ITV

Category: GECs

  • ‘80% of activity where brands are engaging themselves with films is in associative marketing’ : CEO Navin Shah

    ‘80% of activity where brands are engaging themselves with films is in associative marketing’ : CEO Navin Shah

    This year the Indian film industry has entered the spotlight with release after release that has caused a stir in the media. Amidst all this, there have also been several others contributing to the noise and much like ‘parasites’ seem to be clinging on to the fame! In short, brands are increasingly riding the tide of Bollywood, transforming this activity into a more organised format by investing ‘big monies’ towards it. This trend seems to be gaining ground in the Indian sub-continent with a whole host of advertisers jumping in the ‘brand-wagon’ of blockbusters including Krrish, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Don and the latest addition Dhoom 2.

    Highlighting the potential of this relatively new yet burgeoning industry, P9 Integrated CEO Navin Shah took some time out to speak with Indiantelevision.com’s Renelle Snelleksz.

    Excerpts:

    What are the various options available to advertisers when associating with a film?
    A product placement is only one aspect of what a brand can do with a film. In fact, product placement only forms 10 per cent of all the activity. Actually a lot happens outside the film, in what is popularly called associative marketing or co-promotion, where the film rides on the brand to get promoted and in turn the brand rides on the euphoria of the film.

    Firstly, there is no lag in the time period, like for Salaam-e-Ishq, which is releasing on 24 January, the planning can be done now. Secondly, even if there is a high integration of the creative of the brand footage and the film, it is only outside and is short lived. It is irrespective of the fate of the film, because you are doing an outside association you are assured of your ROI as it is media linked. The association can be amplified via other mediums like television, print, cinema hoardings.

    Therefore, 80 to 90 per cent of activity in which brands are engaging themselves with films is in associative marketing.

    Is it not a big risk that brands are taking with in film associations, especially if the movie doesn’t do well?
    If you look at it from purely a visibility perspective, while it is a risk, when you have product placement x amount of viewership is guaranteed. However, today there are a couple of more avenues where the brand is going to be seen, most importantly is satellite television because sooner or later the movie will be released on TV, not just once but at multiple times so in that case visibility is assured. In addition, in the Indian context, the home video segment is really growing so even the shelf life of the film is largely increased with the sale of DVDs. To that extent, the risk gets slightly amortized but in-film per se is a ‘high risk high return model’ because if it works then the returns can go as high as Rs 20 to 30 crores. Therefore, the marketer is always aware of the fact that he is pumping in on something that can give him a disproportionate return.

    Brand associations are then a viable option and filmmakers stand to gain as it not only provides additional revenue but also helps to market his film?
    In fact this is what most of the advertisers think. But if you look at it from a filmmaker’s perspective he makes a mutli-million rupee film, the brand monies are inconsequential in terms of its overall PNI. In this scheme of things. the brand actually rides on a Rs 15-40 crore project. It’s not only the producer that benefits from this activity. If done right it’s a win-win situation. In fact, for a client it’s a huge opportunity because in India films are such a big passion that if something works, the magic can help reap benefits for years to come.

    A classic example is ICICI and Baghban, that’s a four year old story while the shelf life of that can grow to be about 20 years as satellite TV keeps replaying it over and over again. Thus, it is a disproportionately skewed equation for the brand and if brands realise this they can use it to their advantage.

    How much are brands willing to spend on the medium?
    Worldwide there are brands, including automobile companies, glass manufactures, mobile phone companies that spend almost 20-30 per cent of their marketing budget on product placement, like for instance new versions of the Audi have been launched via films. In India, there are at least 40 brands that spend more than Rs 100 crores in a year.

    This year’s blockbuster Krrish is often sighted as a popular case study, but what happens when there are more than 10 brands incorporated in a film, in that case how does it prove to be a ‘clutter breaking’ approach?
    It’s not about whether there are four brands or 500 brands in a film. If the brand is shown in the right context, then I think there is place for even 100 brands where every brand will stand out in three hours. If you take the example of a Bond film, there are about 20 brands placements and each one gets its own glory so there is no question of ‘clutter’, it’s the context and the way you portray the brand.

