deliver premium digital content easily, transparently and at a fair, competitive price? Well… no.
That simplified reasoning pretty much summarizes the overall cause of internet piracy and why new, exciting digital services have had such a hard time entering the media market. Now let’s look into the areas of consumer demand, facilitating technologies and availability of media content.
Australian Media In Transition: "Old" Complementing "New"
Despite the rapid rise of "new" digital media, the "old" offline media remains a very significant component in Australian’s media consumption habits. Over the past two decades, the average time spent watching TV has declined by only 10 minutes per day.
Australia's telecom and media regulator ACMA has just released a study titled "Digital Australians - Expectations about media content in a converging media environment", which also finds that consumers use "old" and "new" media to complement each other.
Australians: content more important than delivery platform
A new study has revealed that the media delivery platform is not the most important distinction Australian consumers make when deciding what to consume; instead it is about the variety of content offered.
The "Digital Australians - Expectations about media content in a converging media environment" report issued by Australia's telecom and media regulator ACMA, also found that consumers have similar expectations when deciding on content, whether it be accessed via traditional media or online.
IPTV: $20B Bonanza for Telcos
Telecom operators around the world are facing similar challenges: a decline in the traditional, high-margin voice business, and containing the high costs associated with the fast-growing, but low-margin, data business.
The good news is new research has suggested IPTV is a high-potential telecom segment that could generate $20 billion in new revenue.
Research firm Ovum finds that there are 11 telecom segments expected to experience rapid growth and combined burgeoning revenues of $213 billion between 2012 and 2015.
AT&T IPTV Goes Social
US operator AT&T has become the latest pay TV provider to get on the social TV bandwagon by enabling iPhone and iPad support for its U-verse IPTV service. The new support offers four TV applications that allow consumers to view real-time TV content and use social features on their mobile devices.
“Customers want their TV viewing experience to be social, without distracting from the TV show on their TV screen,” said Jeff Weber, Vice President of video services at AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “And they want their choice of apps from their smartphone or tablet to work seamlessly with their TV and enhance their favorite TV shows.
Private Copying and Fair Compensation: An empirical study of copyright levies in Europe
Produced by Professor Martin Kretschmer,the report offers the first independent empirical assessment of the European levy system as a whole. The research consolidates the evidence on levy setting, collection and distribution.
The finding that the Levy system is not harmonized across the EU frontier is hardly a big surprise. What is more suprising is the low amount of collected revenue that is distributed from levy revenues to recording artists, less than €0.01 per album.
Premium VOD - ready, steady, go!
Ten years ago sitting in a dark room with a group of strangers and experiencing a well told story together was a great way to spend an afternoon or an evening.
The large screen, the surround sound, the atmosphere that can only be created when more than a few people are experiencing the same emotion at the one time, this was what the cinema was all about.
TV today is increasingly a multi- screen experience
According to a study by Nielsen, around 40 percent of tablet and smartphone owners in the US are using their devices daily while watching TV.
So what activities split users attention between screens?
EBU Technical Report on the Future of Terrestrial Broadcasting
The Technical arm of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) recently released a report on the future of terrestrial broadcasting.
The report concludes that the future of audiovisual media distribution is significantly changing, and we are entering an era of multi-platform distribution.
Multiscreen Pay TV
IHS Screen Digest analyst, Ben Keen, on the challenges media companies and operators face in bringing Pay TV services to multiscreen platform beyond the set top box.
Speaking to Ericsson at the recent IBC 2011 in Amsterdam - the annual global gathering for professionals working with television entertainment and news content – Keen says there is now a fundamental trend of operators offering content as a bundled service across platforms.
Former MTV International Chairman: Mobile technology is transforming TV
Bill Roedy, the former Chairman and Chief Executive of MTV International, says the move into the Networked Society provides huge opportunities for the media industry.
Roedy has one of the most impressive track records in the media industry. Having worked 10 years with US cable network channel HBO, he went on to spend 22 years with MTV, heading up the international expansion of the music channel and more than 20 related channels, such as Comedy Central and Nickleodeon.
