Professionals debate the new television and the hybrid revolution

The Spanish Association of Interactive Television Companies (AEDETI) held its III International Conference today in Madrid, focusing on this occasion on the hybrid revolution represented by the consumption of online content on multi-devices.

José Luis Vázquez, president of AEDETI, has introduced the III International Conference of the Spanish Association of Interactive Television Companies (AEDETI), focused on this occasion on connected television, ensuring that if last year was a year of expectations of progress, this is a year of celebration because the development of hybrid television is being laid.

Alberto Rodríguez Raposo, general director of Telecommunications and Information Technologies, opened the day by stating that on August 24, “the Council of Ministers laid the foundations for the liberalization of the digital dividend in Spain and laid the foundations for the reorganization of digital television, giving a boost with the introduction of new technologies such as HD and connected TV, anticipating the deployment of 4G telephony and seeking an important simplification in the liberalization of the digital dividend, avoiding costs to the citizens.”

Next year will be the date set by major European countries for the introduction of fourth-generation mobile telephony. From SETSI, according to Rodríguez Raposo, "we believe that the bases for the introduction of this technology and its adjacent business models must be shortened. We are the country in Europe with the highest consumption of digital television, and at the same time we are one of the countries with the highest frequency occupancy in the dividend zone."

The Director General of Telecommunications recalled that in the European Union there is still no agreement on the dates for the introduction of the second digital dividend in the new broadband, so he believed that "the best efforts" had to be made to avoid investment in antennaization of channels that are now involved in the implementation of the new radio spectrum.

Of course, he recalled that in February of this year it was established in Europe that the band for it should be available for mobile services in January 2013, although an extension could be requested to achieve this new digital dividend. Although, according to him, our country has “peculiar circumstances, because it is where digital TV is consumed the most and where there are more channels in the range of that dividend,” he believes that “Spain, like most large European countries, is not going to request that extension to introduce fourth-generation mobile telephony.”

"One of the objectives when planning the spectrum is that in a more or less near future the liberalization of the second digital dividend will occur, so we should take this circumstance into account to avoid as much as possible the investment in antennaization of the channels that could be affected so as not to impose a re-antennaization process on citizens in a few years," he added.

The general director has assured that "the digitalization plan approved at the end of 2011 was an expensive plan, so in the current situation we must work with cost savings of about 900 million euros, from the previous plan, to about 300 million." In addition, he has assured that the Ministry of Industry is already working on a regulatory standard for a new DTT Technical Plan, which will regulate the transition to the dividend, the simulcast processes, abandonment and adoption of the new multiplexes.

With respect to connected television, he has framed it "in an incipient process of defining models. I see a parallel between digital business models and those of connected television: terminals and devices that guide the basis of the business; online advertising; operating systems; connectivity; and distribution of paid or open content."

Many challenges still arise, such as the management of content rights and DRMs, multi-screen and multi-device access, and the position of broadcasters and their exploitation model, according to the general director.

“We are going to continue betting on connected TV, and to continue supporting the work of the Technical Forum, in addition to supporting R&D projects to the extent possible,” he concluded.

OTT content protection

In a round table moderated by the president of AEDETI, Ignacio Sanchís, general director of Nagra Ibérica, participated; Hide Hosokawa (Marlin); and Massimo Savazzi (Playready), analyzing the challenge of content protection in OTT services.

Hosokawa, on behalf of the five companies that make up the Marlin association, has been very satisfied with the choice of this standard for the distribution of content in the Spanish market.

There are currently more than two hundred million products with Marlin content protection technology around the world, present on platforms such as TNT 2.0 in France or Freeview in the United Kingdom.
For its part, Savazzi has highlighted the role of Playready with more than fifty years of experience in content protection and a leading role in Ultraviolet standardization.

Playready technology is managed by Microsoft and has standardized encryption.
Sanchís welcomed the steps taken that have allowed the incipient development of HbbTV in Spain. Some 120 operators around the world have Nagra protection, and in the case of Europe, half of the income from pay television is monitored by this company, which invests more than 20% of its income in R&D.

The director of Nagra has drawn attention to its Nagra PRM (Persistent Rights Management) technology for content protection from its delivery to the device and also within the user's network domains. About twenty operators around the world, such as Echostar Dish, PRISA Tv or Mediaset, protect their OTT content with Nagra PRM.

“Our concept is that security is not a product but an end-to-end service, avoiding fragmentation problems in security, guaranteeing services and obligations in the provision of the solution,” he assured. "We are committed to standardization. It is evident that interoperability is one of the barriers to a massive and effective deployment of OTT services," added Sanchís.

Regarding the development of new services in an environment of economic recession, Hosokawa has expressed his belief that "despite the crisis, we can offer new options to consumers. Their demand is always changing and it is the winners who always respond to these changes. Consumers are already enjoying content through multiple devices, which is why it is very important to accommodate their demand."