    Among several brands in film, will a particular brand have to pay a greater premium for more visibility?
    It’s more about the idea and not about the show time measured in seconds that a brand came in. An example is a product placement I had done for Kodak in Hum Tum where it was as small as 10 seconds in which Saif remembers Rani getting married to Abhishek and the thought freezes as a photograph on which he scribbles “Maybe a perfect Kodak moment?” That in my mind is more than a brand trying to tout his product for 10 minutes in a film. So it’s not about one trying to outdo the other, everybody can be equally good as long as the idea behind the placement is imaginative.
    ‘The biggest role to my mind is that of expectation management‘

    Who implements the placement in this set up? How does it work?
    It is the director’s prerogative, he is the final decision maker. One can however give inputs and suggestions.

    For an organization like P9 Integrated, what is their hand in the whole process?
    Firstly, we are match makers and secondly the biggest role to my mind is that of ‘expectation management’. The client may often think that by putting a certain amount of money he owns the film, while the filmmaker is any which way making a film on his terms, so P9 would ideally bring the two parties to a common platform and manage their expectations to start with, help the brand in ideating and help the producer in execution as expectation managers.

    Do several media agencies come to the table with different brands to be integrated in a film, or does one agency handle all the placements for a film?
    There have been instances where we have taken up the exclusive rights for the film and so we become a ‘toll gate’ so anybody in the market ranging from a media agency to a client will have to come to us. A case in point is the recently acquired exclusive rights for Salaam-e-Ishq for any co-promotional activity.

    Internationally, what is the scope of the market? What is being done in that space?
    Globally the industry is a three decade old business making it a mature market, today it is growing at a pace of 6-8 per cent, which would be almost 5 per cent of the overall advertising pie used on this medium. Growth will continue until it reaches a critical mass which it has not yet achieved.

    We have done several co-promotional marketing tie-ups in India for Hollywood movies including the work on Superman and Mother Dairy cheese, we had also done MI3 and Gabanna and likewise we are in talks with many films, one of the big films which is slated for December is Happy Feet on which we will be doing something interesting.

    What can we expect in the coming months?
    We have just finished working on an association for Kinetic for Apna Sapna Money Money. We also did Mentos and Jaaneman.

    There are three key films in the pipeline with a huge amount of stuff being done – for Guru, some mind blowing activity on our home production Traffic Signal which Madhur Bhandarkar is directing and of course Salaam-e-Ishq. In addition, we are also working in the regional market with Telegu films.

    What do you identify as being the way head for the industry in India?
    The future for this industry is that brands for a particular target audience and particular style and stature will require experts like us to be their entertainment AOR experts, not only for implementation but to play a complete advisory and consultancy role and give them a blue print of the strategy for the whole year of how entertainment will play a role in their brand.

    Secondly, there is some amount of measurement emerging in terms of effectiveness and impact. Companies like Media e2e are attempting to put in those measures into place.

    Measurement should become an integral part of the any project exercise so we should actually have a directional tool of getting a report card at the end of every activity to determine what worked and what didn’t work.

    Thirdly, we need to bring a lot more discipline into the whole business of branded entertainment. The biggest drawback is the lack of trained talent in this business. Additionally, there is a need to train even the professionals and the practitioners of marketing to talk of a common currency in terms of best practices, category knowledge, trends, ROI, economics and legal aspects of branded entertainment as it is an option that probably allows one to marry their passion with their career.
  • Google continues growing in popularity in the UK

    Google continues growing in popularity in the UK

    MUMBAI: comScore Networks, which provides measurement services for the internet and other digital media has revealed the top UK Internet properties for October, based on data collected through its comScore World Metrix audience ratings service.

