ITV

Tag: importance

  • Mobile content delivery platform DVB-H TV to grow in importance in Europe

    MUMBAI: Digital video broadcasting (DVB-H), the standard used for bringing broadcast services to handheld receivers, is set to gain momentum in Europe by 2008.

    With the full-fledged rollout of DVB-H mobile television (TV), the current role of downloaded video content (downloads and streaming) in providing access to TV and other forms of video entertainment is likely to change.

    Frost & Sullivan analyst Pranab Mookken says, “By 2011, video services like downloading would be used as a sales channel for specific video content while DVB-H takes over as the primary channel for mobile video services,”
    Manufacturers will launch DVB-H mobile TV on a trial basis by 2008 after dealing with ambiguities regarding spectrum allocation. Meanwhile, operators are likely to deploy stopgap solutions involving multicasting technologies in addition to using existing cellular networks and video services to introduce TV in Europe.

    Notwithstanding this delay, the DVB-H standard is likely to witness high adoption rates in Europe. It was developed by the digital video broadcast (DVB) project, an industry-led consortium of over 260 professionals from over thirty-five countries. The project had already established a terrestrial transmission system for Europe in the form of DVB-T, but the industry still lacked a standard that could support handheld terminals.

    CThe consortium developed DVB-H signals to meet the huge demand for such a standard. DVB-H currently has the ability to utilize existing DVB-T infrastructure, that is, it is backward compatible with DVB-T and its content is delivered in the form of Internet Protocol (IP) datacasts that are similar to that distributed on the Internet. This, along with the standards specification which ensure maximum conservation of handset/terminal battery power and thereby allay customer fears of running out of battery for communication purposes, will facilitate its adoption in Europe.

    Moreover, mobile TV using DVB-H will be easy to use and will offer a better experience for its customers. This will automatically translate into increased viewership. The report notes that initially, companies will keep prices low, until business models, service offerings and quality levels become satisfactory. But by 2010, service providers might augment prices to anywhere between 7 Euros and 12 Euros per month.

    Mokken adds, “The DVB-H mobile TV market is set to grow at an explosive rate and touch Euro 6.80 billion in revenues by 2011. The mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) is also likely to rise as prices increase.” The biggest beneficiaries of this development will undoubtedly be the terminal providers that will gain tremenously from the revenue influx prompted by the need for compatible handsets. Service providers, especially mobile operators, will see a rise in their ARPU through the deployment of value-added services (VASs) in the form of DVB-H mobile TV. The channel will also help in making operators’ retention and loyalty strategies more intimate and effective.

  • News gaining importance in the US: Study

    News gaining importance in the US: Study

    MUMBAI: With the US Presidential election around the corner Euro RSCG Worldwide has released an online survey of 2,000 US respondents.

    63.1 per cent of the participants said that the news matters more now than it did five years ago.

    This especially applies to women, the young and the less educated. What is intersting is that Americans don’t seem to be reading the papers more frequently than they used to (equally split 35.1 per cent vs. 37.2 per cent).

    Nearly 50 per cent said that they don’t trust the media per se. However they place trust on specific TV anchors and newspaper columnists.

    The internet unsurprisingly is growing as an information source. A third of the respondents now get a lot of their information from “unofficial” sources on the Internet — such as blogs.

    The most trusted media appear to be network TV news shows (24.5 per cent), daily newspapers (24 per cent) and cable news shows (20.3 per cent).

    55.5 per cent of the respondnents have a group of trusted media. But they also “scavenge” for information elsewhere. The American is also likely to vote on 2 November. Over 50 per cent of the respondents felt that it was irresponsible not to do so. This was especially true of voters over 55 (73.6 per cent) than those between 18-34 (46.3 per cent).