TV is changing. Are you prepared?

It seems strange to think that in a world where you can watch live tennis on your handheld device, or make phone calls from one side of the world to another, there are is still one big divide in the world of multimedia content: TV and the Internet. Whilst you can watch TV on your laptop on your commute home, you can’t seamlessly ‘flip’ this to the TV when you settle onto your sofa. Times are changing though, TV and the internet are combining. We will soon have “Connected TV”.

It's estimated that by 2015, there will be 500 million connected TV's worldwide and 10 million TV's connected to the internet in the UK alone. What does this mean for broadcasters, content producers and copyright owners?

An interesting talk held at BAFTA recently and attended by Cinephonix's Anthony Walters provided and insight into this new world. You can read the full write by up by Matthew Bell here. We've summarised a few key points below: 

The panellists at the discussion were freelance journalist Guy Clapperton, who chaired the event, Google TV head of international Suveer Kothari; Bigballs Films creative director Richard Welsh; BBC Vision development editor, IPTV and red button Tom Williams; and Tate Media producer Kate Vogel.

In the opening remarks, Tom Williams stated that, Connected TV will allow the BBC to connect viewers with its content across all platforms, whether traditional TV, online or mobile: “ It will allow us to connect people, whether that’s recommending a programme to a friend or being part of a show.”  

It was interesting to have a representative from an art gallery on the panel, but perhaps that demonstrates that added ability for niches to gain an audience on Connected TV. Kate Vogel commented that Connected TV offers an “incredible opportunity. It could let us talk outside the walls of the gallery to a far bigger audience.” 

Google will no doubt become a major player within Connected TV. Suveer Kothari described Google TV as “just a platform or operating system. When you switch on your TV you’ll still see everything that you see on a TV, but on top of that you’ll have a layer of connectivity so you’ll be able to browse the internet, download applications to your TV and access video-on-demand content.” He gave an example: “In the US, CNBC have launched an application where you enter your portfolio of stocks and you only see the news related to those stocks – it’s almost like a personalised CNBC news channel,” he said. “Sharing with others and creating a schedule for friends, for example, is going to become much more common. It won’t just be the BBC that’s deciding your schedule.

Richard Welsh effectively already producing Connected TV content and gave his personal insight into the future from a content producer's point of view: ”Not everything has to be personalised or inherently social. There are massive opportunities for brands that want to reach an audience.” He pointed to the huge success of the BAFTA nominated Vodafone Who Killed Summer?

In fact, how brands might enter the content market place with Connected TV was one of the major talking points of the evening. Red Bull will commission more hours of TV than ITV this year. Brands can take advantage more effective ways of advertising with Connected TV - outside of the usual ad break slot. Though no panellist predicted the end of the traditional ad break. 

One area that wasn’t addressed was the area of music synchronisation and Connected TV. How will conventional music libraries price music contect synchronised for TV use, then broadcast via the TV on the web? The debate will go on and different companies will devise different strategies. With Cinephonix production music the message is simple. When you purchase a music license for TV use, you’re cleared for internet too. We’ve been doing this for a while, so no need for us to change once you plug your TV into the web.

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