    The world’s most valuable media firm Google (not including its recent acquisition YouTube) edged out software major Microsoft in October to become the most-visited Web property in the UK. eBay is in third position.

    Yahoo!, BBC and Time Warner are also present in the top 10 most popular sites in the UK. comScore Europe MD Bob Ivins says, “We have watched the popularity of Google consistently grow over time. While the current month-over-month increase was small, it was just enough to earn them the number one spot.

    “Also notable was YouTube’s 24 per cent increase in traffic in October. YouTube’s ascent in popularity around the world and in the UK, demonstrated by the site’s month-after-month double-digit percentage increases, has been remarkable.”

    It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
    Retail sites represented nearly half of the top 20 gaining sites in the U.K. in October, indicating an early interest in holiday shopping. Leading the top gainers were Woolworths Group with 2.6 million visitors and HMV with 2.4 million visitors, growing 65 and 30 per cent respectively.

    UK traffic to the Wal-Mart Web property, which includes ASDA, grew 14 per cent to 2.3 million visitors. Littlewoods Shop Direct Group grew 12 per cent to 3.9 million visitors, followed by Tesco Stores (also a top 20 site), which
    grew 12 per cent to 6.7 million visitors. Other retail sites rounding out the list of top gainers include Marks&Spencer, up 10 per cent to 2.4 million visitors; Play.com sites, up 10 percent to 3.6 million visitors; and Dixons Stores Group, up 10 percent to 4.2 million visitors.

    In addition to shopping, Britons were pparently busy booking holiday travel in October, with traffic to British Airways gaining 26 percent to 3.5 million visitors and British Midland gaining 11 per cent to 2.6 million visitors.

  • Holy Crap! ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ makes greatest quotes from TV list

    Holy Crap! ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ makes greatest quotes from TV list

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster TV Land will count down The 100 Greatest TV Quotes and Catchphrases next month.

    This will be a week-long look at the memorable sayings from American cartoons, television series, commercials and news programmes over the past 60 years.

    The quotes that have made the cut include Donald Trump’s parting shot to the loser of the business based reality show The Apprentice “You’re fired”, Holy crap! from the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond which airs in India on Star World and MTV’s iconic phrase I want my MTV! which was made legendary in the Dire Straits song Money For Nothing.

    Another phrase that made it is Oh my God! They killed Kenny! from the acerbic animated show South Park. The phrase for the show X-Files The truth is out there is also present. In the news category not surprisingly Neil Armstrong’s quip of “One small step for man one giant leap for mankind” after he became the first man to step on the moon is also present. Then there is the late JFK’s call to his countrymen, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” The expression that film critics Roger Ebert and the late Gene Siskel used in rating a film “Two thumbs up!” or “Thumbs Down” that has influenced film critics who came after them is also there.

    TV Land president Larry W. Jones says, “We have found that television is such a huge part of Baby Boomers’ DNA that it makes sense that so much of America’s pop culture jargon has come from TV. We are sure that The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases will strike a chord with the TV
    Generation and will illustrate the influence the medium has had on pop culture.”

  • Gemini, Udaya valuation report by Thursday: Maran

    Gemini, Udaya valuation report by Thursday: Maran

    MUMBAI: Sun TV Ltd has decided to merge satellite broadcasting companies Gemini TV Pvt Ltd and Udaya TV Pvt Ltd (except its FM radio division) with itself. Enam Financial Consultants and DSP Merrill Lynch have been appointed as advisors and the valuation report is expected to be submitted soon.

    The final holding of the shareholders of Gemini and Udaya in Sun TV Ltd. will, thus, depend on the share swap ratio. The equity shares of Udaya TV, as of 7 March 2006, are held by Kalanithi Maran (66.67), S. Selvam (16.67 per cent) and S Selvi (16.66 per cent). In Gemini, Maran has 26.5 per cent, Kal Communication (a promoter Group company), 23.5 per cent, K Bharathi 30 per cent, Indira Anand 16 per cent and A Sai Siva Jyoti 4 per cent.

    Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that Sun TV would be merging Gemini TV and Udaya TV with itself. Maran’s broadcasting interests in the southern languages would, thus, be consolidated under a single company.

    When contacted, promoter Kalanithi Maran had this to say: “We are expecting the report from Enam and DSP Merrill by Thursday. The shareholders of Gemini and Udaya TV will be given shares in Sun TV based on this.”

    Gemini TV posted a revenue of Rs 1.75 billion for the year ended 31 March 2006. The company owns Gemini TV, Teja TV, Gemini News, Gemini Music and Gemini Cable Vision.

    Udaya TV’s revenues for the last fiscal stood at Rs 943 million. It owns four television channels, Udaya TV, Udaya Movies, Udaya Varthegalu and Udaya TV II.

    “With this proposed merger Sun TV shareholders should benefit immensely from the highly profitable operations and strong growth plans of both Gemini TV and Udaya TV. Sun will have an integrated growth strategy for all south Indian language channels, and thus build a dominant presence in entire south India,” Maran says.

    Sun TV currently operates four television channels – Sun TV, KTV, Sun News and Sun Music – in Tamil language and two television channels – Surya TV and Kiran TV – in Malayalam language, and three FM Radio Stations, and another three FM Radio Stations through its subsidiaries. The two subsidiaries, Kal Radio Ltd and South Asia FM Ltd, jointly hold 41 FM radio licences for running stations across India.

    “With this proposed merger, Sun TV Ltd. will become one of the largest television broadcasters in India,” the company says in a statement.

    The Sun TV scrip gained 1.13 per cent today in the BSE to close the day at Rs 1528.45.

  • Reliance Communications launches ‘CricGenie’

    Reliance Communications launches ‘CricGenie’

    MUMBAI: Reliance Communications has announced the launch of Reliance Mobile ‘CricGenie’, a new service addition to its portfolio of cricket related mobile services. This application allows Reliance mobile customers to enjoy a match in progress in animated simulation format.

    “In our effort to enrich cricket experience for our customers on Reliance Mobile World we have enhanced our services to offer our cricket fans an experience on the mobile that matches the excitement on the grounds. Reliance Mobile Customers now have the added advantage of visualizing the match in addition to getting match updates,” says Reliance Communications president, applications and solutions group, Mahesh Prasad. The initiative goes beyond the current mobile cricket offerings like cricket scores while on the move, expert comments or updated tickers on your mobile phone.

    ‘CricGenie’ is priced at Rs. 25 per India-playing match day and all A Grade match days. For other match days, Reliance mobile users can enjoy Cricgenie at only Rs 10. CricGenie is supported on most colour handsets and efforts are underway to bring this experience to other Reliance Mobile World supported phones. This application has been designed by Dhruva Interactive, a Bangalore based company, specializing in mobile games.

    Apart from CricGenie, Reliance Mobile crickets lovers can also DIAL 1234 and say ‘SCORES’ and subscribe to special Cricket SMS updates for Rs 49 per month only. The pack is available throughout India and customers who subscribe to this pack would receive SMS updates after a certain number of overs.

  • HDTV a threat to Canadian culture: Book

    HDTV a threat to Canadian culture: Book

    MUMBAI: Two university professors in Canada say that the country’s push for HDTV programming could ultimately threaten its cultural identity.

    Bart Beaty and Rebecca Sullivan have come out with a book Canadian Television Today. Media reports state that they argue that while HDTV is offered as part of an expanded choice for consumers, the selection of programming using digital over analogue technologies is almost exclusively American.

    They say that Canada’s integration of HDTV would limit the amount of traditional programming. This is because smaller local programme providers will be passed over for US offerings.

    Traditionally television is transmitted in analog format and while HDTV is transmitted in digital. The US wants to end analogue by 2009, but Canada’s media regulatory body The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has not set a date. The authors in reports have also questioned The CRTC attempt to rush to catch up with the American demand for HDTV even though Canadian consumers and broadcasters are lukewarm about the technology.

