March 2017 - Digital TV Europe

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March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
March 2017

pOFC DTVE Mar17.indd 1           22/02/2017 12:09
March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
Where News Inspires Change

pXX TRT DTVE Mar17.indd 1                                16/02/2017 15:01
March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
Digital TV Europe
          March 2017

          Contents

          22. The rise of the skinny bundle
          The US is experiencing an influx of slimmed-down, OTT-delivered cable offerings. But how is
          this trend affecting the pay TV industry and does this latest development translate over to the
          European market? Andy Fry reports.

          16. Mike Fries: introducing the GIGAWorld
          Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries explains his vision for the rapidly approaching ‘GIGAWorld’ and
          explains why it will change your life.

          18. Altice Labs: age of opportunity
                                                                                                              16
          Altice Labs’ general manager, Alcino Lavrador, discusses IP delivery, the advent of 5G and
          unpicks some of the biggest technical challenges facing the TV industry today.

          30. Interview: Harald Rösch, Melita
          Ahead of next month’s Cable Congress, Harald Rösch, CEO of Malta’s Melita, talks to Stuart
          Thomson about improving a brand’s reputation and growth through diversification and bundling.

          32. The future of Ultra HD
          We are on the cusp of pictures that are brighter, crisper and more impressive than they have ever
          been before. Andy McDonald looks at the latest moves towards advanced Ultra HD.                      32
          36. TV Connect 2017: the preview
          Ahead of this year’s TV Connect, DTVE spoke to two of the London event’s speakers about
          business opportunities and digital developments.

          42. ANGA COM 2017: the preview
          Peter Charissé, managing director of ANGA COM, talks to Digital TV Europe about the                       42
          exhibition’s move to a new location and this year’s highlights.

          Regulars
          2 This month 4 News digest 38 Technology 43 People 44 Final analysis

          Visit us at www.digitaltveurope.net

                                                                                                                      1
p01 Contents DTVE Mar17v2am.indd 1                                                                                   24/02/2017 11:09
March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
This month > Editor’s note                                                                                                       Digital TV Europe
                                                                                                                                                 March 2017

           Issue no 330
           Published By:
                                                           Making a connection
           KNect365 TMT
           Maple House

                                                           Connectivity
           149 Tottenham Court Road
                                                                                                       is a topic that is never far
           London W1T 7AD
                                                                                                       from the TV industry. From
           Tel: +44 (0) 20 7017 5000
                                                           the evolution of mobile screens and services through to the uptake,
           Fax: +44 (0) 20 7017 4953
           Website: www.digitaltveurope.net                advancement and now near-ubiquity of internet-delivered video, the
                                                           world of television is as diffuse and varied as it has ever been.
                                                             In an exclusive opinion piece ahead of his keynote speech at Cable
           Editor Stuart Thomson
                                                           Congress in Brussels, Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries shares his vision of
           Tel: +44 (0) 20 7017 5314
           Email: stuart.thomson@knect365.com              the approaching ‘GIGAWorld’, and describes how operators like Liberty
                                                           can help meet the demands of an ‘always-on’ society.
                                                             Grappling with changes in both technology and viewing habits has seen the industry do
           Deputy Editor Andy McDonald
           Tel: +44 (0) 20 7017 5293
                                                           its fair share of soul searching in recent years and this issue of Digital TV Europe will look at
           Email: andrew.mcdonald@knect365.com             some of the latest developments in over-the-top channel delivery and Ultra HD technology
                                                           innovation.
                                                             The ‘skinny bundle’ seems to be the latest craze sweeping the US market. As Hulu prepares
           Contributing Editor
           Stewart Clarke                                  to roll out its slimmed-down OTT TV offering – following in the footsteps of PlayStation Vue,
                                                           DirecTV Now and Sling TV – and as YouTube waits in the wings, we look at how pay TV-lite
                                                           services are shaking up the industry. We also look at how the evloution of these flexible services
           Contributors
                                                           translates to the European pay TV market.
           Kate Bulkley, Andy Fry, Adrian Pennington,
           Adam Thomas, Anna Tobin, Jesse Whittock           Elswhere in this edition we take a deep-dive into the latest advancements in Ultra High-
                                                           Definition technology. With all eyes on the 2020 Japanese Olympics we talk to some of the
                                                           leading standards bodies and technology organistions about how work is progressing and look
           Correspondents
                                                           forward to the day when High Dynamic Range, Higher Frame Rates and next-generation audio
           France: Julien Alliot; Germany: Dieter
           Brockmeyer; Italy: Branislav Pekic              will be living-room staples.
                                                             With conference season well and truly underway, we speak to Hopster CEO Nick Walters
                                                           and BBC Studios’ digital development head Will Saunders ahead of their appearances at TV
           Sales Director Patricia Arescy
           Tel: +44 (0) 20 7017 5320
                                                           Connect in March.
           Email: patricia.arescy@knect365.com               We also talk to two cable TV industry executives who will be joining Mike Fries at Cable
                                                           Congress this year. Melita’s Harold Rösch gives us an insight into the competitive challenges of
                                                           the operator’s small home market of Malta, while Altice Labs’ Alcino Lavrador takes a broader
           Art Director Matthew Humberstone
                                                           view and discusses some of the technological challenges facing the TV industry in 2017.
                                                             Finally, ANGA COM managing director Peter Charissé explains what new things to expect
           Printing Wyndeham Grange, West Sussex
                                                           from the leading German industry event in May. We’ll see you on the show floor. l

          To subscribe to this magazine or our             Stuart Thomson will be back next month.
           daily email newsletter please visit
           digitaltveurope.net/registerhere

           © 2017 Informa UK Ltd
           All rights reserved
                                                                                                                  Andy McDonald, Deputy Editor
           Reproduction without permission is prohibited
                                                                                                                  andrew.mcdonald@knect365.com

                                                                                                                          Visit us at www.digitaltveurope.net

          2
p02 Ed Note DTVE Mar17v4am.indd 2                                                                                                                        24/02/2017 11:10
March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
pXX CSG Ascendon Mar17.indd 1   20/02/2017 09:51
March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
News > digest                                                                                                                             Digital TV Europe
                                                                                                                                                          March 2017

