Category: New
Media; 大象传媒
Date: 05.04.2006
Printable version
The consumer trial of the 大象传媒's Integrated Media Player (iMP) reveals that television over the internet could revolutionise broadcasting, the 大象传媒's Director of New Media & Technology Ashley
Highfield said today.
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Research indicates that it increased the viewing of 大象传媒 programmes, extended peak-time and built loyalty.
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Highfield revealed key findings from the consumer trial research of iMP in a keynote speech at Milia, the audiovisual and digital content market at MipTV in Cannes.
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During the trial, iMP offered downloadable 大象传媒 television
and radio programmes on a catch-up basis via the PC to a closed panel
of 5,000 triallists for four months between November 2005 and February
2006.
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Highfield says: "This research gives us the first glimpse into viewing behaviour
in the on-demand future.
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"It provides the first significant
clues as to how TV programmes over the internet could revolutionise broadcasting,
and prompt a wider, cultural shift in television consumption."
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Triallists consistently watched on average two programmes a week via iMP during the period of the trial, the equivalent of an hour's viewing per week, despite a limited range of content.
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"This is equivalent to 6% of a typical household's 大象传媒 viewing in a week," said Highfield. "Consumption
was consistent over the period of the trial, and the iMP appealed
equally to men and women."
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While the main reason for usage was to catch up on favourite programmes, iMP also introduced users to new titles and, in doing so, unlocked the 'long-tail effect.'
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"Niche programmes that would have struggled in a mainstream linear schedule performed consistently well throughout the period of the trial," said Highfield.
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"While the top five programmes accounted for a quarter of all the viewing, some niche programming performed disproportionately well. The Amazon 'long-tail effect' - seen in the publishing and music industries - indicates
that there is significant value in a broadcaster's archive."
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Research showed that most viewing took place between 10.00 and 11.00pm, thus
potentially extending peak time usage for an hour after the traditional linear
peak time of 7.00 to 10.00pm.
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"This apparent shift in television consumption
is consistent with the results of early video-on-demand trials with NTL and
Telewest," added Highfield.
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The results of the research into iMP will underpin the development of the proposed My大象传媒Player, which "aims to put the audience in the driving seat" by offering users live streamed television and radio as well as a downloadable seven-day catch-up service of tv and radio programmes.
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The launch of My大象传媒Player will be subject to the necessary
public value test and approvals as outlined in the Government's White
Paper on the 大象传媒 Charter.
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iMP research headlines
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iMP received an overwhelming positive response - 74% said that they would
recommend it to a friend
- Key benefits were that it offered genuine flexibility
(to watch and to listen to programmes when they wanted), greater
control and genuine, added value
- iMP was perceived
primarily as a TV service: 92% claimed that they used it most
to watch television programmes rather than to listen to radio
This
is explained by the established success of Radio
Player which leads
the charge in the 大象传媒's on demand offerings, recording over 10 million
requests for radio programmes on demand per month (11 million in
January)
- The total number of TV downloads during the trial
was 150,000, and the total number of viewings and listenings
was 70,000
- The most popular reason for using the iMP was when
a favourite programme had been missed and to watch a programme
at a more convenient time
- 77% used it to watch a favourite programme
that they had missed, while 64% used it to watch or listen to a
programme at a more convenient time; and 32% used it to watch a
programme they had never heard of
- Throughout the trial there was continuous interest
in all programmes: more than 85% of titles available were downloaded,
with comedy, drama and documentaries being the most popular genres
- Programmes from the 大象传媒's digital channels performed
well during the trial - 大象传媒
THREE programmes were nearly as popular
as those on 大象传媒 TWO;
and 大象传媒 7 programmes performed as well
as those on 大象传媒 Radio 1 and 大象传媒 Radio 2
- The top five TV titles watched by the 5,000 triallists
represented a quarter of all iMP TV viewing. The most popular
tv programmes (with the total number of viewings) were: EastEnders (7,630),
Little Britain (5,511), Two
Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps (3,060), Bleak
House (2,027) and Top
Gear (1,842)
- The top five radio programmes listened to by the
5,000 triallists represented 70% of all iMP radio listening.
The
most popular programmes (with the total number of listenings) were:
The Chris Moyles Show (683), The
Archers (312), The
Goon Show (308),
Hancock's Half Hour (298)
and Round The Horne (237)
- The average number of tv downloads per active user
per month was 13, and the average number of requests-to-view
per active user per month was eight
- The average number of radio downloads per
active user per month was six, and the average number of requests-to-listen
per active user per month was three
- The majority of iMP usage (66%) was for an hour
or less at a time; usage mainly took place in the study and living
room
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Key issues raised in the research
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Half of the programmes downloaded were watched; 70% claimed that one of the
reasons for their failure to watch was tied to the seven-day viewing limit
- 27%
said that the download speed could be improved; 78% of panellists, however,
said that they would not compromise on screen size or picture quality
for quicker downloads
- 76% said that it was important to be able to
view iMP via the television screen, and roughly 30% of panellists
said that portability was important (particularly for radio)
- 94%
said that increasing the number of programme titles would improve
the iMP
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Technical development and delivery
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The original challenge was to produce a robust media-on-demand internet-based application which offered an entire television and radio schedule on a catch-up, rolling basis.
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The technical trial of iMP won the RTS Technical Innovation
Award and was nominated for an Interactive Bafta.
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iMP was created and developed by the 大象传媒's New Media & Technology Division in partnership with Siemens, Red Bee Media, Kontiki and Miscrosoft, and Internet Service Providers AOL, Wanadoo, NTL, Tiscali, Telewest and Bulldog.
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Siemens, as lead consultant on the project, were service architects responsible for the delivery of the whole service and for delivery of the Digital Rights Management download system.
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Siemens managed sub-contractors Red Bee Media and Kontiki;
Red Bee Media were responsible for ingesting, encoding and playing
out 大象传媒 TV content in the Broadcast Centre (and, through their partnership
with Autonomy, they were able to provide a search and recommendation
facility).
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Red Bee also provided the metadata that drove the Electronic
Programme Guide, enabling the user to search content and book
downloads. Kontiki developed the peer-to-peer technology and back-end
infrastructure.
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The iMP Trial Panel
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The iMP trial panel of 5,000 people represented the full range of all demographics within the UK.
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Research data was weighted towards the broadband universe,
taking into account age, gender and availability of multi-channel
tv.
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PA2
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