On Demand & Value Added TV and HDTV 2007

• Examining the development and roll-out of VOD services globally:
• Discrepancies from country to country
• Sizes of the VOD bases supporting services
• How should the industry deal with differing rates of evolution?
• What will be the effect of the disparate development on the major issues of on-demand?:
• Consumer demand
• Business models
• Licensing windows
• Broadcasters moving into on-demand delivery
• How have hybrid models been faring in current market conditions thus far?
• As the market converges and the audience fragments, are there still niche markets available to locate and target?

• Is the timing right for broadcasters to help platform operators build their businesses?
• What is the general broadcaster experience of dealing with international content producers, and how does this vary globally?
• Dividing the money – what are the main sticking points on revenue split and rights that are affecting deals and partnerships?
• How can the value chain work together to shift VOD windows towards DVD and grow the on demand market?

• Achieving a balance between running TV and film on demand – complementing films with a broader offering to give the best possible experience to the consumer
• Understanding and respecting the price sensitivity between TV and film on demand
• Examining how pricing and genre is closely tied to business models

• Ensuring the correct mix of values for each member of the value chain is attained with competition driving the move to VOD
• Protecting the position of the content producer while respecting the needs of platforms
• Which content should platforms take from on-demand content providers, and which should they produce for themselves?
• Knowing your market – ensuring the right mix of brands and genres is attained, to build up value and awareness in customers
• Accessing demand, building value and creating a service that has eventual revenue flow

• What has been the consumer response thus far to the variety and amount of available on demand content?
• Can it be argued that consumers cannot locate the correct content in on demand offerings
• Assessing the significance of linearizing an on demand offering into channels
• Examining the advantages and challenges of using recommendation engines as a viable alternative to linearization
• Consumer response and trust levels
• Implementing the system

• How is the market in the US splitting between short, medium and long form content, and what effect is this having on cross-promotional strategies?
• Leveraging long form content so it works short term and drives uptake in usage
• Understanding and overcoming the challenges of cross-matrix strategies for using content across all platforms
• What partnerships are being formed within the industry to expand cross-platform offerings?

• Achieving the correct combination of content to interest potential partners and getting the value proposition right
• Creating flexibility in pricing models so all platforms can be successfully supported
• What are the advantages of working with distributors with customising digestible format for different platforms, or breaking down long form content to short form?
• How can platform operators and content providers bring their learning to the table and work together effectively cross-platform?

• Understanding the value of content rights when using a cross-platform model
• How are platform operators faring with regard to working with content providers?
• What are the main challenges of rights and distribution in electronic sell through?:
• Day and date
• Download to own
• Download to burn
• Catch up TV and the network PVR
• David Hulbert, MD, SparrowHawk Media, UK

A panel of participants from the day will look into the future of value-added TV – what will TV look like ten years from now? How will money be made; what new revenue streams and business models will have materialised? What will be the killer content that everyone wants to watch? Which devices and gadgets will have evolved to appeal to the teenagers of the time? How will online and mobile TV have shaped the viewing experience?

• What are the marketing challenges for VOD, IPTV and other new TV services?
• How similar/different is the on-air promotion of these new TV services from traditional broadcast?
• What is the role of branding in communicating benefits and differentiating services?
• What are the key considerations for user interface design?
• A case study of BT Vision

• How important is defining the right content for the right content group – strategies for marketing an effective content mix
• Branding/re-branding successfully – to what extent have existing platform operators positioned themselves in the marketplace, whether as a new entrant or an evolving established player?
• Strategies for changing customer expectations of ondemand when they have been used to linear content
• Driving the message home to customers that on demand content is there for them: using multiple platforms effectively
• Creating a compelling reason for customers to pay for content – breaking out of bundling and being creative with your business model

• Is there a viable place for the advertising funded content model?
• If so, which services are best placed to benefit?
• Understanding how internet TV is influencing the balance of ad-funded vs subscription models in some markets and driving main players to offer free services
• Examining the potential of ad-funded VOD – and the major issues:
• Is there consumer demand for an ad-based service?
• Is the potential uncontrollability in terms of user experience a risk?
• Can it work if the quality of a service is being used as its differentiator?
• To what extent is scalability and market size essential for its success?

• Analysing the relative merits of business models – free vs transactional vs subscription
• Which types of content are best suited to all the above models?
• Answering key questions over successful pricing models:
• Is subscription pricing always favourable for consumer and provider due to its simplicity?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages of on demand pricing models in terms of complexity, customer usage and driving ARPU?
• How solid a concept is subscription VOD?
• To what extent does the transactional model drive usage?
• How do local market conditions affect transactional models and premium offerings?

