![]()
1
Evolving Viewing Paradigms
1.1 OVERVIEW OF THE EVOLVING ENVIRONMENT
Many industry observers share the view that âThe television sector is facing a challenging and an unprecedented period of transformation ⊠Television [is] at Crossroads.â1 A number of forces are expected to reshape the video distribution and consumption environments during this decade. Major drivers for this evolution include (1) new viewing habits, such as time shifting for nonlinear and on-demand content consumption, (2) new distribution channels (effectively, new content providers, especially Internet-based, along with new transport mechanism, such as streaming), (3) new technologies, and, (4) standardization of Internet Protocol (IP)-based delivery, especially in conjunction multicast-based IP Television (IPTV) networks and/or with web-based content downloading (streaming) and social networks.
New viewer paradigms are evolving related to consumption of entertainment video and TV programming that can be summarized as âanywhere, anything, anytime, any platformâ; namely, âfrom any source, any content, in any (encoded) form, at any time, on any user-chosen device, consumed at any location.â Many new TV sets that now have Ethernet networking connections built directly into the set and require no additional equipment or set-top boxes (STBs) for directly accessing the Internet; also, many high-end TVs already come with the ability to conduct video calls. In the view of some industry observers, these viewer habits, technologies, and approaches will play a part in eventually supplanting broadcast and cable television with Internet programming and distribution. While these predictions may not come to such a full dĂ©nouement in the immediate short or medium term, say, mid-decade, it is worth, nonetheless, to consider what the potential implications are for all stakeholders for the end-of-the-decade and beyond.
In this work, we refer to this new paradigm as Nontraditional TV (NTTV). New viewer approaches include, but are not limited to the following:
- Watching entertainment/news using the Internet (such as a TV show, a movie, or a short clip).
- Watching a multicast (rather than broadcast) entertainment/news program.
- Watching a video on-demand (VoD) program (such as a movie or pay-per-view event; VoD is also known as content on-demand [CoD]).
- Watching time-shifted TV (TSTV):
- utilizing home-based hardware; or
- utilizing network-based hardware.
- Watching entertainment/news with a mobile smartphone, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a videogame console (e.g., the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3), a tablet screen (e.g., Amazon Kindle Fire/Apple iPad/B&N Nook), or a device in a car or boat.
- Watching user-generated content (UGC), particularly utilizing social networks.
In this work, time shifted implies the capture of (what was) a live-TV program, either by a customer device or a user-programmable network-resident device, for playback within a relatively short time (up to a few days). Time shifting does not include, in our definition, VoD downloads of a commercially packaged video clip from a Cable TV provider or from an Internet site. Some other related definitions are in order as follows:
- Internet television (also known as Internet TV, online TV) is a television service distributed via the Internet by streaming, as exemplified by services such as Hulu (for U.S. content) and BBC iPlayer (for U.K content). The content is typically commercially produced TV material, but the âtransmission/distributionâ channel is the Internet; the âtransmission/distributionâ also includes network-resident storage (supported by video servers). Internet TV content is delivered over the open Internet as the term implies (not over a dedicated IP network). Content providers can reach consumers directly, regardless of the carrier or carriers providing the Internet backbone connectivity or Internet access. Video content is accessible from any Internet-ready computer device and is accessible around the worldâa consumer does use STBs, although increasingly TV sets and STBs have direct Internet connections themselves. Video content is now increasingly available on the Internet. In the past, Internet TV has suffered from low quality; this limitation is now being progressively overcome due to greater bandwidth availability in the Internet core and in the consumerâs access. Some approaches also use peer-to-peer (P2P) protocols.
- Web television (Web TV, also known as web video) is a genre of digital entertainment distinct from traditional television: in Web TV, the content is created specifically for first viewing on the Internet (via broadband access and/or on mobile networks.) Web television shows, or Web series, are original episodic shorts (2â9 minutes per episode at press time, although longer episodes may appear in the future). Some notable series include Dr. Horribleâs Sing-Along Blog, The Guild, and Prom Queen. Web television networks included the following at press time (however, some of these also post TV-originated material): The WB.com,2 MySpace, YouTube, Blip.tv, and Crackle.