          News digest
          > 4 EU reaches agreement on content portability > 5 Liberty Global grows advanced
          TV base > 6 Apple originals to launch ‘in next few months’ > 8 Vodafone Germany
          launches advanced TV service > 10 Sky moves beyond the dish with OTT TV plans
           EU reaches agreement on content portability across borders
           By Stuart Thomson >                                                               viders”. The rules will make any        The impact of the changes
                                                                                             provision in existing contracts      on pay TV and OTT TV service
           The European Parliament, the                                                      that limits cross-border portabil-   providers, broadcasters and pro-
           European Commission and                                                           ity unenforceable, reducing the      ducers is subject to debate, with
           member states have reached                                                        scope for legal conflict. The EU     the Association of Commercial
           an agreement on implement-                                                        is not obliging service provid-      Television in Europe warning
           ing new rules to enable content                                                   ers to ensure quality of delivery    that portability rules could un-
           portability, allowing EU citizens                                                 across borders, which would in-      dermine the financing of con-
           to view services they subscribe          Council and the Parliament.              cur additional costs.                tent by limiting the ability to sell
           to no matter where they are in           Once adopted, the rules will be             Service providers will howev-     on a territory-specific basis.
           the Union.                               applicable in all Member States          er be obliged to make content           However, public broadcasters’
              The deal is the first covering        by the beginning of 2018. The            available across the same devic-     organisation the EBU said that
           the modernisation of EU copy-            regulation grants providers and          es and under the same rules as       current legal uncertainty and
           right rules proposed in the EU’s         right holders a nine-month peri-         in the their home countries.         the variation in copyright rules
           Digital Single Market strategy.          od to prepare for the application           EU Commissioner Tibor             between member states meant
              Under the new rules, online           of the new rules.                        Navracsics, in charge of educa-      that broadcasters were pre-
           content service providers will              The agreement on content              tion, culture, youth and sport,      vented from making their pro-
           verify their subscribers’ country        portability comes at the same            said: “Digital technologies          grammes available online. The
           of residence by using means              time as the end of mobile roam-          provide new opportunities to         EBU has said it does not believe
           such as payment details, the ex-         ing charges within the EU. Mo-           enjoy cultural content on the        that all geo-blocking of content
           istence of an internet contract or       bile operators will no longer be         go, and people are eager to use      will be prevented.
           by checking the IP address.              able to levy roaming charges             them. [The] agreement opens             Tony Gunnarsson, senior an-
              All providers that offer paid         from June 15 this year, meaning          new doors to citizens while at       alyst at Ovum, said he did not
           online content services will have        that mobile users will be able to        the same time protecting crea-       believe the changes would have
           to follow the rules. Providers           access content using their exist-        tors and those investing in the      a huge impact on OTT service
           of free services, including the          ing mobile data allowances no            production of cultural or sport      providers. “For the big guys
           online services of public TV or          matter where they are in the EU.         content. This balanced solution      like Netflix and Amazon, which
           radio broadcasters, will have dis-          The EU authorities have been          is an encouraging sign for our       dominate SVOD in Europe, this
           cretion in deciding whether to           at pains to emphasise the limit-         efforts to build a Digital Single    is unlikely to have any impact
           enable portability or not.               ed impact of the content regula-         Market that offers new oppor-        as the two services are already
              The agreed text must now be           tion on “the business models of          tunities for both creators and       available across the region,” he
           formally confirmed by the EU             rights holders and service pro-          consumers.”                          said.

                                                    deeper cooperation both inside           reach 8.5 million customers across   operations had 507,000 TV cus-
          France                                    and outside France. Richard said         Europe. In France, Orange had        tomers at the end of the year, up
                                                    Orange was paying close attention        6.609 million TV customers, down     from 366,000.
          IPTV > Orange on Canal+                   to the rights for Ligue 1 football, an   from 6.423 million a year earlier.
          Orange does not want to acquire           area where there is scope for coop-      In Spain, take-up of TV services     PROG > NBC for Euronews
          Canal+, according to CEO Stéphane         eration with Canal+ in the face of       increased sharply, with 507,000      NBC News is to acquire a 25%
          Richard. Interviewed by BFM TV,           the rise of rival SFR as a premium       customers at the end of the year,    stake in Euronews, and the Europe-
          Richard said that to his knowledge,       sports provider. Richard spoke to        up 1.7 times year-on-year. Orange    an news channel is to be renamed
          Canal+ was not for sale, and there        BFM TV after year-end results that       Luxembourg had 40,000 TV             Eurnonews NBC following the
          were no talks in progress. However,       saw Orange’s TV customer base            customers, up from 4,000 a year      transaction. NBC News chief Andy
          he said the pair were discussing          increase by 6.9% year-on-year to         earlier. Orange’s central European   Lack revealed the move in an inter-

                                                                                                                                  Visit us at www.digitaltveurope.net

          4
p04-05,08,10,14 DTVE News Digest Mar17v3am.indd 4                                                                                                                  23/02/2017 19:34
March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
Digital TV Europe                                                                                                                       News > digest
          March 2017