    The CRTC will begin hearings in Quebec, today 27 November 2006 and, among other things, will “examine options for the most effective means of delivering Canadian digital/HD television to Canadians,” according to a CRTC notice.

    While HDTV offers a better quality picture the monitors are pricey and there are still a limited number of channels and programmes available. The authors point out that while with HDTV you can see exactly how thick the makeup is at the Oscar Awards the question is whether or not it is worth the price.

  • Star One, Star Gold launch on Sky in the UK

    Star One, Star Gold launch on Sky in the UK

    MUMBAI: Pan Asian broadcaster Star has announced the launch of Star One and Star Gold on the Sky digital TV platform in the UK.

    The launch expands Star’s Indian channel offering on BSkyB from the current line-up of Star Plus and Star News to a total of four channels.

    Indiantelevision.com was the first to report on 3 November that Entertainment channel Star One and movie platform Star Gold would debut in the UK later this month on BSkyB, which is over-35 per cent owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

    Star One and Star Gold will be available on BSkyB’s Entertainment Pack. The channels will enhance South Asian programming for viewers in 8.2 million households across the UK and Ireland.

  • Generation leap takes ‘Kahaani…’ atop ratings heap

    Generation leap takes ‘Kahaani…’ atop ratings heap

    MUMBAI: The leap theory has delivered yet again for India’s lead Hindi entertainment channel Star Plus. The channel’s second biggest show Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii’s generation leap episode (Week 46 of 2006) has garnered a whopping 15.3 TVRs to top the ratings charts.

    The Wednesday episode reached out to more than 12 Million viewers (Source: TAM, Base: C&S 4+, Hindi Speaking Markets). This is a record-breaking ratings of sorts because no other show this year has delivered such phenomenal ratings, a statement issued by the channel claims.

    Star Plus overall week-day as well as weekend prime-time has simultaneously improved – with a total recorded growth of 14 per cent over the previous week.

    Additionally, the channel’s recent launch – Karam Apnaa Apnaa – has also performed well by touching its highest average rating of 6.93. Out of the weekend programming pool of Star Plus – Sai Baba has recorded the highest ratings of the year with 7.22 and Prithviraj Chauhan also has touched the highest ever rating of 8.55 TVR, the channel asserts.

  • Animal Planet once again looks at ‘Animal Icons’

    Animal Planet once again looks at ‘Animal Icons’

    MUMBAI: Animal Planet which is devoted to the animal world has announced that its show Animal Icons has returned.

    The show looks at animals of fact and fiction that have sparked pop culture frenzies and merchandising mammoths for generations. From comic book heroes like Batman to larger-than-life Hollywood giants like King Kong, creative writers and artists have taken endless inspiration from real – but no less remarkable – earth-roaming animals.

    Each episode looks at different phenomena – ranging from cartoons to fast cars to holiday tales to cinematic adventures – generated by human fascination with these amazing animals. The show will air every Sunday at 11 pm.

    Viewers follow interviews with historians, animal experts and celebrities of the human variation to discover the evolution of real-life animals to extraordinary idols that have captivated the imaginations and adventurous spirits of people for generations.

    This season includes appearances by famous personalities like directors Steven Spielberg and John Landis, writer Stan Lee and actors Kurt Russel, David Hasselhoff and Jeff Goldblum. Combined with film clips and rare footage, each episode helps to answer the question: why have these characters become pop culture icons around the globe?
    The episode Animated Animals airs on 26 November 2006. It takes a fast-paced, funny and informative tour through the history of cartoon cinema and television, to explain how animals in animation are usually metaphors for the best, worst and funniest aspects of human behaviour.

    Comic Book Creatures airs on 3 December, 2006. From comic book heroes like Batman to larger-than-life Hollywood giants like King Kong, this episode looks at different phenomena – ranging from cartoons to fast cars to holiday tales to cinematic adventures, generated by human fascination with these amazing animals.

