Mar 10, 2009 1:02 PM,

Cable challenges IPTV with interactive TV push

By Sarah Reedy

itaas to support TWC’s interactive app development, more cablecos join OCAP/EBIF Developer Network

More on this Topic

Industry News

Blogs

Briefing Room

Since the fourth quarter when TWC saw its basic video subscribers decrease by 197,000 to 13.1 million, the company – along with the other cablecos – has also been focusing on ramping up its Web presence. TWC, Comcast, Cox and DirecTV all recently announced plans to offer the latest network shows online with the goal of stopping the feared, although not yet materialized, video-cord cutters from ever getting out the scissors.

Comcast plans to launch its own branded portal, Comcast On-Demand Online, while TWC will take TV Everywhere, a strategy that would make cable programming available with a subscription model specific to each of the three screens – TV, PC and mobile. The newly spun-off TWC’s online foray would open the doors to all pay-TV providers, including IPTV operators. Any subscriber who pays for TV service can get that same content online. Even those consumers who don’t subscribe to a multichannel provider could eventually pay a web-only access fee, according to TWC CEO Jeff Bewkes.

The biggest opportunity in interactive TV today might actually come from consumers using their computers simultaneously with viewing TV programming rather than as a replacement, according to Kaufhold. He sees an opportunity for simply tying the Web site to the TV show rather than enabling interactivity directly on the bigger screen. For example, a cable or telco operator could have a prompt on the TV to go to the program’s Web site and make a purchase or get more information. This, along with new services like ZillionTV, is defining the interactive TV landscape for 2009, he said.

“If you are delivering your TV signal through the Internet connection, its two-way and every time you click on your remote, they can respond to it, so that becomes interactive TV without building new infrastructure,” Kaufhold said. “Anything that can be done to make TV more interesting that doesn’t cost anyone money, now will the time to try it. 2009 will be the time when a lot of these interactive TV experiments start up.”