          nal memo to NBC staff in which he
          announced that Noah Oppenheim,            Germany                                Kuwait                                  Events
          the executive in charge of the
          flagship Today programme, would           PROG > Boost for Pro7Sat.1             OTT > Iflix JV with Zain                Satellite 2017
          take over from Deborah Turness as         Revenues from producing in the         South-East Asian SVOD provider          Date: 6-9 March
          the US news network’s president.          US and production company              Iflix is launching a version its ser-   Venue: Walter E. Washington
          Turness, a former ITV executive,          acquisitions have driven significant   vice in the Middle East and North       Convention Center, Washington,
          was named president of NBC News           growth in ProSiebenSat.1’s interna-    Africa in a joint-venture partnership   DC, USA
          International, a new division that        tional business. The media group’s     with Kuwait-based mobile telecom        W: 2017.satshow.com
          will liaise between the US news           content production and global sales    operator Zain. Iflix Arabia will be
          division and Eurnonews, and could         division posted a 38% year-on-year     headquartered in Dubai and will         Cable Congress 2017
          also serve as the springboard for         increase in 2016 revenues of €362      offers services wherever Zain is        Date: 8-9 March
          further international expansion by        million. EBIDTA increased 87%, to      present in the region, including        Venue: The Square, Brussels,
          NBC News. Lack told staff that NBC        €47 million. ProSiebenSat.1 has        Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Leba-    Belgium
          would invest in European journal-         reorganised its business to focus      non, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, with       W: www.knect365.com/ca-
          ism and strengthen the depth and          more on digital and non-advertising    the potential to further extend into    ble-congress/
          pace of Euronews’ reporting. Ac-          revenue streams. Digital sales in-     additional regional markets. The
          cording to press reports, NBC will        creased 19% to €442 million. Core      service is scheduled to launch in       TV Connect 2017
          spend US$30 million (e28 million)         German broadcasting revenues           the second quarter of this year, tar-   Date: 28-30 March
          for its stake in Euronews. The move       were up 3% at €2.2 billion. The        geting Zain’s mobile user base. Iflix   Venue: ExCel, London, UK
          will make NBC the second largest          company reported an overall year-      Arabia will be led as CEO by John-      W: https://tmt.knect365.com/
          shareholder in Euronews after             on-year increase of 17% in annual      Paul McKerlie, who has served as        tv-connect/
          Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris,           revenues if €3.8 billion. EBITDA       Zain’s consumer marketing director
          who holds a 53% stake.                    was up 10% at €1 billion.              since last May.                         MIPTV
                                                                                                                                   Date: 3-6 April
                                                                                                                                   Venue: Palais des Festivals,
           Liberty Global grows advanced TV base                                                                                   Cannes, France
                                                                                                                                   W: www.cabsat.com
           By Andy McDonald                                            Fries:              countries around the world.
                                                                       expansion of           The company also completed           Cabsat
           Liberty Global added 313,000                                4K set-top          the rollout of its Horizon TV           Date: 21-23 April
           next-generation TV customers                                deployment          offering across its European            Venue: Dubai World Trade
           in Q4 and said it plans to ex-                              and DOCSIS          operations during the quarter,          Center, Dubai, UAE
           pand the deployment of its new                              3.1 planned.        with the launch of Horizon TV           W: www.miptv.com
           4K cloud-based set-top box.                                                     in Austria and Horizon-Lite in
              Announcing its fourth quar-                                                  Romania.                                NAB Show
           ter and full-year 2016 results,             Liberty-owned Virgin Media             Fries said that in late 2017         Date: 22-27 April
           Liberty said that overall it add-        launched its new 4K-enabled            Liberty Global will start field         Venue: LVCC, Las Vegas, Ne-
           ed 1.2 million subscribers last          V6 set-top box in the UK in the        trials of DOCSIS 3.1 technolo-          vada, USA
           year to its next-gen TV services         fourth quarter as part of its new      gy, which will provide “gigabit         W: www.nabshow.com
           – which include Horizon and              ‘home entertainment experi-            speeds” to its customers.
           Horizon-Lite in mainland Eu-             ence’.                                    The company already claims           Internet of Things World
           rope, TiVo in the UK and Yelo in            Looking ahead, Fries said that      to have delivered more than             Date: 16-18 May
           Belgium                                  the company plans to continue          1.4 million new gigabit-ready           Venue: Santa Clara Convention
              The company ended the year            to enrich its bundled offerings        homes in 2016, including near-          Center, California, USA
           with 6.7 million next-genera-            with “compelling 4G mobile of-         ly half a million at Virgin Media       W: www.knect365.com/iot-
           tion subscribers in Europe, rep-         fers” and new content and func-        alone, as part of its network ex-       world/
           resenting 38% of its total video         tionality – “including the launch      pansion efforts.
           base excluding DTH.                      of Netflix across our footprint”.         Overall, in Europe, Liberty          ANGA COM
              “We will also expand the de-             Liberty started to make Netf-       Global said last year it added          Date: 30 May - 1 June
           ployment of exciting new prod-           lix available on its set-top boxes     946,000 new revenue gener-              Venue: Köln Messe, Cologne,
           ucts like our 4K cloud-based             – starting in the Netherlands          ating units (RGUs) – covering           Germany
           set-top and our WiFi Connect             in December – after agreeing           basic and enhanced video sub-           W: www.angacom.de
           Box,” said Liberty Global CEO            a multi-year partnership with          scribers, DTH, internet or te-
           Mike Fries.                              the SVOD giant that covers 30          lephony subscribers.

          Visit us at www.digitaltveurope.net

                                                                                                                                                                  5
p04-05,08,10,14 DTVE News Digest Mar17v3am.indd 5                                                                                                                 23/02/2017 19:34
March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
Get ready for the ultimate
                    entertainment experience..

                        At TiVo, we’re always innovating to deliver
                        the ultimate entertainment experience. From
                        every room of the house to anywhere in the
                        world, we’re revolutionising how people find
                        media in this chaotic and fragmented land-
                        scape by deepening consumer engagement
                        with movies, TV shows, music and more.

                        Our technologies are customisable, compatible
                        across systems and platforms, and available as
                        end-to-end solutions and flexible APIs.

                        / Fully integrated content discovery experiences

                        / Advanced search and recommendations solutions,
                           including natural-language voice search

                        / Immersive entertainment metadata

                        / Insightful, data-driven audience analytics

                        Visit tivo.com or follow us on
                        Twitter @tivoforbusiness

                        © 2017 TiVo Corporation. All rights reserved. TiVo and the TiVo logo are registered
                        trademarks of TiVo Corporation and its subsidiaries worldwide.

p06 TiVo Mar17.indd 1                                                                                         21/02/2017 10:53
March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
Q&A: Charles Dawes,
                                 senior director international marketing, TiVo
        Charles Dawes, senior director international marketing at TiVo, talks about his company’s recent research into changing patterns of
        media consumption and the evolution of the TV experience.

        You recently did some research into changing media consumption             watch becomes a must-have feature.
        patterns? What are the key lessons?                                           We’ve recently launched the latest generation of the Emmy Award
        As in previous years, TiVo has undertaken its annual study into how pay-   winning TiVo User Experience, which brings these features, and many
        TV and over-the-top (OTT) subscribers are consuming their favourite        other updates, to the market. Another feature we’ve already launched
        entertainment content. This year we saw some key themes developing.        on our US consumer platform, including on our BOLT+, which was an
           Firstly, we saw that content consumption remains as high as ever,       honoree in the 2017 CES Innovation Awards, is QuickMode. QuickMode
        with the average consumer spending four hours per day watching or          enables viewers to binge watch at 30% faster than real time with
        streaming content. Here in Europe, the UK and France were slightly         pitch-corrected audio – another example of TiVo innovation making
        higher than the average, with Germany being slightly lower. We also saw    entertainment consumption simple, easy and fun.
        that consumers still spend an average of 19 minutes per day looking for
        content.                                                                   How important is voice to search and discovery and how quickly, and
           One of the most significant new trends we saw, however, is something    to what extent, do you think voice control will gain traction among
        we’re calling ‘Show Dumping’. This is when a consumer who has invested     consumers?
        a considerable amount of time and effort into watching a show they love    As we saw at CES in January, voice-based interaction with Artificial
        stops watching because it became too difficult or expensive to continue.   Intelligence-based virtual assistants is starting to become an everyday
        This could be for a variety of reasons, including the content being too    occurrence. In the content discovery realm, voice search really opens the
        hard to find because it’s moved or that it’s behind a paywall they don’t   consumer up to the wealth of content that is available to them.
        have access to. Over 37% of our respondents had experienced ‘Show             With TiVo’s Natural Language Understanding capabilities, the
        Dumping’.                                                                  consumer doesn’t need to ‘search for search’, and they can simply say
                                                                                   what they are looking for and the system will understand them. From
        To what extent does thinking around the evolution of TiVo’s user           something as simple as the name of a programme or actor, to a more
        experience match the findings of your research?                            complicated free-form question like ‘What’s the film where Tom Hanks
        One of the areas that we’re seeing a real step-change in how we think      talks to a volleyball?’.
        about the consumer experience is how we look at recommending                  The power of TiVo’s voice search solution is our incredible
        content to the consumer. We’ve found that pure recommendations             understanding of entertainment, and the details behind each and
        aren’t satisfying the consumer across all the use cases. Instead we need   every TV programme, series, film, song, actor, director and many more
        to focus on predicting what the customer would actually want to see in     attributes, means we understand entertainment in human terms, and
        many scenarios. Our predictions are driven by time, day and previous       not simply as unconnected entries in a database.
        interactions, as well as an innate understanding of the consumer’s
        entertainment preferences.                                                 How is the integration of the former Rovi and TiVo progressing and
           In our research, we saw that those consumers who rated their            what still needs to be done?
        recommendation system greater than seven out of 10 actually                It’s going really well. Our aim was to bring together two leading companies
        consumed over one-third more content. A clear indicator that a best-       in the media and entertainment space to combine the best-of-breed
        in-class recommendation engine is a requirement for an advanced            solutions from both companies. From leading-class metadata that spans
        entertainment discovery experience.                                        the entertainment spectrum of video, music and sports, to Seamless
                                                                                   Discovery that powers recommendations in eight of the top 10 US MSOs,
        What are the main developments can we expect around content                to our Emmy Award winning User Experiences, we’re now servicing over
        discovery over the coming year?                                            500 operators globally, and our technologies are licensed to 170 million
        We can expect to continue seeing the drive towards the ultimate            homes. We’re continuing to evolve as we look to help our customers
        entertainment discovery experience where content catalogues aren’t         understand their consumers with advanced analytics solutions, and head
        separate silos and the ability to predict what the consumer wants to       towards providing the ‘Ultimate Entertainment Experience’.