Sanchís has stated that "what the technologies of the new generation of television can do is allow service providers and broadcasters to offer new content, monetization modes... adapting the offer to users, reaching parts of the market that were not covered until now and generating new business models. Everything can be like this, if the content is conveniently protected. Technology opens up new business possibilities, but it can also help with efficiency and cost containment."

Savazzi believes that "technology should support agility in the market. Success is always related to companies that have quickly taken advantage of new business possibilities."

Regarding standardization, the director of Nagra has shown his company's commitment to interoperability in streaming protocols, and there MPEG DASH is key and the implementation of DRM is key. We do not believe that a provider can launch a multi-screen service with a single DRM based on content or distribution channel.

Sanchís has assured that with support from a good number of manufacturers, Nagra is trying to standardize a simulcrypt DRM environment. I don't see anyone worried about security, and underlying almost every business model is content protection. Perhaps because the content that is being offered across devices is not the most premium, but this is going to change. The more devices there are and instead of catch-up, premium live channels are offered with major sporting events... there will be great pressure from piracy and we will have to see what guarantees and commitments a content provider has, who decides which devices are covered and which are not... there are many questions that no one asks today and it would be good for us to think about them."

"What we have to protect is not the content but the income of a company. It doesn't matter if it is HD or 4K, even free content. We need to protect the income of the business itself and this poses new challenges to offer, for example, Internet movies, even before going to movie theaters," Savazzi highlighted.

New forms of television consumption

“The future of television is not in any danger as long as it continues to offer interesting content.” This is how emphatic Paul Lee, head of technology, media and research telecommunications at Deloitte, was today at the III AEDETI Conference. For him, no other support will be able to replace this medium in the coming years, despite the proliferation of technological devices that increasingly flood and will flood homes in which, according to him, "within 15 years there will be more connected devices than plugs."

Lee, who in addition to being responsible for the million euros that his company invests each year in research on everything that happens in the television medium, is a columnist for the Financial Times newspaper, highlighted the main virtue of television that it is a "social activity that satisfies needs that human beings have, such as relaxing and disconnecting from their daily lives, since, unlike other technologies, it allows you to meet with your family." Although she is aware that young people see her less and less, she points out that, as they get older, they will bet on her again.

A clear sign of people's interest in the television medium is, according to him, that "despite the crisis, more and more televisions are being purchased." As an example of this, he gave the United Kingdom, where currently between 8 and 10 million televisions are sold a year and where at most every three years they are replaced with new ones. “Instead of buying cars, they buy televisions,” he said.

Taking into account, therefore, that, as Paul Lee indicated, “television is part of our social life, because we spend a quarter of the time we are awake in front of it,” what he has also confirmed is that there is an increasing tendency to acquire larger devices, which is why he predicts that “in 2020, at least a third will be larger than 42 inches.”

Although he recognizes that “many people, especially young people, like to chat or send text messages and tweet while watching television,” Paul Lee also regrets that the interactivity with the programs is minimal, “they prefer to talk with friends.” For him, good proof of this is data such as that while in the United Kingdom 70% of families can already access connected television, only 5% do so, which shows that "while technology has been deployed, consumption has not."

That does not mean, as he points out, that there is more and more demand for video on demand and that the quality of the products is increasingly better, despite the fact that "what is seen most is content for adults." As far as our country is concerned, the main problem he sees in this regard is that “broadband usually has very high prices while in other countries, like the United Kingdom, there are many people who do not pay anything for this service.”

Lee has drawn attention to the fact that if we add up all the hours that a consumer spends on the networks Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn... this figure in countries that are powerful in the use of Facebook such as the United Kingdom, is still below television consumption. “This shows that we often overestimate what is new and underestimate television,” he said.

Television satisfies needs such as relaxing, bringing the family together since it is a social activity in the most classic concept.

Regarding multi-device consumption, Lee maintains that according to the studies carried out by Deloitte, it has not been proven that the second screen is a threat to television viewing. On the contrary, second screens increase consumption.

In the United Kingdom, 70% of families can now access connected television through an integrated connection or through a peripheral device, be it a games console, Blu-ray, tablets or PC/Mac. "Many people do not realize that they can connect their television. By having good free-to-air content via satellite, cable or DTT, families do not worry about bimodal connectivity. This is a trend that will change in the coming years," he stated.

Lee has stressed the point that there is no direct correlation between broadband penetration and increased consumption. Although the quality of broadband improves, the quality of demand also increases. “It will be very difficult for a pure OTT provider to succeed due to the cost of content,” he added.

Finally, Lee concluded his speech by assuring that “there are going to be fantastic changes in terms of many more devices, their quality and payment models, and this will lead to an improvement in the quality of television production.”

Towards a multi-screen world

Moderated by Javier Herrero, Member of AEDETI, a round table took place with the participation of Josep Mitjà, Founder and COO of Wuaki, Klaus Illgner Managing, director of IRT and Jon Piesing, Standardization director of TP Vision

José María Zamora, Chief Marketing Director at LG Electronics, one of the most important challenges is to facilitate the unified development of applications while achieving a profitable business model.

