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Intel Planning 'Virtual' TV Service
Will Run Face First Into Same Old Licensing Issues

Intel is the latest to stick a toe into the TV sector, and is rumored to be planning a new "virtual TV" offering and set top box that should debut at CES. According to TechCruch, the company has grown weary of other failed efforts like Google TV, and is jumping into the market in the belief they can do it correctly.

Of course everyone who enters this sector runs face first into licensing obstacles designed by the TV industry to prevent disruption of the cash cow known as traditional TV. Intel apparently believes they can bypass (or at least minimize) this by negotiating smaller distribution deals in select cities:
quote:
... the stumbling block to a planned launch by the end of 2012 was an unwillingness on the part of media content providers to unbundle channels or programs and license them to Intel. The city-by-city rollout addresses this issue, as content providers may be more willing to experiment with licensing in select markets first where they have looser deals with traditional cable providers. The plan also lets Intel work around holdouts in key markets rather than having to delay a launch entirely.
That doesn't sound like it solves the licensing conundrum as much as it just avoids it at the cost of a much smaller service launch. Numerous companies from Apple to Google have failed to make a dent in this sector, and it's not because they weren't innovative, aggressive, or technically proficient -- it was because the legacy TV industry didn't want them to. Intel apparently believes they can succeed where these companies failed. More details should appear at CES on January 7.
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster

Member

Not Going to Happen

Apple knows unless you own the content, or make direct deals independent production companies any Virtual TV service is going nowhere.

Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC

Corehhi

Member

Re: Not Going to Happen

said by Transmaster:

Apple knows unless you own the content, or make direct deals independent production companies any Virtual TV service is going nowhere.

People don't get that there are like 50 of these TV boxes and they all do the same thing doesn't matter Google, Apple, Dick, Harry, who evers box. The independent program stuff will not float with the masses they want a box that works exactly like cable but costs less and that will not happen.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband to Transmaster

Member

to Transmaster
Roku is working on a similar deal, but using DishNetwork as a partner. Several other companies are doing the same. It just depends on how you go about doing it and the partners that you use.

Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC

Corehhi

Member

Re: Not Going to Happen

said by TBBroadband:

Roku is working on a similar deal, but using DishNetwork as a partner. Several other companies are doing the same. It just depends on how you go about doing it and the partners that you use.

Hopefully that doesn't in a mess but it probably will. If you have too many companies gettiing rights to this and that the result will be no one has enough programing to do much of anything.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan

Premium Member

There is trouble for the TV industry ahead

Pretty soon there will be a cabal of companies like Apple, Google and Intel that will start lobbying for antitrust investigations which will be juicy fodder for the mid-term elections. It doesn't matter if violations actually occurred, hearings and other investigative matters always end up turing up memos that people don't want turned up.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: There is trouble for the TV industry ahead

Especially in an era where the cable company can own the production companies. There as got to be some dirty laundry in those email boxes at the top levels of the company leadership.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Re: There is trouble for the TV industry ahead

Comcast is the only cable company that owns a studio. CBS doesn't, Sony, Fox, Time Warner Media/Warner Bros. they don't own the last mile any longer.
TBBroadband

TBBroadband to skeechan

Member

to skeechan
Apple had a fair chance to play, they refused to play the right way. They wanted everything for FREE and resell it. Apple was also at the heart of a recent anti-trust issue so I doubt they'll want to bring more attention to their name with the DOJ.

Google's device wasn't meant to become a cable company, but another Roku type of box. And with Google Fiber they play with the content owners.

The reason prices are high is cable companies refuse to stand up. If they really meant what they claimed about standing up for their consumers they wouldn't pay the higher prices for those channels.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan

Premium Member

Re: There is trouble for the TV industry ahead

Where did you read that Apple wanted free content and wasn't going to compensate programmers for it? That isn't their current model. Their current model gives programmers a large chunk of the gross and it costs programmers ZERO to deliver it to Apple's customers...those substantial hosting, promotion and delivery costs come out of Apple's end.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Re: There is trouble for the TV industry ahead

It was stated on here several times that Apple did NOT want to pay fair prices for content. And hence why Apple TV never went any where.

And no Apple's current model is to release the same products/devices several times a year with few improvements and lie to the public about them. Other sites have COUNTLESS stories on that happening recently with the iPad products.

A large percentage? Off what 99cents to $5??? that's not very much money at all. Hence the start back of the Apple TV venture that never got off the ground due to Apple.

And it costs content owners ZERO dollars to deliver to the public now- MSOs.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan

Premium Member

Re: There is trouble for the TV industry ahead

Fair according to whom? That is quite different than claiming they want "everything for free".

For software developers, they get 70% of the gross. This is the same percentage passed on to book publishers according to the NYT...the same 70% that had the justice department investigating because Amazon didn't want to offer the same lucrative deal to publishers. The Justice Department investigated because the publishers were making too much money off iTunes and demand the same from Amazon. It is the same 70% passed on to movie studios and those studios pay zero for promotion and distribution over iTunes. It's the same 70% of iTunes Match revenues that are passed on.

I don't know if Apple offered television streaming content providers that same percentage but it seems logical that they would given Apple is profitable with their 30% despite the burden of hosting, promotion and delivery of content.

Meanwhile do the MSOs give 70% of their gross to the content providers?
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Re: There is trouble for the TV industry ahead

Reports were published from people inside the deals on what Apple wanted. If you refuse to realize and go find them yourself, that's on you. I'm not going to argue that. But, yes Apple wants everything for free. How do you think they got the DOJ called in on them?? They went and got those publishers deals that were considered anti-trust and were smacked for it. If there was no wrong doing, then they would NEVER have been investigated along with those publishers. That got LESS by Apple than Amazon got- if you go read the full reports for actual news sites and not blogs.