pXX TiVo Q&A Mar17v2st.indd 1                                                                                                                           15/02/2017 17:42
March 2017 - Digital TV Europe
News > digest                                                                                                                              Digital TV Europe
                                                                                                                                                           March 2017

                                                                                            content will be available on-de-        concerts opera and ballet perfor-
           Global Wrap                              Spain                                   mand. Movistar eSports will also        mances and other events in 4K
                                                                                            feature profiles of leading gamers      with Dolby Digital sound, Funbox
           TV and video delivery will be-           PROG > eSports investment               and additional content based on         UHD from SPI International, Insight
           come a “core capability” of 5G           Telefónica’s Movistar+ pay TV           the Movistar Riders team and            TV from TERN and SlowChannel,
           wireless services, allowing mo-          service has launched its previously     Game House created by Movistar          a channel oproviding images of
           bile providers to offer TV-equiv-        announced eSports service follow-       as part of its broader investment       nature in UHD. The service will also
           alent services, according to             ing the deal it signed earlier this     in eSports. Telefónica agreed an        include access to Netflix content
           new research. The Strategy               year with Modern Times Group-           exclusive deal with ESL in January      in 4K. The new Vodafone TV
           Analytics report claims that             backed ESL. Movistar eSports will       to provide content for its pay TV       service will be based on the latest
           5G-delivered offerings could             cover live gaming events along          service.                                version of the TiVo platform and
           eat into the US$500 billion              with other content. A weekly                                                    will include 120 TV channels, the
           (e475 billion) global TV and             magazine show, The Gaming               CAB > Vodafone 4K launch                Videoclub on-demand offering and
           video market currently served            House, will also be broadcast on        Vodafone Spain has unveiled a           access to HBO España and Netflix.
           by cable, satellite, IPTV and            the Movistar Deportes 1 channel         new version of its TV service that      According to Vodafone, over
           terrestrial broadcast service            at 23:30 on Wednesdays. The             includes the country’s first 4K TV      20,000 titles and episodes will be
           providers. More than 30 million          service will air 10 specials covering   offering. Vodafone will be offering     available to view via a personal-
           VR headsets shipped last year,           ESLOne and IEM gaming events,           a range of services in 4K, including    ised recommendation and search
           with Google Cardboard taking             the first of which will be broadcast    five channels, 4K coverage of La        engine. The service will include a
           a “commanding share” of                  from Katowice in Poland. Two of         Liga football and Netflix content.      new interface that Vodafone said is
           shipments and installed base,            these specials will be tied in with     The channels offering will comprise     more visual and intuitive and sup-
           according to Strategy Analyt-            the Movistar Series tournament          factual channel Odisea 4K, special      ports simultaneous cloud-based
           ics. The research firm’s ‘VR             created by the pay TV operator.         events channel Festival 4K, which       recordings that can be accessed
           Headset Platform Market Share            In addition to the live channel,        will provide coverage of festivals,     from multiple set-tops in the home.
           Year End 2016’ report said that
           Google’s low-price Cardboard
           option took 69% of shipment              Apple originals to launch in ‘next few months’
           volume market share last year.
           HBO has passed more than two             By Andy McDonald >                                         Cue: video          as like that that we have, so we
           million domestic subscribers for                                                                    can be a very       hope to continue doing more –
           its over-the-top service HBO             Apple’s first originals – Carpool                          important           and we’ll see.”
           Now, parent company Time                 Karaoke and Planet of the Apps –                           part of Apple          Cue said that Apple has a “real
           Warner revealed. Time Warner             will launch on Apple Music in                              Music.              opportunity in the TV space”
           CEO Jeff Bewkes announced                the “next few months”, accord-                                                 but is interested in doing pro-
           the figure during the compa-             ing to Apple’s SVP of internet                                                 grammes that aren’t being done
           ny’s fourth quarter earnings             software and services, Eddy                                                    by anyone else. He played down
           call, saying he was pleased with         Cue.                                    Planet of the Apps, Cue said that      the notion of Apple buying a
           HBO’s US over-the-top growth.               Speaking at the Code Media           the shows will be exclusive to         large producer and distributer
           Twitter attracted 31 million             conference in California, Cue           Apple Music, won’t appear on           of content – such as a Netflix or
           unique viewers to live premium           showed a clip of Planet of the          traditional television and will be     a Time Warner – or signing up
           video in the first quarter of            Apps and revealed details of the        available across Apple TV, Mac         to make a big budget drama se-
           operations, with 600 hours               Ben Silverman-produced show,            and iOS devices.                       ries like Game of Thrones.
           of live content from partners            which will see app developers              “We think that video can be            “We’re not taking the tradi-
           streamed across about 400                pitch for financial backing and         a very important part of Apple         tional route. This [Planet of the
           events. The social network said          then promotion through the              Music. It’s one of the differen-       Apps] is a show that’s unlike an-
           that 52% of the 600 hours of             App Store.                              tiating factors that we can add,”      ything that we see out there that
           live premium video aired in the             The series will be available         said Cue, when asked about the         we are able to add value to,” said
           quarter was sports content,              “in most countries in the world”        reasons for the move. “We’re           Cue. Planet of the Apps will see
           while 38% was news and poli-             as part of Apple’s 18-month old         just starting out and we’re excit-     contestants pitch for investment
           tics and 10% was categorised             subscription music offering, as         ed. We think these shows bring         from what Apple described as
           as entertainment. Twitter said           will Carpool Karaoke – Apple’s          something to customers that            “four of the world’s most cultur-
           that 33% of unique viewers               previously announced Late               haven’t been seen before, so           ally influential entrepreneurs”
           came from outside the US,                Late Show with James Corden             there’s something unique, spe-         – Will.i.am, Jessica Alba, Gary
           while approximately 50% of               spin-off. Appearing on-stage            cial that we’re bringing to the        Vaynerchuk and Gwyneth Pal-
           viewers were under 25.                   alongside Silverman to discuss          table. I think there are more ide-     trow.

