Interview with Jim Beveridge, Microsoft TV

Microsoft TV are currently developing IPTV services with operators around the globe including BT, Reliance Infocom, SBC, Verizon and many others. A central part of their approach to IPTV is to carefully research the way in which consumers will want to use content in the future.

In this interview Jim Beveridge (Director of Broadcast and Broadband Policy EMEA Microsoft TV) describes the kind of research Microsoft is carrying out into consumer expectations of media delivered over the internet, and shares some of his thoughts about how the industry may develop in the future.



Microsoft TV Images

Can you tell us how you see IPTV developing in the future?

 In the next ten years there will be an increased penetration of broadband and PVR. As homes are becoming increasingly connected to broadband it makes sense to have television delivered via IP, as the connectivity it offers opens up a whole new range of applications and services. In terms of our platform, we believe that what we have created will provide a great consumer experience of the IPTV market. 

IPTV has many advantages over traditional broadcast television because applications and services can be interconnected across fixed and mobile systems. Broadcast television is limited by spectrum, which means a limited number of channels, and no connection to the wider IP world.

One example of how IPTV may change things in the future is that it has the potential to increase people’s sense of community. A particular application of this could be viewers in different places watching the same football match. Using IPTV connectivity there will be the opportunity to watch your friends’ reaction as your team scores a winning goal.

How do you expect consumer behaviour to change as IPTV develops?

We are expecting to see a huge change in viewer habits. With the combination of PVR and IPTV, there will also be many changes in the way that content is consumed. We have established a research facility in Cambridge, where we are investigating the use of IP over broadcast networks, as well as over fixed networks.

We have a group of ethnographers and sociologists working to look at how consumers use content and how they share it. One of the key things is learning how the consumer uses content at the delivery end, and what expectations they have about what they should be able to do with it. The user interface and content experience is absolutely key, and we need to get this right in order to ensure that we can deliver a rewarding IPTV experience.