Web TV / IPTV / DTV

What can one say that hasn't been said.....been rumoured awhile, now it are here.

NBC and Newscorp are finally starting their own New New Channel to the End User

Thing that actually interests is that they are not automatically looking at acquisition.....maybe they will build it rather than pay high prices 2006 style, may not be such a dim plan, consider:

Broadstuff Biz Case (expurgated version*)

Cost of Service build - $1m
Cost of Operation before breakeven - $100m
Cost of "persuading" critical mass of YouTube UGC videos onto new service = $5 / video x 50 million clips = $ 250m (added to their content)
Ongoing cost of suing ass off YouTube - $10m

Bargain

* Numbers strictly for illustration only of course

As always, execution is the issue....................

We went to the IPTV Forum 07 exhibition in London. Although smaller, it was quite interesting contrasting it with IBC in Amsterdam last year. At IBC, it seemed everyone was some form of end to end IPTV platform service supplier. That was the inspiration for our "MyPCTV" garage Web TV rig that we blogged about last year

Here, they have retreated back to what they actually do in the value chain, and there was less IPTV and more "Web TV", "Edge Media" P2P services and other non IPTV plays.

What a difference a $1.65bn Acquisition makes

We will do a more factual post of the IPTV exhibition later, but it was interesting to note how the focus of teh companies' marketing has shifted, IPTV is not quite as fashionable anymore. Web TV? Suits You Sir......

Speaking of suits, its also interesting contrasting this conference with two recent conferences I went to, the Linux Exhibition and the Future of Web Apps (FOWA 07). Something hits you the minute you walk in:

Everybody is wearing Suits.

At FOWA, Jeans were the New Chinos, and casual was in. Here the men wore suits, and as is usual at these things the women wore business casual-fling (I know, I know.........but true nonetheless).

Does this matter?

Maybe not, but dress shows what tribe you belong to, and tribes determine the way you look at the world - your social nets, philosophies of life, way of looking at the world - your day to day ambient culture, if you like.

Web TV is fundamentally about the Meedja, not Telcoland. And Media people (by and large) don't wear suits - they seem to belong to a different tribe, as did the Presentation Layer people at FOWA.

In other words, the ambient culture at IPTV was Telco, and not Media. So maybe if these companies want to talk Web TV, P2P Media, Web 2.0 et al - they maybe need to merge into those tribes a bit.

And lose the suits ?