                                                                                                                                   Visit us at www.digitaltveurope.net

          8
p04-05,08,10,14 DTVE News Digest Mar17v3am.indd 8                                                                                                                   23/02/2017 19:34
pXX Arris Mar17.indd 1   20/02/2017 12:56
News > digest                                                                                                                                   Digital TV Europe
                                                                                                                                                                March 2017

          IPTV > Telefónica numbers                  customers in Spain at the end of                                                  to compete with the standalone
          Telefónica’s overall TV base was           the year, up from 2.6 million a year      Sweden                                  streaming services such as Amazon
          stable year-on-year, at 8.3 million        earlier. The quarterly ARPU of                                                    and Netflix, and doc-focused SVOD
          including 4.3 million satellite cus-       Fusión stood at €81.6, 12% higher         IPTV > Curio launch                     platforms including CuriosityStream.
          tomers, giving the company a pay           year-on-year, driven by the portfolio     Factual SVOD service Curio will         Also like its sister service, the first
          TV penetration of 48% where it             renewal and price hikes, and by           launch in Sweden and Norway next        launches are in the Nordics. The
          offers the service. Pay TV subscrib-       changes in the mix of customers.          month after the ITV-backed service      Curio programming line-up will be
          ers in Spain numbered 3.657 million,       However, the total number of pay          secured deals with pay TV operators     divided across different factual
          down from 3.711 million in the third       TV subscribers in Spain continued to      in the region. In Sweden, Curio will    categories: civilisation, nature and
          quarter and from 3.671 million at          decline slightly in the fourth quarter,   be on the Com Hem platform, the         the environment, science and tech,
          the end of 2015. In Spain, Movistar        with 54,000 losses compared with          largest in the country, and in Nor-     and current affairs and social issues.
          Fusión’s consumer base reached             44,000 down in the third quarter.         way, on Get, the second largest na-     Mark Bradford and Hugh Williams
          4.3 million customers, up 5%               In Brazil, pay TV numbers dropped         tionally. Curio comes from the same     are behind Cirkus and the new docs
          year-on-year, with some 80% of TV          year-on-year from 1.788 million to        team as Cirkus, which is the best-of-   service, which, editorially, is posi-
          customers being Fusión converged           1.713 million. Pay TV numbers were        British SVOD service that is backed     tioned as an alternative to the likes
          customers, up 10 percentage points         down in Venezuela, up in Chile, and       by UK broadcaster ITV. Like Cirkus      of Discovery and Nat Geo, which
          year-on-year. In total, there were         up strongly on 2015 in Colombia but       it is designed to sit within pay TV     have moved away from pure factual
          2.943 million Movistar Fusión TV           down quarter-on-quarter.                  operators’ platforms and allow them     content and into entertainment.

           Vodafone Germany launches new advanced TV service
           By Stuart Thomson >                                            Ametsreiter:         mobile operator had 14.7 mil-           paper. The paper cited Voda-
                                                                          GigaTV will          lion fixed broadband customers          fone CEO Vittorio Colao as say-
           Vodafone        Germany         has                            include uni-         with 417,000 added over the             ing that the service was ready
           launched a new advanced TV                                     versal search        quarter, including 339,000 in           to launch within weeks if the
           platform, GigaTV.                                              and other            Europe, of which 76% were on-           company felt it was necessary
               The platform, which will in-                               advanced             net customers.                          but said that Vodafone now had
           tegrate linear TV, on-demand                                   features.               In Germany, Vodafone had             other priorities.
           video and apps from stream-                                                         7.8 million TV customers at the            On a conference call with an-
           ing services as well as mul-              simultaneously.                           end of December. Fixed-net-             alysts following the group’s re-
           tiscreen access to content via               HD services will cost an addi-         work revenue grew by 4.8% in            sults, Colao said UK broadband
           smartphones and tablets, is               tional €9.99, with a premium              the third quarter and the com-          adds had been “OK” but broad-
           available over the former Kabel           package available for €19.99.             pany had 110,000 broadband              band was a product it mostly
           Deutschland cable network.                   Ahead of the launch Voda-              customers, including 77,000             wanted to push to its existing
               The service offers access to          fone Germany CEO Hannes                   cable customers.                        mobile companies.
           55 on-demand portals as well as           Ametsreiter told Bild magazine               In Spain, TV customers                  Consumer broadband num-
           a video library of 5,000 movie            that Vodafone plans to intro-             numbered 1.3 million at the             bers in the UK are increasing
           titles, access to music service           duce new features including the           end of the quarter. The group’s         but remain modest at 129,000,
           Deezer, the Maxdome SVOD                  ability to control the service via        integrated fixed, mobile and TV         up 32,000 in the quarter.
           service and Sky’s pay TV ser-             Amazon’s Alexa personal assis-            offering, Vodafone One, had 2.1            Vodafone’s UK business was,
           vices.                                    tant. He also said that GigaTV            million customers at the end of         along with India, where it fac-
               The GigaTV box includes a 1           would feature universal search            the period, up from 1.1 million         es strong price competition, a
           TB hard drive that can play Ul-           functionality.                            a year previously. Fixed broad-         black spot in the company’s Q3
           tra HD TV content.                           News of the TV rollout came            band net additions numbered             numbers. UK sales dropped by
               GigaTV with a set-top box is          as Vodafone posted its Q3 num-            93,000.                                 over 3% as a result of competi-
           available exclusively on cable for        bers globally. In a quarter where            Intense competition in India         tion in the enterprise market
           €14.99 a month, but an app-on-            its earnings were hit by mobile           and pressure in the UK market           and the loss of key contracts.
           ly variant, providing TV streams          price competition in India and            contributed to an overall 3.9%             Colao said that Vodafone re-
           to multiscreen devices, will also         a tough UK market, Vodafone               in the group’s revenue in the           mains Europe’s fastest growing
           be available for e9.99. Google            grew its global TV customer               quarter to €13.7 billion.               fixed broadband provider. Voda-
           Cast and Apple Airplay func-              base by 100,000 in the course                Separately, Vodafone has put         fone added 1.5 million fixed cus-
           tionality is not yet available.           of the three months to Decem-             its plans to launch a TV service        tomers globally last year. Fixed
               Both variants will allow users        ber to reach 9.7 million cus-             in the UK on hold, according to         now represents 22% of group
           to receive up to three streams            tomers. Overall, the fixed and            a report in The Telegraph news-         revenue.