Zamora has admitted that "there is a certain war between manufacturers that means there are no defined standards, although HTML5 is currently the most widespread. LG has worked." In addition, he highlighted the role of the Smart TV Alliance, launched in June of this year by founding members LG Electronics and TP Vision, which Toshiba joined shortly after, as an important step towards a more comfortable experience for the viewer and profitable for the different players in different areas of the smart TV industry.

The LG representative has highlighted the role of the television as a family unit. “The HbbTv is going to return television to the ranks it always had with new interactive possibilities for consumption and participation.”

Zamora has stated that the cloud will help content sharing since consumers want to watch their favorite movie on the television at home and continue watching it on their way to work on their mobile phone or tablet in the most transparent way possible.

The ease of developing applications for a television environment and the simplicity of access to content are key according to Josep Mitjà. Furthermore, in his opinion, a positive user experience in consumption is essential. To do this, we must work even more with adaptive streaming and choose the CDN that best suits the user to avoid the frustration of a cut. On the other hand, he highlighted that technology must be very transparent for the consumer.

Illgner, for his part, has emphasized the need for standardization to achieve a content consumption experience without any type of seams or interruptions between different devices. Regarding the question of whether HbbTV could one day be a global standard, Illgner acknowledged that the specification is becoming universal. In the case of Latin America and Asia-Pacific, the European Commission is not financing, at the moment, any research project to promote HbbTv in the region.

Piesing believes that with a greater number of devices, it is necessary to adapt and parameterize developers' applications, which is making it difficult to establish a viable business model. Therefore, it understands that the only way to reduce costs is to move towards standardization.

The role of broadcasters

Moderated by Pablo Sánchez del Valle, member of AEDETI, a panel of experts brought together José María Casaos, technical director of Antena 3, at the same table; Carles Manteca, Head of Programming and Interactive Services (TVC); Frédéric Tapissier, Innovation and CE partnerships Manager (TF1) and Peter Mac Avock, representing the European Broadcasting Union.

Carles Manteca has stated that "hybrid television expands emotions, and opens a window to new consumers with new content and players. Emotions will be the key to success considering ease of use, for example. Any technical development should take into account the user who is the one who finances the entire chain as a consumer of advertising or by paying for content. Hybrid television means greater consumption, greater possibility of growth, although it means more competition."

"If connected television were a threat, we should turn it into an opportunity. Broadcasters have demonstrated great flexibility and adaptation to new challenges, as has been evident in the development of new channels derived from DTT," commented José María Casaos. On the part of Antena 3, its multi-platform management system plays an important role with extensive automation of processes for multi-device distribution, betting on new business opportunities.

Frédéric Tapissier has admitted that "the threat is there with giants like Google or Apple, for example, who can make large investments without paying hardly any taxes in the countries in which they operate with content. The way to turn connected TV into a success is to manage the workflows appropriately. Therefore, at TF1 we have invested time and resources in HbbTv, having great success in our standardization initiative. Television, we must not forget, was created for video. The rest will always be “Now, users can have access to a new way of consuming video on the Internet, but what people are looking for is premium content.”

Peter Mac Avock, for his part, considers that "hybrid TV is an opportunity. We must not forget that we must take advantage of this opportunity based on linear television models that stand out for their simplicity. I do not see television as a multimedia device as if it were a computer, but rather it will continue to be the main gateway for video consumption." It is important that the rules that apply to broadcasters are also mandatory for all members of the chain who are entering into content distribution, Mac Avock said.

On the other hand, he recalled that to replicate the current content distribution model of broadcasters in the current situation of the networks would mean, to achieve the same coverage, multiplying the distribution cost between 2 and 5 times with respect to traditional radio broadcasting.

At the closing of this day, the deputy director general of Telecommunications Inspection, Ricardo Alvariño, has shown his satisfaction with the consensus reached among the entire industry, such as manufacturers, broadcasters and content creators when it comes to launching the interactivity of digital terrestrial television. Alvariño, who closed the III AEDETI Conference this Wednesday, recalled that "in 2002 an agreement was signed between all of us and we were not right."

The road has not been easy, in the opinion of the deputy general director and he thanked AEDETI "for having kept the flame of interactivity lit during these years." “The MHP platform did not take off, perhaps due to the absence of a return channel, or because perhaps the time was not right for its implementation.”

Now, ten years later, he does believe that it is appropriate because “a combination of factors occurs, such as the generalization of broadband, the new access possibilities with tablets, the improvement in uses and customs, the manufacture of connected receivers and the fact that all broadcasters are involved.” For all these reasons, Alvariño considers that “the takeoff of connected television is now feasible,” although he pointed out that “there are still steps to take to try to guarantee interactivity.”

The III International Conference of AEDETI have had the collaboration of Dolby (company that has carried out 5.1 audio demonstrations in an HbbTv environment), Nagra, Marlin, Abertis Telecom, Look y Optiva Media.