The BBC’s Digital Media Initiative (DMI) was originally approved in 2008 as an ambitious and complex transformation project that set out to link new digital production tools with a central, digital archive that would allow BBC staff and partners to develop, create, share and manage content digitally, from a desktop.

Writing on the BBC’s blog network, director of operations Dominic Coles said: “DMI has proved to be a challenging project and even as services have been rolled out they have had to be adapted in response to user feedback.

“Developing such an ambitious and technically complex solution that was able to cope with the myriad demands BBC programmes would place upon it due to the variety and complexity of our content, proved far more challenging than expected, which led to delays.”

The DMI programmed was placed on pause by Coles last October to permit an internal review that concluded the DMI had fallen “well short” of its original ambitions. “DMI did not work and we must ensure that there can be no repeat of a failure of this scale,” added Coles.

Total revenues across all operations for the first three months of this year (excluding the IPTV unit) were down 7% from one year earlier to US$ 36.7mn, due to decreased sales of Multi-Service Access Network products in Japan and Multi-Service Optical Transport products in Taiwan.

Describing 2013 as a “year of investment and continued transition”, UTStarcom expects profit from TV over IP services to become the major contributor for UTStarcom by 2015, as the new TV over IP business is expected to have gross margin exceeding 50%.

William Wong, president and CEO of UTStarcom, said: “Overall, we are pleased with our performance in the first quarter of 2013. We continued and advanced many of the strategic initiatives that we launched in late 2012 and made a concerted effort to accelerate the company’s transition to a higher growth and more profitable business.

“All of our efforts are geared towards better positioning the company for the long term and ensuring that we are delivering value to our business partners and our shareholders. While there is certainly more to do, we are pleased with the progress we are making and the improvements that have been made in a short time.”

Ran Harnevo, SVP of video at The AOL On Network

Ran Harnevo, senior vice-president of video at The AOL On Network, outlines his expectations for the TV industry’s development over the next few years, which include an increase in consumer loyalties to hardware manufacturers, the alignment of advertisers and video platforms, and the growing role of syndication platforms.

Ran will be speaking at the TV:Xperience event taking place in New York City on July 15th-17th. For more information and to register, please visit www.tvxperienceevent.com.

Connectivity of devices is going to become more and more important

“By this I mean that as consumers access more content services in the cloud, they’re going to want to use the same hardware maker for all of those services,” says Ran. “If you already have an iPad, you’re more likely to buy an Apple TV so that you can easily use the same cloud services – like iTunes – across both.”

Today’s consumers don’t care as much about which screen they’re accessing content from – to them it’s just content

“We’re slowly starting to see advertisers and video platforms (broadcasters, networks and premium web publishers) think the same way. These companies are merging their cross-screen inventory, measuring it with the same metrics and selling it on the same platforms, and advertisers are following suit by adapting their trading desk technology and moving away from the old siloed (digital vs. TV) approach to media buying.”

In addition to making changes in how they sell advertising, video platforms will start focusing more on their fourth screen strategies

“We’ve already seen the beginnings of this with ABC’s recently announced ‘Watch ABC’ app, and we’re likely to see other companies follow suit and become more screen-agnostic in the future. Ultimately, this is going to help them get more eyeballs, higher ratings and more ad dollars.”

The syndication economy is going to play an even more significant role in the way that audiences are formed online

“Today, publishers and content producers are often thought of as the same thing (and in some cases they are). But as audiences continue to fragment and more and more content is available online, broadcasters, cable networks and other video platforms will need to decide which they want to be.

Those that are content creators will need to hyper-syndicate in order to reach enough eyeballs online, and those that are publishers will need to continue to look for ways to grow their audience.”

Joel Espelien, senior analyst, TDG

Microsoft announced the Xbox One on Tuesday in Redmond, Washington. Given that the Xbox 360 has been around since 2005 and sold over 70 million units worldwide, finally seeing the next-generation console from the #1 player in the market is a pretty big deal.

So what should we make of the new Xbox One, and what might it mean for the future of over-the-top (OTT) TV?

TV takes centre stage

Throughout the history of home videogame consoles, one thing has remained constant: gaming and watching TV were two separate activities living on two separate boxes connected to two separate television inputs.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has nibbled at the edges of this issue for several years now, via support for Netflix and other OTT apps, and a few experiments with integrated pay-TV apps from Verizon FiOS and others. Xbox One, by contrast, takes the live TV bull squarely by the horns and supports full HDMI pass-through from the console itself.

While this does not break any truly new ground technologically – Google TV boxes have taken the same approach since 2010 – it is a first for a mainstream videogame console; a platform that remains the most popular platform for OTT TV delivery.

The goal here is clear: Microsoft wants everyday TV viewing going through the Xbox. And given that there are still a lot more hours of TV consumed than there are hours of console videogames played, this means the Xbox will spend most of its time in TV mode.

