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Entertainment in the Networked Home by Ken Pyle (ken.pyle@viodi.com), Viodi, LLC |
July 21st, 2004 Issue |
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On the heels of the OPASTCO fun fest was a one-day, tightly focused workshop
from Parks Associates
titled, “Digital Entertainment in the Networked Home.”
Kurt Scherf, Vice President and Principal Analyst, and
Michael Cai, Senior Analyst, shared their extensive research
regarding the trends associated with the digital home. The networked home
is becoming a significant reality, due to a number of drivers, probably
the biggest of which is the competition that has resulted from having
multiple broadband providers to the home. This workshop looked at not only the traditional broadband providers, such as CATV, DBS and DSL, but unlicensed wireless and Broadband over Powerline. Parks suggested that the, “broadband game won’t be won among the early adopters”, but by the one that can, “bring the laggards to the table”. One of Parks’ key messages is that, to differentiate and to win the laggards, providers will have to layer new applications onto their offerings to create “service bundles”. As an example, the increased and steady deployment of Digital Video Recorders by cable operators is a direct result of the success of the DBS providers as cable had to meet the service package offered by DBS. Parks indicated that cable will overtake satellite due to the interactive nature of their offering. The addition of local and personalized content, such as weather and traffic reports, will continue to be an important differentiator for terrestrial-based operators that will be difficult for the satellite broadcast model to meet. Further, Parks suggested that the priority for cable and satellite service providers should be:
It was suggested that DVRs actually drive the demand for VOD, as consumers get used to watching content on their own terms. Free on Demand content is another means that hooks customers into the on-demand world. Beyond the natural television replacement market, Parks does not see a compelling service or feature that will accelerate the demand for HDTV. Combining HDTV and DVR seems to have some positive impact as 30% of the DVRs SA is shipping today are HD capable. Scherf echoed the words of my friend and colleague Peter Lowten when he said that one of the biggest beneficiaries of HDTV and the proliferation of new networked home entertainment devices will be the furniture makers, as cabinets need to be redesigned for 16:9 aspect television sets. It was also suggested that another beneficiary could be those service providers that provide an integrated package of services, which might include home theater installation, training and maintenance. For independent telcos, a networked home service business could be lucrative. I talked to one telco this week that provides this service in new home developments. They have arrangements with local retailers for the wholesale purchase of equipment and they provide consulting services when a person is buying the home. Working in conjunction with the developer, they have figured out how to get these purchases included as upgrades to the house, adding a small amount to the mortgage and making the purchase of high end, high margin entertainment systems a relatively easy sell. Parks suggests that coaxial cable will be the preferred means of distributing video content around the house because of its bandwidth and existing base (70+ million homes). Multi-room DVRs will be one reason for sending files around the home. Wireless and broadband over electrical networking solutions will also have significant places in the home environment, but primarily for data. It really is difficult to capture the entire breadth and depth of this conference in one brief article. Parks has some good forecasts, based on their basic research, regarding the demand for various on-demand and streaming content, such as movies, games and audio. They overlay the demand for services with the availability and commercialization of technology that will facilitate these new services. This workshop and the materials proved to be a good primer on the current and future state of the networked home. All displayed trademarks, logos and service marks are the property of their respective owners. © 2003 Viodi, LLC. All Rights Reserved |
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IP Video Conference Agenda Economic and Product Feature Considerations for Telecom Network Architectures The Consumer Electronics Interface – Can You See Me Now? Regulation 101 – What a Telco Has to Consider When Deploying Video & Other New Services Get in the Game – How do Games Play in a Service Providers’ Plans? Advertising and other Alternative Revenue Sources Integrating VoIP Content Into a Telco’s Bundled Service Offering Making Sticky Bundles – Baking up new ways to gain and retain customers |
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