                                                                                                                                       Visit us at www.digitaltveurope.net

          10
p04-05,08,10,14 DTVE News Digest Mar17v3am.indd 10                                                                                                                        23/02/2017 19:34
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p11 Telenor Mar17.indd 1                                                                     21/02/2017 12:16
p12 Mobibase Mar17.indd 1   21/02/2017 10:45
Q&A: Vincent Roger,
                                  CEO, Mobibase
        Mobibase CEO Vincent Roger talks about the market for OTT TV services for ethnic groups and the flexibility of the white-label model.

        What would you identify as the top three factors that will have the          What types of services and content are migrant and expatriate users
        biggest impact on the TV business globally over the next few years?          looking for primarily and what do content providers need to do to
        Moving from broadcast to IPTV is one key factor. The future TV               maximise the opportunity?
        experience is multi-platform. Today people watch videos across all           The first thing is to be able to play globally. You may want to take
        their connected devices. Their favourite channels, viewing behaviour         channels to Latin America or from Latin America to Spain. You may
        and subscriptions, all need to be portable – in the cloud, on a mobile       be able to adapt linear streams to different markets according to the
        device, or on a tablet.                                                      rights you hold or the languages you support, or instead of bringing
           The second thing is what we could call application-based TV. Linear       linear channels, you could bring video-on-demand with content which
        TV has to be delivered through apps. The producers themselves are            will focus on international and local perspective of any kind of users’
        already developing their own apps for different stores. These could          interests such as sports, lifestyle, kids or education.
        be mega-stores like iOS and Google, but there are also pay TV services          Content providers have been slow to embrace all this, but often
        with their own stores.                                                       their content is already available through piracy. It can be extremely
           The third factor is content. The OTT revolution means that producers      challenging to develop flexible, legitimate services. But that is what
        can be distributors. You can market your own content, and this means         we have been doing by helping rights-holders distribute their content
        you now see a very strong push on ethnic and niche content. For              internationally. For example, we worked with a channel provider in Spain
        example, there are many people from Africa in France that would like to      to help them build international content revenues, and they have been
        watch content from their original country through African TV channels.       very flexible in getting the right content cleared for the right countries.
           Community is becoming a very strong word in TV industry. In the              You also need a workable business model. We believe revenue share
        US, there are eight million French-speaking people and there is no           will be the main model for ethnic and niche OTT services.
        dedicated service for this community. The relevant content should be
        available for this target audience.                                          To what extent are OTT TV service providers looking to white label
           Mobibase is a 15 year-old content company. Now, more than                 solutions – including both the technical platform and content
        ever, we are focusing on linear and on-demand content for specific           aggregation – and what advantages does this bring for them?
        communities. We can address various communities around the world             It is not difficult to stream or encode a channel, but it is difficult to
        via operators that require rights-cleared packages. For example, a           achieve 100% perfect video quality. We have developed a global white-
        major telecommunications provider asked us to develop a Hispanic             label offering, from which we can launch high-quality services in a few
        package, and we cleared the rights and distributed that to them. We          weeks or even days, if needed. The key is to have cutting-edge streaming
        also supply top European operators with TV apps, and for most of our         technology and to be able to launch OTT solutions fast. In the past, we
        clients we provide multiscreen applications.                                 needed almost a year to get something launched but now companies
                                                                                     want to launch their OTT apps in only a few weeks.
        How significant is the market for OTT services targeted at migrant
        and expatriate groups globally and how fast do you expect it to              How has Mobibase adapted its business to address the changing
        grow?                                                                        needs of the market?
        I believe this is the key driver in the TV market growth today. All around   With people migrating and looking for ethnic content from their
        the world the demand for pay TV services is becoming satiated. All           original country, Mobibase integrated in its content offer ethnic TV and
        of the key players have over 500 channels. It is difficult for operators     VOD packages for diaspora communities from all around the world –
        to find avenues for growth. The only way to build value and get the          packages such as Hispanic, Arabic, African, English, Turkish, Italian,
        customer to pay more is to reach out and serve their basic needs.            French, Caribbean and more.
           This could mean building offerings dedicated to watch local                 Also, with the boom in OTT and apps stores, we adapted our business
        telenovelas from Latin America, to learn English or French languages         by shifting to a multi-device approach. Mobibase is now working on
        in China, to get news on niche or extreme sports, to offer travel            several projects with major operators and OTT providers from Europe,
        documentaries on specific subjects, or even to receive luxury offers         Latin America and Middle East in order to deliver a full experience
        for yachts, properties, cars and wine. This is how OTT services could        approach: content licensing and integration paired with multiscreen
        generate new revenues.                                                       apps on web, Android, iOS and more.

p13 Mobibase Q&A Mar17.indd 1                                                                                                                             21/02/2017 10:40
News > digest                                                                                                                                 Digital TV Europe
                                                                                                                                                              March 2017

                                                                                              Together with existing funding the     ing that this is a “realistic, possibly
          UAE                                        UK                                       channel will have an initial budget    optimistic” view, with consumer
                                                                                              of £30 million.                        spending likely to “become more
          IPTV > MBC+ Ooredoo                        PROG > BBC Scotland                                                             muted as inflation rises and the
          UAE-based MBC Group and                    The BBC is to invest £19 million         PROG > ITV’s Brexit blues              reality of Brexit sets in”.
          Qatar-based telco Ooredoo have             (e22 million) in creating a new TV       The outlook for ITV has deteri-
          launched the new MBC+ Ooredoo              channel for Scotland and will up its     orated as advertisers pull back        PROG > Rights partnership
          Channel for Ooredoo TV sub-                spending on Scottish programming         on spending amid anxiety about         Various UK rights associations
          scribers. MBC+ Ooredoo will air            by about £20 million a year as part      Brexit, according to analysts at       have partnered with search
          a selection of MBC’s best Arabic           of a new programme of invest-            Berenberg. The analysts said that      engines Google and Bing in a
          content and is available to Ooredoo        ment in the UK’s devolved nations.       spot advertising net revenue for       government-backed attempt to
          customers on channel 180. The              Following a review of programming        ITV looks set to fall by 8% in Q1,     crack down on internet piracy. The
          new launch is part of a multi-year         and services, the BBC has said it        down from an earlier prognosis of      UK initiative will see sites dedicated
          memorandum of understanding                will recognise the need to spend         a 3-4% decline. “Despite bullish       to copyright-infringing content
          signed between Ooredoo and                 more of the licence fee raised in        headlines about how the UK is          demoted in internet search results,
          MBC Group last year, which gave            Scotland and Scottish content and        faring after the Brexit decision,      while sites offering legal content
          Ooredoo exclusive rights to some           services. The new channel, BBC           it seems advertisers, particularly     will be easily accessible. The new
          of MBC’s HD channels in Qatar. The         Scotland, will air from 19:00 each       retail and food, are pulling back      voluntary code of practise was
          channel’s launch event was held on         day and will include an hour-long        spend in anticipation of tightened     agreed between the two leading
          Sunday in The Museum of Islamic            news programme at 21:00 on               consumer budgets and margin            search engines and music body the
          Art in Doha and was attended by            weekdays, edited and presented           squeeze related to inflation on cost   BPI, the Motion Picture Association,
          Ooredoo Qatar CEO Waleed Al                from Scotland. The pubcaster             of goods sold,” said Berenberg. The    and the Alliance for Intellectual
          Sayed, MBC Group CEO Sam Bar-              said it would create about 80 new        analysts maintained their negative     Property, which represents a range
          nett and a host of MBC talent.             journalist posts to staff the service.   5% forecast for the full year, argu-   of rights holders.

