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Quick Jump Menu to this Issue’s ArticlesOctober 6th, 2004 OverviewDigital Hollywood – Networking and More:An Interactive Conference On Interactive Television:Downloads – The Future of TV?
THE VIODI VIEW
by Ken Pyle ([email protected]), Viodi, LLC
In this Issue: ITV, SureWest, Bed Bugs, Rajun Cajuns & More….
October 6, 2004 Issue
- Digital Hollywood – Networking and More
- Is this Loopy or What?
- An Interactive Conference On Interactive Television
- Downloads – The Future of TV?
- Brand This – SureWest’s InfinitAccess
- This Bed Bug Doesn’t Bite….
- The Korner: – Don’t Mess With these Cajuns…..
Welcome to a special edition of the Viodi View. There a couple of reasons for this special issue of the Viodi View. First, I had the privilege of attending and participating in two conferences focused on content and content interactivity; Digital Hollywood and the Interactive Television Alliance’s Reinventing Television Summit last week and I could not wait another week to report on some of the goings on at those events.. Secondly, next week, I will be absorbed in the activities associated with co-producing the IP Video @ Telecom 04, which will be held at USTA’s Telecom 04 conference, and may not be able to publish the Viodi View until two weeks from now.
USTA is anticipating 5,000 attendees for Telecom 04, which is double the attendance of last year. Co-producing the event gives me the chance to take a sneak preview at the presentations and, let me be the first to write, they are excellent. I am really looking forward to seeing the speakers give these presentations and am looking forward to the exchanges among panelists, as they discuss things like product requirements, content challenges and marketing strategies and tactics for operators to achieve success with bundled services.
Online Registration for IP Video @ Telecom 04 Ends @ Midnight
Digital Hollywood – Networking and More
With something like 300 speakers, there is something for everyone at Digital Hollywood. There are panels covering technology, content, marketing, advertising and all things in between. Digital Hollywood brings together an interesting mix of people for four days and there are some very interesting and lively exchanges. Digital Hollywood is more than just great panels, as it is a great networking opportunity. Click here for some more details…
Text messaging on the television via SMS; sounds pretty crazy to me. But, what do I know, Patric Carlsson of iLoop mobile said 600,000 people recently paid the equivalent of one dollar each to see their message on European television. iLoop was demonstrating this technology at Digital Hollywood. Their technology will be deployed as part of an HDTV broadcast of a Yellowcard (I never heard of them either) concert coming this Saturday, October 9th. Kids will be able to enter sweepstakes and send text messages. Their solution could be very interesting for independent telcos that are also wireless carriers and cable operators.
An Interactive Conference On Interactive Television:
Approximately 30 miles from Santa Monica and Digital Hollywood, the majestic Queen Mary cruise ship is permanently docked in the Long Beach Harbor. The Queen Mary was the venue for the ITA’s Reinventing Television Summit. The format for this conference was such that all attendees were essentially panelists. Something that was very enjoyable was learning about what I call, Politicians on Demand, which seems so appropriate given it is the election season. I was extremely honored to have the opportunity to present the ITV opportunity represented by independent telcos. Click here to learn more about this very interactive conference.
One of the newest ways to enable interactive television services is by downloading content over the Internet to a set-top box with a hard-drive. This approach seems to be validated in the past month by the rumors and subsequent confirmation that Netflix and TIVO will be offering a service that allows movies to be downloaded to TIVO boxes. At the Digital Hollywood show, there were at least four competitors to the Netflix/TIVO approach. The credibility of this approach was also given a big boost by the announcement by Akimbo that they had secured a licensing deal with Turner and that William Hearst III was appointed as Chairman of their board. Click here to learn more about the many approaches to this market.