    Animals On Wheels airs on 10 December. This episode will feature the fastest – and fastest-selling – automobiles to hit the roads, as well as the men and women who love them. It offers a look at how cars and animals have become irrevocably intertwined.

  • IPTV World Forum announces key speakers for next year’s event

    IPTV World Forum announces key speakers for next year’s event

    MUMBAI: Junction Ltd has announced speakers from across the telecoms and broadcast industry for its March 2007 event IPTV World Forum.

    The announcement comes as over 110 exhibitors have already confirmed their attendance at the show being staged at the Olympia in London from 5-7 March 2007.

    The conference will feature over 40 worldwide telcos and ISPs discussing IPTV service deployment issues. Speakers include Telefonica, PCCW, Belgacom, BT, SaskTel, Deutsche Telekom AG/T-Com, Telstra, T-Online France, AT&T, Telecom New Zealand, NetCologne, Telekom Austria, Fastweb, BSkyB, Orange, Bharti Airtel Ltd and Siminn.

    Junction MD Ian Johnson says, “IPTV is now a major industry phenomenon and next March’s London event will, I believe, be a major landmark for professionals from all over Europe – and beyond – to gather and discuss their experiences together”.

    The speakers include Orange UK CEO Bernard Ghillebaert, PCCW head of strategic market development Paul Berriman and BBC director of future media and technology Ashley Highfield.

    IPTV Junction notes is moving rapidly towards mass-market adoption. The involvement of incumbent telecoms operators in most major markets by 2007 (France, Spain, Italy, UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, for example) will provide the marketing, word-of-mouth and – for the many conservative-minded television viewers yet to switch to digital TV – the credibility that could boost the market for all IPTV providers.

    Several early IPTV deployments are now reaching subscriber figures where they must be taken seriously, including Telefonica in Spain, which has over 200,000 subscribers for its Imagenio television service (launched commercially November 2004). The Spanish company is predicting one million customers by 2008. France Telecom (launched December 2003) doubled its customer count during 2005, ending the year with 200,000 subscribers for its MaLigne TV service too.

    The pace of deployment is accelerating: Telekom Austria launched its aonDigitalTV video-over-DSL service in Vienna in March 2006 and KPN in the Netherlands is preparing for a second quarter (2006) commercial launch. Deutsche Telekom is hoping to roll out its 100 channel broadcast TV (including HDTV) and VOD service late summer 2006 and BT has scheduled late summer/autumn for its hybrid DSL/DTT offering.

    Competition is also increasing. Utility companies continue to launch television services but the main rivals to the big telcos are alternative broadband providers using Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). The second half of 2006 and 2007 will also see the expansion of incumbent telcos into territories outside their domestic markets – where necessary using LLU to compete with their peers on ‘leased’ networks.

    France Telecom has already announced that it will launch IPTV in Spain, the UK and Poland this year, followed by the Netherlands (not to mention Mauritius, Senegal and the Ivory Coast). Meanwhile Telecom Italia – through its subsidiary HanseNet – is adding television to its existing telephone and DSL services in Germany, starting in Hamburg. Telecom Italia also launched television services in France (via Telecom Italia France’s AliceBox triple-play service) in January. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Online is taking IPTV to Hungary, with a planned commercial roll-out of TV-over-DSL in Budapest and other major cities later this year.

    And to add further spice to this market, existing Pay TV operators from the satellite and cable world are buying into DSL. BSkyB bought UK DSL network provider Easynet in January (2006) to give itself a two-way network and exploit the “exciting opportunities that now exist to combine quality entertainment with significant high-speed connections.” Europe’s largest satellite TV provider has told investors that it intends to introduce IPTV some time after 2007. Meanwhile, UPC Austria (part of the pan-European UPC group owned by Liberty Global) has agreed to acquire the Austrian xDSL provider Inode – so establishing a national footprint, initially for high-speed data and voice.