Percentages don't count on content. You do realize that right? Instead you PAY PER CUSTOMER. The same Apple should do. Netflix does it. MSOs have been doing it for YEARS. HBO wants $10 per month per customer, then they should get $10 per month per customer. If Apple does not want to pay that, then HBO should have the right to tell Apple to screw off. The Gov't has no right butting into private business unless the content owner has breached contract, like in the Buckeye Cablevision vs RayCom/American Spirit case currently in federal court.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan

Premium Member

Re: There is trouble for the TV industry ahead

There is ZERO evidence to support Apple wanted, expected or demanded free content. Zero.

Percentages of gross revenue don't count on content? LOL. Okay. Enjoy your New Year evening.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Only works if you're willing to spend big

No one has the cash or if the do the balls to do it. The content guys are afraid of the new ways only LOTS of cash will get them over their fear. For example Netflix could get movies before HBO, Showtime etc instead of 10 years or more later if they coughed up the cash. For example if say Netflix offered $100 million for the rights to have the Dark Knight Rises( I know totally ridiculous price ) first, Warner Bros would take that money and run with it.

The point being until the new ways pay as much if not more than the old ways these companies are going to go very gingerly into the new ways. Which means waiting a decade or more before they finally see the light.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster

Member

Re: Only works if you're willing to spend big

said by 88615298:


The point being until the new ways pay as much if not more than the old ways these companies are going to go very gingerly into the new ways. Which means waiting a decade or more before they finally see the light.

Bingo!!!!!
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray to 88615298

Member

to 88615298
said by 88615298:

No one has the cash or if the do the balls to do it. The content guys are afraid of the new ways only LOTS of cash will get them over their fear. For example Netflix could get movies before HBO, Showtime etc instead of 10 years or more later if they coughed up the cash. For example if say Netflix offered $100 million for the rights to have the Dark Knight Rises( I know totally ridiculous price ) first, Warner Bros would take that money and run with it.

The point being until the new ways pay as much if not more than the old ways these companies are going to go very gingerly into the new ways. Which means waiting a decade or more before they finally see the light.

Apple, Google, Microsoft, plus the sum of Netflix, Amazon and Sony - any of them have the cash and the guts. But they aren't that stupid.

None of the major players have reason to try to shrink the pie. Any move off the current paradigm has to result in greater profits and more revenue overall, or there is no point investing in it.

Just because the technology has moved forward, and we *can* have a virtual jukebox of content, doesn't mean we have the right to it at a lower price point.
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Re: Only works if you're willing to spend big

and Apple is too greedy to do anything with the crash. Instead they'd rather obtain it for free and resell it.

Google won't do it and MSFT would rather be a STB company.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Download caps will get in the way

Download caps will get in the way

that caps are there so you buy TV from your ISP.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Download caps will get in the way

Depends. We've never gone of 250 GB. And that included a month where my son watched the first 4 seasons of Break Bad on Netflix back to back and other streaming. And another month where he downloaded 60 GB worth of games off of Steam.
old_wiz_60
join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA

old_wiz_60

Member

Re: Download caps will get in the way

And if not download caps, then the carriers could throttle the services to the point where they are unusable and say it is necessary due to "network congestion".
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Re: Download caps will get in the way

and you can launch your own ISP as well. www.ikano.com

RAZ Black
join:2001-10-04
united state

RAZ Black

Member

not helping...

with new bandwidth caps for all providers... this will just end up costing consumers more money.

PacNWE97
@qwest.net

PacNWE97

Anon

Solution: Inexpensive Flat Screen

If Intel were asking me how to do it, I wouldn't talk about access to premium content or the interface.

I would make a simple suggestion. Make a flat screen TV at a low cost. That's the solution in a nutshell. We don't need "Smart TVs", we just need a big screen.

If they wanted to add more, another simple solution, make it open, allow the user to install their own operating system and applications. Then people that like Linux would install that, people that like Windows could install that, people that like Apple OSX could hack that onto the device - that's real consumer choice.
Call it the Wall PC and sell a ton...

Tats
@rr.com

Tats

Anon

Virtual TV

The most effective way for Intel, Google, Apple or any other IP-based service to scale tv's walled garden is to partner with the mso's vs competing with them. Sure, they might be able to nibble around the edges by launching virtual services that offer a hybrid line-up of content and more robust, cloud-based UI's...but there's no reason they shouldn't just integrate the IP services offered mso's to fill the commercial-grade content gaps. Apple pioneered this model in the mobile space when it forged the first carrier deal, so there's decent precedent for establishing a similar approach with TV providers. Rather than the silo'd (and very fragmented) approaches we have today, partnering would also allow the industry to deliver more uniform, integrated services that offer consumers more freedom of choice. Especially now that most cable and satellite providers are pushing (authenticated) linear channels over IP, there's no reason these channels shouldn't be accessible via the device of your choice...whether it be xBox, LG, Samsung, AppleTV, Intel, Roku...or even newer, cooler stuff we've yet to see. As long as the content is authenticated (just like cell service is authenticated for iPhone)...the rest is just UI and branding. Time will tell...

PacNWE97
@qwest.net

PacNWE97

Anon

Intel can't get the contracts either

»online.wsj.com/article_e ··· yWj.html

The same road blocks for Intel will kill their efforts.

It's at least pleasing to see one huge lobby (tech) taking on another huge lobby (media). Perhaps in the end both lobbies will fall to the will of consumers... one can only hope.