For these users, the new Xbox’s gaming capability becomes a little like “four-wheel drive” on the family SUV. A check-box feature that users want to know is there just in case they need it, but not really part of the everyday routine. A game console not built explicitly to play videogames? Yup, you heard it right.

Pay-TV UI bye-bye

The Xbox One demos spent a lot of time highlighting the cool new UI features that are available while watching TV. Change channels with your voice? Check. Microsoft-cool programme guide with supplemental programme information? Roger. Integrated Skype calling? Of course.

Whether one agrees with every design choice is really beside the point. The larger issue is that, for Xbox owners, the pay-TV provider is disappearing from view. Sure, the channels are still there, as is the monthly bill. But the pay-TV interface is gone. Remember how Microsoft Windows first appeared as a user interface on top of DOS? (Younger readers ask your parents.)

Well, the traditional pay-TV interface just got DOS’d. Yes, there remains some technical unpleasantness around DVR and VOD content from pay-TV providers (neither of which work at the moment on the Xbox interface), but the direction is clear. Google and Microsoft now both offer experiences that turn live TV into a data feed underneath their own overlays. Do we really think Apple and Amazon will be any different?

Game console = Smart TV for the millennial generation

In the run-up to the announcement, a fair amount of speculation revolved around the name of the new platform, with the consensus supporting the “Xbox 720” (i.e. 2 x 360). If the positioning had been around gaming performance, this would have indeed been the logical choice.

Microsoft is clearly aiming for a different target with Xbox “One.” Namely, Microsoft wants Millennials (think 18-34) who will comprise the lion’s share of Xbox One users to see the Xbox as their preferred platform for an all-in-one living room entertainment experience.

The operator’s set-top box? Buried out of sight. What about iSTBs or smart TVs? What’s the point? The Xbox does all of the same things already, plus supports advanced gaming. I expect the hardcore gaming community will likely grumble at this positioning because it means that the Xbox is no longer just for them.

But in terms of mass-market appeal, it is hard to argue with Microsoft’s thinking. TDG continues to conduct its own primary research into this topic, and will have some interesting data confirming or denying Microsoft’s thesis moving forward.

Conclusion

To its credit, Microsoft appears to have fully grasped the scope and significance of Xbox to its overall business. The recent sale of Microsoft’s operator-focused Mediaroom business to Ericsson signalled that the folks in Redmond were going all-in on Xbox as the centrepiece of their living room strategy going forward.

This week’s announcement of Xbox One demonstrates that this was and is the case. The battle has been joined and the big technology ecosystems are all setting their sights squarely on TV again. If the last few months are any indication, change in the TV ecosystem is starting to accelerate. Don’t be surprised if we look back in a few years and identify 2013-2014 as the tipping point.

Doug Sylvester, president of Vubiquity

Doug Sylvester, president of US firm Vubiquity, a provider of multi-platform video services, talks to us about the company’s recent name change, its plans for 2013, and what he sees as the most exciting area of potential growth for IP video delivery.

Firstly can you tell us a little about why Vubiquity recently changed its name?

In North America we were operating as Avail-TVN and in markets outside of North America were operating as On Demand Group.

While our old names were very strong in terms of brand equity and reputation for the three companies that comprised it – Avail Media, TVN Entertainment, and On Demand Group – we were sending a message that we thought about our business differently by market.

We were also suggesting that we were merely a collection of capable but distinct business units. Neither viewpoint is correct.

We think and operate as a single, integrated business. And we are the largest global provider of multi-platform video services, working with more content owners and service providers, in more countries, and in more languages, than any other company.

Moving to a single global brand was critical to make that point. The name Vubiquity captures our focus on helping both content and service providers to monetize video on any screen, in a world where video viewing is becoming ubiquitous.

What do you have planned for 2013 as a result of this change in focus?

As consumer needs evolve to more individualised viewing and the market for digital video grows, Vubiquity continues to introduce new services and expand our platform to serve our customers to meet this demand.

ViewNow, our SVOD movie package, launched earlier this year and is a great example. ViewNow consists of thousands of movies that service providers can offer to the set-top box, to PCs, tablets, mobile phones and other connected devices, or as part of an OTT service – for streaming or download.

This offers service providers in the US a great advantage over pure-OTT competitors who can’t offer the same breadth of content, services, and bundled offerings. Outside the US, we continue to expand our multi-platform services to new territories and customers.

It emerged during the rebrand announcement that Vubiquity will be expanding into new territories. Can you tell us more?

VOD – as part of an IPTV service, over-the-op, or cable offering – is just emerging in many markets around the world.

Latin America, for example, is booming and we have partnered with leading cable, telecoms, and OTT video service providers throughout the region to help them launch new multi-platform and VOD initiatives. We are launching twelve new services there in 2013 alone. We are also seeing exciting growth in the Middle East.