           Sky moves beyond the dish with OTT TV plans
           By Andy McDonald                             The news came as Sky an-                                  Darroch:              In the UK, Sky increased re-
                                                     nounced its results for the six                              Italian and        turns on its box investment by
           Sky has unveiled plans to launch          months ending December 31.                                   German             making the Sky Q box stand-
           Sky TV over broadband in the              For the period Sky said it added                             launches will      ard for all UK customers, with
           UK and other European mar-                500,000 new customers across                                 follow that in     around 25% of new customers
           kets, marking the first time it           all its markets – the UK and                                 the UK.            currently choosing to pay for ad-
           will offer its full television offer-     Ireland, Germany and Austria                                                    ditional Sky Q functionality.
           ing without the need for a satel-         and Italy. This took its total retail                                              “Our plans to roll out Sky Q
           lite dish.                                customer figure to 22.3 million          mance,” said Sky CEO Jeremy            to our other markets are also
              Sky said its Sky Q service will        – 12.65 million in the UK and            Darroch.                               on track,” said Sky, which intro-
           be available over IP, via a set-top       Ireland, 4.86 million in Germa-             IHS Technology senior prin-         duced the service in the UK and
           box, from next year, opening              ny and Austria and 4.81 million          cipal analyst Ted Hall warned          Ireland last February.
           up the service to “millions of            in Italy.                                that Sky’s impressive results             Sky also plans to offer inter-
           homes” in the UK that are cur-               Revenue was up 6% on a                included some “notable cave-           net-delivered versions of its TV
           rently unable to install a dish.          constant currency basis to £6.41         ats”, pointing out that Premier        service in its other European
              The move marks Sky’s latest            billion (e6.1 billion) but operat-       League costs in the UK lowered         markets. Speaking on the com-
           move into over-the-top delivery,          ing profit was down due to “sig-         operating profits by 9% across         pany’s earnings call, Darroch
           following the launch of Now TV            nificantly higher programming            the group and by 18% in the UK         said that, over time, it aimed to
           in 2012 – a flexible service that         costs” – particularly relating to        and Ireland.                           reach and address an estimated
           was targeted at customers that            top-flight English football.                “Keeping content costs down         six million customers across its
           would not otherwise pay for a                “Our first half operating prof-       is a priority for Sky, highlight-      European footprint that do not
           Sky subscription.                         it of £679 million is down £65           ed by its carriage-fee dispute         have a satellite dish.
              Sky UK’s chief executive Ste-          million on the prior year despite        with long-time channel partner            Darroch said that Italy and
           phen van Rooyen said: “This               absorbing an additional £314             Discovery, which could see key         Germany launches will closely
           year is about giving our custom-          million of Premier League costs,         factual channels and Eurosport         follow Sky’s planned 2018 debut
           ers even more quality, choice             highlighting the strength of our         disappear from Sky TV and Now          for the satellite-free service in
           and value.”                               underlying financial perfor-             TV on 1 February.”                     the UK.

                                                                                                                                     Visit us at www.digitaltveurope.net

          14
p04-05,08,10,14 DTVE News Digest Mar17v3am.indd 14                                                                                                                       23/02/2017 19:34
Q&A: Tor Helge Kristiansen, Conax
       Tor Helge Kristiansen, EVP principal architect, Conax, talks about revenue protection, the rise of OTT TV and providing content security
       as a service

       How can content security solutions help deliver positive revenue              content in and out of the home.
       benefits to TV operators as well as protecting their content?                    When using platform DRMs, the operator has little to no control of the
       Comprehensive content protection security is still the most important         security level of each device being used and platform DRM options differ
       element in ensuring healthy revenue streams for pay TV operators.             in terms of the business features offered making it harder for operators to
       The ability to collect payment from consumers accessing services and          set up consistent service across a multitude of devices. Since the number
       eliminating non-paying consumers’ access to content or service is vital. To   of attack points in these complex ecosystems is increasing, it is very
       satisfy the growing demands of content and device-savvy consumers, the        important to invest in a security solution that ensures holistic protection
       availability of good platform DRM clients limits the necessary investment     of the both the content and the service.
       on the device side; however it is increasingly important to invest in
       strong, scalable security back-end solutions to cope with the complexity      What specific content security requirements to service providers in
       of addressing multiple devices with multiple DRM options. There are           emerging markets such as India and Latin America have and what
       an increasing number of secure and flexible solutions available from          types of solution are best suited to their needs?
       experienced security providers such as Conax that enable operators of         There are different kinds of threats to content and piracy in different
       varying levels of resources to start a secure and more advanced services      regions. The biggest security challenge for pay TV service providers in
       operation and simultaneously satisfy the growing demands of your              emerging markets is the sharing of cards and content keys. In regions that
       content and device-savvy consumers.                                           are predominantly satellite there will be higher security exposure than
                                                                                     other networks. It is also interconnected, making it more likely that if a
        How can developments in content security such as the use of cloud-           hacker breaches one region then they will also get access to the rest of
       based technology help service providers deliver their business goals?         the continent.
       What impact is the use of the cloud having on content security in general?       At Conax we emphasise the importance of working with a strong
       Today’s operators need to embrace a competitive business model that           security partner that can help operators secure the entire value chain by
       provides flexible consumer services, while securing valuable content          the use of separation technology, security evaluations, security audits,
       revenue base. Cloud-based technologies and services are aimed at              anti-piracy services and security guidance for device vendors. Operators
       providing operators with a sustainable growth model through low CAPEX         should be aware of the various attacks on STBs and aim at building very
       and outsourced operations, while at the same time providing the ultimate      strong security architecture by researching and utilising new security
       flexibility in trying out new service offerings and business models. Thus,    mechanisms and securing all available devices.
       cloud or serviced-based offerings (SaaS) are becoming increasingly
       interesting for pay TV operations for a variety of platform functions as      To what extent are TV service providers looking to service-based
       they offer reduce cost base and competence, making it easier to stay          offerings from content security providers and what impact does this
       competitive in a highly competitive marketplace.                              have on their business and on Conax?
          The cloud is providing a positive impact on content security, enabling     Service-based offerings are becoming increasingly interesting for pay
       operators to outsource security competence, reduce hardware and               TV operations for a variety of platform technologies. Off-site services
       provide rapid launch of new features and upgrades.                            for technologies outside an operators’ key competence enable reduced
                                                                                     operational complexity, hardware and cost base necessary to stay
        What impact is the extension of TV operators’ services towards OTT           competitive in the broadcast and OTT arenas.
       services and multiscreen app-based delivery having on their content              For Conax, this transition is a key part of our strategy. In 2016, we
       security requirements?                                                        deployed the Contego-as-a-Service (CaaS) cloud-based service platform,
       As open consumer devices are increasingly vertically integrated into          positioning Conax to tap additional growth in the global market while
       vendor ecosystems, they also come with pre-embedded platform DRMs             continuing our focus on providing out-of-the box, lean, flexible and
       such as Widevine, PlayReady and FairPlay Streaming. Deeply integrated         scalable solutions. Our aim is offering a highly secure service – hosted,
       into the devices with decent security levels, they provide operators with     monitored and maintained by Conax – that supports DVB, IPTV and OTT
       a good means for securely delivering OTT content to these devices. It         content delivery, all major DRM technologies, and premium 4K and UHD
       does however force operators into using multiple DRM systems in their         content. We are providing pay TV operators with a sustainable growth
       back-end systems, creating significant complexity in the overall security     model through low CAPEX, reduced complexity and fast-time-to-market
       management of the system when ensuring customers are able to view             for launching new features.