Brand This – SureWest’s InfinitAccess
Establishing solid brand names will be critical to the nascent service providers that are offering Internet downloads of content to hard-drive enabled set-top boxes. An established quadruple play provider, SureWest Broadband, knows the importance of branding as well as anyone. They just announced a new name, InfinitAccess, to describe their bundled services. They have a catchy tag line, “when all you really want is everything,” that describes InfinitAccess. The Flash animation on their site is simple, but engaging as it describes what they do in about 12 seconds by simply changing the last word in the tag line.
An inspiring article that proves that talent is geography independent can be found by clicking on the following link:
http://www.detnews.com/2004/screens/0410/05/f01-293219.htm
This article tells the challenges of a Michigan couple who created a children’s television show dedicated to helping kids go to bed. The show is My Bed Bugs and it teaches kids to brush their teeth, pick up their toys and other useful skills that I should have learned. I saw their big fuzzy, kid-friendly characters parading around NATPE earlier this year, but I did not get the story until reading this article. The article shows that content and talent is not just limited to the left or right coasts.
The Korner – Don’t Mess With these Cajuns…..
NATPE’s (National Association of Television and Programming Executives) convention was last January and I am finally getting around to writing about one of the more unique content offerings that I saw. The show, called the Rajun Sexy Cajuns is a cross between a reality show, a hunting show and, well, I am not sure.
Produced in the swamps of Louisiana, this show features young women who are as tough as the alligators they routinely catch. They literally captured the alligators, pictured to the right, with their bare hands in the middle of a swamp. They are very skilled with weapons such as firearms and a bow and arrow. When I was at NATPE, I had the chance to see a video clip of one of them hunting wild boar with only a bow and arrow. The stars of this show would humble Ted Nugent with their hunting skills.
They are getting a bit of exposure these days, as they took a few of Jay Leno’s correspondents out to the swamp and gave them a few lessons on hunting in the bayous. In addition to hunting, there is a bit of pig wrestling, skydiving and other adventures, so there is something for everyone. There is even a spin-off cooking show featuring Mama La Roux, who cooks what the Rajun Sexy Cajuns catch. They are currently negotiating with a network for carriage, but I am sure they are open to working with independent telcos for distribution.
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In this on-line publication, we share our analysis, opinions and direction on the interactive television news and views that we believe will be of interest and use to our friends associated directly or indirectly with independent telephone companies. For more information as to the various ways Viodi works with independent telephone companies, please go to http://www.viodi.com/alliance/
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IP Video Conference Agenda
Economic and Product Feature Considerations for Telecom Network Architectures
The Consumer Electronics Interface – Can You See Me Now?
Regulation 101 – What a Telco Has to Consider When Deploying Video & Other New Services
Get in the Game – How do Games Play in a Service Providers’ Plans?
Advertising and other Alternative Revenue Sources
Integrating VoIP Content Into a Telco’s Bundled Service Offering
Making Sticky Bundles – Baking up new ways to gain and retain customers
Speakers Include:
- Michelle Abraham, Cahners-Instat
- Craig Bender, Tut Systems
- Paul Bertino, HickoryTech
- Allison Dollar, Interactive Television Alliance
- Pete Drozdoff, SureWest
- Don Dulchinos, Cable Labs
- Paul Feldman, Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, P.L.C.
- Dave Fridley, Martin Group
- Prashant Gandhi, Cisco Systems
- David Irwin, Irwin, Campbell & Tannenwald, PC
- Richard Jones, Verizon Broadband
- Scott Keagy, Calix
- Marty Lafferty, DCIA
- Jim Lynn, CC Communications
- Bryan Martin, Packet 8
- Justin Miller, Kalona Cooperative Telephone Company
- John Ney, Project Mutual Telephone
- John Pezzini, Independent Film Channel
- Sean Riley, Fox Cable Networks
- Kevin Schaff, Thought Equity
- Tony Stanley, Scientific Atlanta
- Jay Stark, Broadstream
- Richard Sweatt, Amity Systems
- Larry Thompson, Vantage Point Solutions
- Gabe Zichermann, TryMedia
Rajun Cajuns!
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