The new world of pay-TV: safely and securely managing content in a multi-platform environment
By Steve Christian, VP of Marketing at Verimatrix, provider of
leading software-based content security and revenue enhancement
technologies for pay-TV networks
 The new generation of television services is making the traditional landscape unrecognisable. Changes in how television is both delivered and accessed mean there is even more need for a robust content security system to underpin the business of service delivery. A shift in consumer behaviour demands that television is accessible when and where people want – a complete contrast to the traditional prescribed television schedule. Technological developments have also enabled television services to be offered on a number of devices beyond the traditional TV set – on a PC, via an Internet connection or a portable screen-based media device. An IP-based delivery model has gained momentum due to its flexibility to support services that meet the current consumer demand and its adaptability to meet future consumer needs as the market matures.
The IPTV market is currently burgeoning with nearly 10m IPTV subscribers worldwide, according to the latest report from Telecommunications Management Group. The consultancy firm predicts a global growth to nearly 60m subscribers by 2010. There is further evidence consumers are embracing services as Nielsen Online reports 1.2 billion minutes of online video are being consumed in the UK alone each month.
According to IDC, people today are consuming 70.6 hours of media a week, but only 23 percent of this is via a traditional television device. The Accenture Global Broadcast Consumer Survey 2008 backs up these findings showing three out of ten adults across its sample now watch TV content on alternative devices such as the mobile phone, PDA or PC.
As consumers welcome more choice in content and in how they enjoy and interact with video, more pay-TV revenue opportunities exist. Operators must develop compelling business models that meet consumer demand and open new revenue streams for the new world of pay-TV. Since content is king, how can content management remain safe and secure in such a fast-changing environment? And how can operators leverage such security to enable consumer choice and transparent consumption that this new world must deliver.
The rollout of IPTV offers infinite promise for an expanding world of consumer entertainment in terms of breadth and depth of programming choices coupled with new interactive capabilities. It also has introduced some key security technologies to the industry that help deliver on the promise. There is no tougher testing environment for ensuring robust security than the Internet, where every solution must run a gauntlet of professional and underground hackers on a continuous basis. That is why software-based IP security technologies have made the transition from Web-based banking and financial transactions to protection of high-value video in broadband and IPTV service applications, displacing the legacy smartcard-based solutions. The transition to software-based security helps with practical delivery of services across the wide variety of platform types expected by today’s consumers, eliminating the need for proprietary hardware and emphasizing low-cost renewability to respond to breaches.
Advanced consumer technology can heighten the threat of piracy, such as the growth of high-definition (HD) television. Any person using a HD camcorder to record off a HD television is able to produce a high-quality copy; certainly one that would be acceptable for any consumer to watch. Chances are a consumer would not even realize they are watching an illegal pirate copy. Yet they should be aware that such copies are very likely to contain forensic watermarking identifiers. Such techniques are one component in a layered security architecture that combines encryption, conditional access, digital rights management, forensic watermarking and clone detection among others.
And IPTV is not the only new frontier in delivery networks – mobile TV is coming on strongly, cable is evaluating a transition to IP services and satellite systems are rapidly morphing to hybrid architectures. Even the hype surrounding WiMax finally seems to be underpinned with substantial implementation plans.
The most effective new generation pay-TV operators will therefore be addressing a 3-dimensionsal set of requirements – managing multi-network, multi-device and multi-pronged content owner requirements to support a rich variety of business models for the content they have licensed.
The new breed of content security system will enable seamless delivery to the consumer, on any device of their choice and whenever they demand it. It must be flexible to be able to address any new security threats and changes in consumer demand. Adopting such a security system enables exploitation of existing and new assets, enhancing the value of pay-TV networks and helping to ensure the success of pay-TV companies operating in an increasingly competitive landscape. Network operators that can meet the broadened expectations of consumers and address the needs of content owners with a robust content delivery system can expect to reap the most rewards.
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