    All this activity is underpinned by network upgrades across Europe. BT in the UK is now committed to delivering ADSL speeds up 8Mbps from 5,300 telephone exchanges in the UK – putting broadband in reach of 99.6 per cent of the country. France Telecom and Telefonica, among others, are using ADSL2+ and Deutsche Telekom will deploy television services exclusively on VDSL, using the 50Mbps fibre/copper network being built by its fixed network infrastructure division, T-Com. T-Com expects VDSL in 40 cities by the end of 2007, putting 11 million homes within reach of the planned IPTV service.

    So with high-speed networks available and expanding their reach, multiple service launches and growing subscriber figures, the big questions are how much market share IPTV providers can take from satellite and cable, and whether they can make money – if indeed, video revenues are their real motive rather than simply reducing churn on voice/data customers. Are there digital TV newcomers who will choose IPTV ahead of digital terrestrial – and are these the customers IPTV providers want? And can companies differentiate their services sufficiently from cable and satellite to tempt existing Pay TV subscribers away from them?

    These are among the many topics that will be discussed at the IPTV World Forum 2007 in London – the No.1 conference/exhibition for the IPTV community. You can read more about the 2007 conference theme elsewhere on this site.

    IPTV World Forum 2007 provides a chance to assess the lessons learned from video-over-DSL and FTTH deployments in the preceding 18 months. With incumbent telcos like BT and Deutsche Telekom preparing to deploy during 2006, and an increasing number of ISPs using Local Loop Unbundling to offer competitive services, the conference will assess the impact of new services, the business models used, marketing strategies and the many technology issues that determine the service offer and IPTV economics.

    By next year, it will be clear what impact telecoms giants like France Telecom and Telefonica are having in the Pay TV market and what effect their video offers have had in terms of reducing customer churn and cementing relationships with voice/data subscribers. With some business analysts suggesting national telcos should retreat from the video business as fast as they got into it, a key theme for IPTV World Forum 2007 is whether telco TV is working.

    So for 2007, the forum will be assessing the motives of incumbent telcos, utility providers and ISPs and asking whether their business objectives are being met, at what cost, and whether IPTV looks sustainable in the face of content-rich satellite operators, modernising cable companies and increasingly successful free-to-air and Pay TV digital terrestrial platforms.

    IPTV World Forum 2007 will consider the threats and opportunities facing new video providers – including the emergence of ‘over-the-top’ video services from Internet-based content aggregators/downloaders like Google TV and Apple iTunes. The conference will look at how incumbent telcos in particular handle their relationships with these companies – including how they can partner with them, seek to obstruct them, or beat them at their own game.

    The conference will focus heavily on how IPTV operators differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded television marketplace. We will look at integrated voice/data/video services, assess the full potential of IMS (Integrated Multimedia Subsystems) and look at how some telcos are seeking to put each consumer at the heart of their own, personalised video universe that stretches beyond the home to their mobile devices and remote Internet connections.

    The confeernce will assess service strategies including how HDTV can be monetised most effectively, and how PVR, network PVR and Video on Demand can be harnessed to provide seamless on-demand experiences. The conference will examine how operators can link live broadcast TV with on-demand TV and on-demand/interactive advertising, and how interactive applications can be exploited to increase customer satisfaction and revenues.

    Network economics (including technology developments in content distribution, headends and backbone/last mile networks) will be assessed. The conference will also consider home networking strategies, including the best way to move video around homes – and how the video experience can be extended to portable devices. Customer Premise Equipment and Digital Rights Management technology and strategies will be assessed.

    Content strategies are another important subject that will be covered at IPTV World Forum 2007 – including availability, pricing, bundling, up selling, loss-leading and promotions. The conference will look at what type of content is working on IP networks today, and what kind of content can help drive ambitions for whole-home and mobile video experiences. The conference will assess locally created IPTV content and assess whether telcos should make content king – or focus on building services (like home networks) that lock customers in.