- Time-shifted TV is a service or capability that allows the consumer to watch a TV program originally as a broadcast-, cable-, satellite-, or IPTV-transmission, that has been time shifted. The time shift service has two flavors. In a basic flavor, the user can preplan the recording of a scheduled TV program (using a local user-owned device, a local cable-provided device, or a remote network-based device); the user can watch the program any time later while still being able to pause, rewind, and resume the playout. Some systems allow the user to skip commercial advertisements during playback. In a more advanced flavor, the service allows a user to halt a scheduled content service in real time and allows the user to continue watching the program later, by providing buffering for pause, rewind, and resume functions. Some refer to time-shifted TV as âcatch-up TV,â being that it allows consumers to watch a broadcasterâs program at their own convenience.
- IPTV is a framework and architecture that when instantiated in an actual network supports efficient distribution of (targeted) multimedia services, such as television/video/audio/text/graphics/data. The content is delivered over IP-based networks (these being IP Version 4 (IPv4) based and/or IP Version 6 (IPv6) based, instead of being traditional cable-based) that are tightly managed to support the required level of quality of service/quality of experience (QoS/QoE), security, interactivity, and reliability. Its services are provided to customers via a subscription mechanism very similar to traditional Cable TV service.
Collectively, we refer to the first two approaches listed above as Internet-Based TV (IBTV). See Table 1.1 for related concepts (table compiled from various industry sources). Internet-based devices that support IBTV viewing are becoming more popular, ranging from hybrid Internet-ready STBs and digital video recorders (DVRs), to home theater PCs (HTPCs) (that obviously are Internet-ready), to Internet-ready TV sets. These devices enable the kind of transition that is discussed in this text. An HTPC is a converged device that combines a personal computer with a software application that supports video playback; the HTPC unit is typically colocated with a home entertainment system.
TABLE 1.1 Various Evolving TV Technologies, Services, and Approaches (Partial List)
| Broadcast TV | One-way transmission of TV signals from one point to two or more other points. |
| Connected TV | TV sets with built-in Ethernet/WiFi/Internet capabilities. |
| Converged services | The integration of Internet, multimedia, e-mail, presence, instant messaging, mobile commerce (m-commerce), and/or services with voice service. |
| Internet-based TV (IBTV) | Video distribution approaches such as Web television, Internet television, and/or User-Generated Video (UGV). |
| Internet Protocol (IP) TV (IPTV) | Multimedia services, such as television/video/audio/text/graphics/data, delivered over IP-based networks that are tightly managed to support the required level of Quality of Service/Quality of Experience (QoS/QoE), security, interactivity, and reliability. Access is usually provided via a subscription service very similar to traditional Cable TV service, except for the transport network, that is IP-based (IPv4 and/or IPv6). Content is supplied to a set-top box to be watched on a TV set.
IPTV is a method of delivering video using an IP network (as an alternative to cable or satellite, but increasingly in conjunction to these systems). IPTV utilizes a closed, tightly-managed network (a âwalled gardenâ), operated by a telecom provider, often as part of a âtriple-playâ bundled package (TV, Internet, and voice) [SJO200801]. |
| Internet television (also known as Internet TV, and/or Online TV) | A television service distributed via the Internet, as exemplified by services such as Hulu (for U.S. content) and BBC iPlayer (for U.K content). The content is typically commercially produced TV material, but the âtransmission/distributionâ channel is the Internet; the transmission/distributionâ also includes network-resident storage (supported by video servers). |
| Linear TV | A television service in which a continuous stream flows in real time from the service provider to the terminal device and where the user cannot control the temporal order in which contents are viewed. Typically found in Broadcast TV environments. |
| Nontraditional TV (NTTV) | New viewer approaches include (but not limited to) the following: watching entertainment/news using the Internet (such as a TV show, a movie, or a short clip); watching a multicast (rather than broadcast) entertainment/news program; watching a Video On Demand (VoD) program (such as a movie or pay-per-view event); watching time-shifted TV (TSTV); watching entertainment/news with a mobile smartphone, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a videogame console, a tablet, or a device in a car or boat; and/or watching user-generated content, particularly utilizing social networks. |
| Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming devices | (Also known as OTT set-tops) devices employed by viewers to watch shows or programs via multimedia and open public networks (particularly, the Internet). OTTs enable smart TVs, set-top boxes, PCs, tablets, smart phones, and game consoles to receive and process streaming video. Newer TV sets may have this functionality built in. |
| Package | A collection of content components that in some combination (either all or a subset) together provide an end-user experience and are intended to be used together. |
| Pay Per View (PPV) | ...
