1 February 2005
A major change in how Americans receive TV is now underway. Phone giants such as SBC and Verizon are building networks to deliver what is known as IPTV--Internet Protocol Television. By using broadband Internet connections, including fiber optics, these companies will soon be sending multiple streams of high-quality video to TVs. Users will also be able to go online, receive email, text messages and Web access via their television as well. New home entertainment hubs--made by Microsoft, H-P, and many others--will easily permit one to send video and other media to other devices in the home. In our fast-developing mobile Internet society, this content will also be received via cell phones, personal digital assistants, and other devices.
But among the key questions are whether these significant changes in the electronic media marketplace will really open up new opportunities for content producers and the public. Microsoft claims that IPTV will bring us "better TV," with "virtually limitless programming and on-demand content." Yet early indications are that the telephone giants and others appear to be primarily interested in content that can easily sell and will please advertisers. Monopoly providers such as SBC and BellSouth will ultimately want greater control over what they distribute through their pipes, in order to maximize profits. How these major new systems for digital media distribution evolve will depend on what is expected from them by the public. That's why media activists and mediamakers should pay close attention to these developments.
SBC is spending $5 billion to roll out its IPTV network. They claim that within four years their new service will be available to 18 million households. The "brains" of this new system comes, in part, from Microsoft, which has built the operating system software for IPTV that SBC and Verizon have already purchased. Four simultaneous streams of high-quality video, including high definition, can be received, along with other online content. SBC believes it will reap $60 a month from consumers who want this service (undoubtedly, the price will rise as the telephone companies win market share from their cable rivals).
Microsoft's "Media Center" is just one of dozens of devices that have now entered the market designed to make greater personal access to digital content possible. Such technology facilitates the reception, storage, and retransmission of digital content (in the home or to mobile services). For example, there is Akimbo, which can deliver 70 "channels" of content and store 200 hours of the video you selected. Media centers will undoubtedly grow in popularity, becoming a core ingredient of what the technology industry glowingly calls the "connected home."
But the "vision" SBC, Microsoft, and others have for this "brave new world" of TV appears to be firmly fixed to our media past. They talk about providing "Discovery Channel," "National Geographic" and "Fox Sports." Yahoo! is the primary content partner for SBC, and they will likely create special content for IPTV. The potential for interactive and personalized advertising is also a major factor in how these companies view the future of IPTV. Not surprisingly, the model for much of IPTV is based on cable's on-demand service as well as the success Rupert Murdoch has had with interactive programming in the United Kingdom (Sky).
SBC and others also desire to do away with the ability of local governments to govern how IPTV systems serve their communities. They will undoubtedly seek favorable governmental rules so they can--like cable--maintain their video and broadband monopolies relatively unchallenged. But there are clearly new opportunities with IPTV to potentially provide the public with a broad array of content that serves the marketplace of ideas (public affairs and culture, for example). It is time for the public to begin programming IPTV.