• Analysing the role of the PC in the world of advanced and interactive TV
• Examining the success of existing online TV services and the opportunities available for broadcasters and content owners looking to enter the market
• Assessing the most compelling online TV propositions driving up usage, and the key business models adopted thus far

• Analysing the role of the PC in the world of advanced and interactive TV
• Examining the success of existing online TV services and the opportunities available for broadcasters and content owners looking to enter the market
• Assessing the most compelling online TV propositions driving up usage, and the key business models adopted thus far
• Evaluating the extent to which online TV players are beginning to form mobile strategies

• How is pay-per-view TV and VOD paving the way for fee based online content?
• How will online video interact with the wider broadcasting market?
• How relevant are lessons from pay-TV - subscription, broadcast PPV and VOD?
• Analysing customer attitudes to paying for online TV content: what sorts of pay service will drive consumer demand?
• How will piracy impact the market and which sorts of content will be most affected?

• Has the technology evolved to enable Network storage?
• Have the legal/business issues between content and service providers been resolved?
• Does this mean the end of set-top PVR?

• What’s going on in the Italian TV market?
• How are mobile players becoming content players, and how successful have they been so far, in a convergent arena?
• Case study: Telecom Italia fixed and mobile "IP" TV services
• The networks and the platforms
• The service features
• The contents
• Which kind of network and content compatibility between fixed and mobile TV?
• Looking to the future

• Is IPTV giving a second boost to interactive TV and t-commerce?
• Examining the emergence of recent success stories in participation TV
• How will triple and quad play operators affect the interactive TV market, and which areas are likely to be most affected? – gaming, betting etc
• Understanding the extent to which cross-platform interactive TV can increase revenues, complement existing business models and reduce churn

• In what ways will Playstation 3 and PSP consumers be able to access TV and video content?
• What are the opportunities and implications for content companies and producers?

• Using HD to stimulate:
• New innovation in technology
• Creativity in production
• Benefits to the audience
• Serving BBC brand values through HD production
• Producing content of outstanding quality
• Weighing up the benefits of rolling out HD rapidly with the dangers of confusing viewers and offering a less than ideal service

• Partnering with IPTV platforms to deliver and market HD channels to customers
• Providing HD VOD as well as standard HD
• Acquiring cross-platform rights in order to maximize revenues
• Choosing freeview as opposed to Pay TV strategy

• Rising to the challenge of creating good quality HD content with high production values
• Assessing the technical implications of moving to HD
• Focusing on the technical output: what are are the main production issues and how are they being tackled?
• Audio and surround sound
• Shooting standards
• Screen size – creating images for every type of screen
• Compression - MPEG4 or Dirac?
• How are high costs impacting on HD content production for broadcasters?
• What is the road map for moving to a commercial HD channel for the majority of broadcasters?

An overview of the challenges faced in publishing several major TV series including the multi-award winning, Planet Earth to HD-DVD and Blu-ray

• Evaluating the next-generation optical disc technologies currently being developed and produced, and their effects on the future marketplace
• How is format confusion shaping the market?
• This is your chance to have a say – debate this crucial issue with other speakers and delegates in a structured discussion format, learning from your peers and forming relationships with the people you really want to speak to.

• What are viewer expectations?
• What are common problems involved in delivering HD?
• Perceptions of "Quality"
• The Wow factor
• How do we deliver a service worth the extra subscription fee?

• What will be the impact of the variable streaming solutions currently being developed?
• How are the most common and damaging ‘teething problems’ of early HD being tackled?:
• Quality concerns
• Encoder performance
• Sound issues
• Can investment costs be cut significantly in the short-term to drive adoption of the technology?
• The HD technologist’s view – where is HD going next?

• Strategies for promoting the HD brand name and presenting content to give the consumer a convincing HD experience
• The challenge of conveying the HD quality attributes through standard definition video support
• HD remarkable values versus limited true HD product offering: How to manage viewer’s demands and expectations
• Movies, Sports, Documentaries, Concerts… What consumers really want to view on HD?
• Marketing an HD service as the only provider on the market: SKY Italia case study.

• How can DTT and DTH, IPTV and cable platforms use HDTV as the crucial differentiator between their services, and how successfully has it been used so far?
• Using HD content as a marketing tool – creating a desirable brand perception and positioning your service at the top of the market with HD
• Examining the likely effect of HDTV reaching the mass market when it jumps to free-to-air services
• Maximising the potential of HDTV as a churn reducing and ARPU increasing tool

• Which platform will dominate the HD arena – will satellite retain the lead?
• Analysing the extent to which pay TV platforms are the gatekeepers of HD advancement – are broadcasters equal in influence over market development?
• How much progress is being made towards an efficient HD value chain, from production to reception?
• Examining the relationship between platforms and content providers to better understand the barriers to successful working partnerships
• Overcoming the obstacles to a mutually beneficial revenue share model – how are current deals faring?
• What are the arguments for different business models and agreements, such as flat fees – where have they worked successfully?
• Assessing whether there is enough content to fuel consumer appetites for HD – is it a case of production not keeping up with demand?

• Evaluating the importance of PVR development to HD content offerings
• To what extent will the PVR-enabled non-linear content enable operators to offer better services at lower cost?
• Comparing linear with non-linear content models – advantages and disadvantages to platform operators
• How can virtual VOD help overcome the challenges of creating HD for low-bandwidth platforms in the absence of spectrum?