As video on demand and TV Everywhere continue to drive revenue growth and subscriber retention strategies for operators worldwide, we will expand beyond the 40 markets we currently serve into new territories to extend our global footprint.

What do you see as the most exciting area of potential growth for IP video delivery?

IPTV providers sit in a unique position to really benefit from the trend toward multi-platform TV viewing, while being able to also offer the at-home TV experience that consumers have come to expect.

And, they can bring new services to market quickly because they are not constrained with legacy equipment and traditional ecosystems that need expensive upgrades.

While consumers appreciate and expect on-demand access to content, the fact is that we’re seeing TV Everywhere applications complement, rather than replace, traditional at-home TV viewing.

We also believe that there will always be a place for live TV – sporting events, news, breaking events. While multi-platform viewing is available to everyone – traditional providers and OTT players – IPTV providers are in the unique position of being able to do all of those things easily.

They own the TV relationship, which is still the preferred device on which to watch premium content. They can extend that relationship to connected devices easily, which deepens the value they offer with each household they service. And they can still offer the live access to sporting events and breaking news that are not easily accessed without a traditional TV provider.

So for the IPTV market, the addition of on-demand and TV Everywhere services to the consumer offer a huge incremental revenue opportunity that will only serve to enhance their existing offerings.

Consumer demand for IPTV continues to soar

Demand for IPTV services picked up “significantly” last year, according to US research firm MRG, which estimates that the number of IPTV subscribers worldwide rose 36% in 2012 to reach 77mn, with strong growth in all geographic regions.

Overall, the number of pay-TV subscribers globally rose 8% to reach 800mn, with developing markets (and particularly Asia) helping to offset little or no growth in mature TV markets such as North America and Western Europe.

In the cable TV industry, the majority of global subscriber growth occurred in the Asia, led specifically by China, India and Vietnam, with the global number of cable TV subscriber households rising modestly to reach just over 520mn.

Global satellite TV service subscribers grew solidly in 2012, according to MRG, as demand for pay-TV satellite TV services in countries like Russia and India spiked. Total pay-TV satellite households now exceed 202mn, with an annual growth rate of 12%.

This is of course liable to change if users clamour loudly enough and a business case can be made, but seeing as the subscription-free service depends on sales of the YouView set-top box to claw back the GB£ 70mn (US$ 105mn) which has already been spent on its development, this seems unlikely.

We don’t currently have any plans to support Xbox One.

— YouView (@YouView) May 24, 2013

Microsoft confirmed at the launch of the Xbox One that the new console is not intended to replace existing pay-TV set-top boxes, but rather daisy-chain with them via HDMI, and then overlay its own user interface over the channels. This functionality will however be limited to the US to begin with.

The YouView service combines free-to-air linear TV channels and catch-up TV from the UK’s public service broadcasters (the BBC, ITV, Channel Four and Five) with Sky’s online TV service ‘Now TV’, all delivered via a PVR that costs around GB£ 300.

The new TV ad targeting platform has been built from the acquisition of Bluefin Labs last February, and is designed to make it easier for advertisers to extend and enhance their TV ad campaigns.

It does this by enabling marketers to engage directly with people on Twitter who have been exposed to their adverts – with a new TV Ads dashboard providing updates on when a specific brand’s TV ads have aired.

The new dashboard can also identify users who have tweeted about a programme that an advert accompanies, as Twitter believes that “a user engaged enough with a TV show to tweet about it very likely saw the commercials as well”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The two new services are in the final stages of testing and are expected to launch in the third quarter of this year, bringing HyppTV’s 112 linear channels and VOD library within reach of all Malaysians, irrespective of whether they are within reach of the country’s High Speed Broadband (HSBB) network.

Jeremy Kung, executive vide-president of new media at Telekom Malaysia, said: “Once again breaking new grounds, we are excited to share that more Malaysian TV viewers will be able to enjoy HyppTV with the transmission of the service over TM’s extensive broadband network and on multiple platforms soon.”

Telekom Malaysia revealed last March that it achieved significant revenue growth for HyppTV in 2012, with revenues rising by MYR 79mn (US$ 25mn) over the course of the year to reach a total of MYR 119mn.

The new targeted advertising solution was developed by AT&T’s AdWorks unit together with AT&T Labs and can deliver suitable ads to its TV, mobile and broadband customers, although the telco is taking pains to point out that customers can opt out of receiving them.

The AdWorks TV BlueprintSM platform collects viewing data from the 12.7mn U-verse TV receivers being used nationwide by AT&T customers in order to develop custom media plans for an advertiser’s key audience segment.

AT&T added 232k subscribers for U-verse TV in the first quarter of this year to reach a total of 4.8mn.