p15 Conax Q&A DTVE Mar17.indd 1                                                                                                                           22/02/2017 15:45
Opinion > Mike Fries                                                                                                             Digital TV Europe
                                                                                                                                                         March 2017

                                                                                           Introducing
                                                                                           the GIGAWorld
                                                                                                                       Liberty Global CEO
                                                                                                                        Mike Fries explains
                                                                                                                         his vision for the
                                                                                                                          rapidly approaching
                                                                                                                           ‘GIGAWorld’ and
                                                                                                                            why it will change
                                                                                                                            your life.

                 Imagine                    a world where your
                                            running        shoes
                  report back to you on how many miles you’ve
                                                                       Across Europe, we already have more
                                                                    than 50 million GIGAReady homes capable
                                                                    of being upgraded to gigabit speeds with
                                                                                                                      greater demand. The creativity demonstrated
                                                                                                                      in the development of these technologies
                                                                                                                      and services is awe-inspiring – from smart
                  clocked. A world where a home buyer can           minimal cost – and we’re investing billions to    home appliances to virtual and augmented
                  view properties through a virtual reality         extend our networks to millions more homes        reality, massive data analytics and artificial
                  headset without having to set foot inside. A      over the coming years.                            intelligence.
                  world where hologram teachers get beamed             We’re doing this because we’ve already            And it’s a market that’s going to get a lot
                  into your living room to teach you or your        seen that the world is moving beyond simply       bigger, quickly. According to Ovum, the
                  children from the comfort of your own home.       connecting people – to one where connectivity     value of the global smart home market alone
                     This is what we call the GIGAWorld –           is always on. Computers, smartphones,             is expected to rise from US$12.6 billion
                  where these applications and innovations          tablets and wearables have become a critical      (e12 billion) to US$76 billion between
                  are supported by networks like the ones we        and irreplaceable component of life, work and     2015 and 2020. We’re well prepared for this
                  operate throughout Europe that are capable of     play.                                             skyrocketing demand, thanks to our role as
                  delivering gigabit per second speeds to every        But without the superfast speeds provided      investors and innovators in our state-of-the-art
                  household and business. And it’s closer than      by fibre-rich networks such as ours, they can     networks across Europe, Latin America and
                  you think. According to a research project        only do so much – like having the latest state-   the Caribbean, empowering tens of millions
                  we’ve commissioned from Arthur D Little,          of-the-art smartphone, but only being able to     of people through superfast broadband and
                  more than seven in ten telco industry experts     use it in airplane mode.                          innovative TV products.
d in              believe that these next-generation applications      The proliferation of next-generation              But speed is not enough. Customer
aw.               will be commonplace in just five years.           devices and applications is set to fuel even      experience and technical performance are

                                                                                                                                  Visit us at www.digitaltveurope.net

                  16
       p16-17 Mike Fries Mar17v4st.indd 16                                                                                                                        23/02/2017 19:03
Digital TV Europe                                                                                                          Opinion > Mike Fries
           March 2017

           critical, which is why quality of service is the     home. One of our innovations automatically         to develop disruptive technologies.
           other key component of our GIGAWorld                 connects customer devices to the best channel         Collaboration      improves      customer
           vision.                                              and bandwidth for optimal performance and          experience.      Integrated     programmes,
              We know that people want powerful                 a seamless experience. Another uses publicly       platforms and processes manage complexity
           experiences that are effortless to access. In the    available property data to help troubleshoot       behind the scenes. So, customers can just sit
           UK, for instance, we’ve seen how 800,000 of          architecture-related issues to connectivity.       back and enjoy the show.
           our video customers who access the Netflix
           app built into our Virgin Media box watch
           more television, churn less and are happier          “We’ve already seen that the world is moving beyond
           subscribers.
              So what does this tell us we need to do? It’s
                                                                simply connecting people to one where connectivity is
           straightforward: keep it simple and seamless.        always on.”
              To improve customer experience, we offer
           the right content, at the right time, in the right
           format and at the right price point. We do              We’re even harnessing the power of big             As a pioneer of the digital age, Liberty
           this by partnering with creators, investing in       data to predict and fix problems before they       Global has become indispensable to millions
           content companies and producing our own              arise. And that’s because if you want to set the   of customers. We’re proud to support the
           content. We also make full use of our scale          pace in a GIGAWorld, collaboration is key.         smartphones and social media that connect
           and bundle services.                                    Collaboration adds agility. We have small,      them, the entertainment that inspires them
              To improve technical performance, we’re           interactive teams that work with vendors to        and the apps that help them manage everyday
           thinking outside the box – quite literally           bring leading products and services to market.     life. l
           – to solve connectivity problems that are            The result: some incremental improvements
           traditionally beyond our scope of broadband.         now take four to six weeks to develop, not 12-     Mike Fries is due to close day one of Cable
           WiFi, for instance, is a common pain point.          18 months.                                         Congress with a keynote interview hosted by
           So, we are developing technologies that make            Collaboration fuels innovation. We work         CNBC anchor Carolin Roth. He is scheduled
           WiFi work better, inside and outside the             with start-ups, venture partners and academia      to speak there at 17:25 on March 8, 2017.

                                                   NEW
                   Headend 3.0:
                   New software,
                   new possibilities
                   �   up to 6 x more IP streams
                   �   up to 6 x higher throughput
                   �   up to 4 x more PIDs
                   �   up to 3 x the processing power

                                                                                                                                                  at
                                                                                                                                       See you
                                                                                                                                       CABSAT, Dubai7
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p16-17 Mike Fries Mar17v4st.indd 17                                                                                                                         23/02/2017 19:03
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