One of the big themes at next week’s Connected TV Summit (London, Wednesday and Thursday, June 11-12, Royal College of Physicians) is the future of devices, in all their forms. The annual conference kicks off with an assessment of what Android, new generation game consoles and Chromecast mean for the television market, is followed by a special session on what RDK means for Europe and continues with a session dedicated to the virtual STB. The Day Two Breakfast Briefing considers future scenarios for the TV OS (Operating System).
RDK could be a game-changer. Videonet has been talking to key players including operators and existing middleware providers (stories to follow) and our conclusion is that RDK will go global, it will be adopted in a meaningful way in the telco and satellite markets (as well as in the cable industry, from where it originates) and it enables the whole Pay TV industry to focus more resources on the user experience and service innovation and less on basic CPE (customer premise equipment) platform engineering.
RDK, which is a community initiative to develop and use software code for customer premise equipment, is already making its presence felt. Comcast’s X1 platform is based on RDK and the U.S. cable operator is on record hailing the service velocity it now enjoys. Liberty Global and Kabel Deutschland are both committed to the initiative and their executives will be on the ‘What RDK means for Europe’ panel alongside Time Warner Cable and Espial, one of the middleware providers embracing RDK as a systems integrator and software code partner to platform operators.
RDK is a shared source community, best understood when compared to Linux. Android could be viewed as an alternative but RDK was conceived from day one as a weapon for the Pay TV industry to exploit. The RDK session will delve into what RDK is, how it works, what it means for platform operators and ecosystem partners (especially traditional middleware providers), practical considerations when working with RDK and the business justification for going down this road. RDK Management is also holding a press conference at the event to share news about the role of RDK in Europe.
The role of Android in TV is also covered during the two day conference. Swisscom is giving a presentation on its WinGo Android STB proof-of-concept and why it is now investigating the virtual STB (vSTB) and Android STB in parallel. The Smart TV provider TP Vision (which owns the Philips brand) will explain why it has adopted Android OS on its Smart TVs, what it can achieve with Android that is not otherwise possible and how it will run two app stores on the same television.
This is the fifth annual Connected TV Summit and after steady growth the event attracts over 700 attendees (and this is a conference, not an exhibition). Established as a place for thought-leadership, the two day conference is this year split into two distinct types of debate – those investigating the practical business and operational challenges associated with deployed next-generation services, and those seeking answers to the new puzzles that are emerging from the Connected TV era and which will confront us during the rest of this decade.
Highlights from the ‘practical challenges’ category, apart from RDK, include how to grow the Pay TV market online now that the required streaming and apps technology is being mastered. This includes a look at Pay TV Lite and Pay TV SVOD strategies. The ‘Advanced Content Strategies’ Breakout Session on Day One considers the impact that OTT competition is having on the content market plus the operational challenges of running vast VOD stores. There is a session dedicated to the connected Pay TV home and how operators can own the consumer in every room. There is also an analyst briefing about what Netflix is doing in Europe and how operators can respond. This is being held from 8am on June 12 (the second morning of the event).
The virtual set-top box gets filed under ‘puzzles that need solving’, since the biggest question is whether it has a role for platform operators and if so, how big. The TV OS and the future of Smart TV platforms, which is covered on Day One, also fall into this category of debate. Smart TV manufacturer’s content portals, and their foothold in the television ecosystem, are under pressure both from connected Pay TV platforms and Hybrid Broadcast Broadband (HBB) platforms. Among other things, the ‘Next steps for Smart TV & HBB’ session will investigate how CE manufacturers can differentiate their offers.
There is also a session focused on ‘The Cloudification of TV’, including a presentation from Deutsche Telekom on what it has learned from its trials with virtualized TV functions. The German (and increasingly pan-European) telco group is pioneering the use of cloud computing/virtualization in TV and has excellent insights into the Software Defined Network, the vSTB and cloud UI, among other things. This cloud session also takes a wider look at the cloud UI. Day Two also includes a session dedicated to the companion screen.
If you are interested in the longer-term future, the Day One Breakfast Briefing paints a vision of TV 2020 and there is a Day Two session on ‘Preparing for Multiscreen Equality’. Some commentators are predicting that half of all viewing could be on multiscreen devices (with half still on STBs) as soon as 2020 and this session looks at how the industry can prepare for such an outcome. This is also the guiding theme for this year’s ‘TV Pathfinders’ pre-conference debate, which is being held at the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge (London).
There is still time to register for the event if you are interested (click here). If you cannot make it to the event you can still watch it live online (click here and look at the fourth registration option).
You can download the conference agenda here or find out more about the event generally here.
Both Breakfast Briefings are free and you can register for those here:
TV 2020: Five years that will change TV like never before, hosted by Verimatrix
TV OS – Scenarios for the future, hosted and chaired by the media consulting firm MTM London.
You can find out more about the ‘Netflix in Europe’ analyst briefing here.
The Connected TV Summit also hosts the Videonet Connected TV Awards and the presentation ceremony is at the end of Day One (June 11). You can see the shortlists for these awards here.
This conference is held at the Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4LE. Videonet will be at the conference and will report on the best of the proceedings in the weeks after the event.
