Demanding More From TV
The development of several new on-demand television services looks set to greatly multiply the choice available to consumers. NewsLine’s James Holland looks at the developing market, and challenges for advertisers in what promises to be a most demanding future for broadcasting…
It has been said for a long time that the onus of television content is shifting from broadcasters as providers, to audiences as customers, with more choice than ever threatening to swamp the average viewer and detract heavily from broadcasters’ audience share.
So what is the answer? Broadcasters are more eager than ever to provide what viewers want, where they want it and at a time that suits them. With video mobiles, movies available from the internet and new on-demand television services beginning to deliver Britain’s first taste of true televisual choice to pockets of lucky viewers up and down the country.
There are obvious advantages to this new technology, with broadcasters able to target viewers more efficiently, as the opportunity for sponsorship, not just of individual programmes or genres, but of demographics begins to look ever more likely. There is clearly scope for on-demand television providers to stream tailored messages direct into families’ front rooms, all using existing internet protocol (IP) TV methods.
However, the technology still has a way to go before becoming a mainstream reality. Sky looks set to push more customers towards on-demand viewing in the future, with the company making sports and movie content available to home PCs later this year (see Sky To Provide Content Via Internet Downloads), and rumours suggesting that its next generation set-top boxes will pack broadband capabilities for true on-demand content (see New Sky Box To Pack Broadband For On-Demand TV).
Meanwhile, cable giants ntl and Telewest have both begun to roll out dedicated on-demand services, with Telewest’s Teleport clearly aimed squarely at Sky’s dominant position, boasting over 300 hours of television content and on-demand movies to customers in Cheltenham and Gloucester (see Telewest Boosts On Demand Content Fivefold).
The service is currently used by 26,000 of Telewest’s customers, with the company planning to offer access as standard to its 1 million customers nation-wide.
Heavyweight players such as Sky and Telewest are not the only broadcasters offering on-demand content, however, with HomeChoice, Britain’s longest running on-demand provider operating within the M25 and offering a rich mix of programmes, both live and on-request, at the touch of a button.
However, audiences of on-demand services remain in the minority. HomeChoice’s latest official figure puts its subscriber base at around 15,000, although this is set to rise as the company expands its coverage to encompass a potential 2.4 million households.
Streamed television and on-demand viewing is clearly the way forward for multi-channel operators, with the number of channels, viewer feedback and advertiser accountability limited only by the power of their own systems. With the impending digital switchover pushing many people towards subscription content there has clearly never been a more empowering time for TV viewers, or a more challenging time for broadcasters.