Last week, I talked about the success PBS is having reconnecting with its audience through the new PBS.org website and various applications for mobile devices. Monday, the BBC in the UK upped-the-ante and announced the availability of a new version of the BBC iPlayer optimized for a television set. This version, authored in HTML and javascript, is significantly simplified and targeted at the 10 foot couch experience rather than the up-close-and-personal iPad/PC.
Navigation is optimized for up-down-left-right (UDLR) arrow keys on the TV remote. Complicated lists and menus have been banished in favor of smart content grouping and one-select access to related content. In short, the BBC is using the web to completely update the TV experience while ensuring the entertainment remains at the center of everything. And there is no concern - or interference with - the traditional broadcast experience delivered on the same television.
In my 2009 report discussing what operators should be doing with OTT, one of the key things I recommended was to leverage the Internet to make TV better. The way operators have been doing this is through iPad apps that allow consumers to browse guides and change channels. But this does not reflect the way consumers are increasingly engaging with content online. There, on-demand access and content depth are the watchword. This is precisely what the BBC is now bringing to the TV experience.
So why aren't broadcasters doing the same thing in the U.S.? The perception is that a direct Internet delivered TV service conflicts with a content provider's business relationship with PayTV operators. Certainly, advertising sales - usually split with an operator - are a problem. But this is not so for all providers. For example, HBO sells no advertising and requires a PayTV subscription. Why should the company care if a subscriber watches the broadcast channel or through HBO2Go?
The BBC is already proving how powerful quantum access to the content can be. In March the company reported 1.4 million users per day for the iPlayer making, on average, over two daily show requests each. We cannot wait to see how the interface and direct TV access impacts these numbers.
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