The evolution of Internet rebroadcasting: part two of a two-part series

In the first part of this two-part series, contributor Norma Reveler examined Internet rebroadcaster JumpTV and its market strategy. This installment focuses on Planetvu, which – like JumpTV – has hitherto focused on bringing international third-language broadcasters to Canadians via the Internet but has now set its sights on non-Canadian English-language services. While rival JumpTV went public to fund its growth, Toronto-based Planetvu (CCR, April 26/01) is pinning its to-market strategy on securing deals to distribute US channels, according to its president Stuart Ross. Ross says Planetvu is focusing on different markets than JumpTV (see part one of this article, CCR, Nov.20/06) – his company is looking to distribute the top Indian and Chinese TV channels, while the competition has concentrated on Latin America and Eastern Europe. However, JumpTV recently announced deals with top Indian and Pakistani channels. Nevertheless, Ross reaffirms that there is enough differentiation between the two. "They have a different marketing strategy and a different technology," he says. "Our focus is different in terms of the market themselves. We both share the focus on delivering international TV signals , but their programming acquisition priorities have been in other markets ." Planetvu’s technology, which Ross describes as an IPTV platform different from broadband or streaming because it is virtually identical to a DTH or cable platform, is being eyed by some US broadcasters. "We also have a number of top US broadcasters and cable channels who have come to us and want distribution on our platform, so Planetvu may chose to distribute as part of its North American offering the top 20 or 25 movie and music broadcast channels, which will complement the international channels that we are distributing," notes Ross. He says they will be distributed on a revenue-share basis, but would not provide any other details until the deals are inked. While Ross says Planetvu’s "core focus is distribution to the PC through the broadband connection in the household," he adds the company is also involved in a trial to extend the TV signal from the PC to a TV set-top box. "We invested heavily in standard-definition-quality video equipment that downlinks our signals into professional teleports and high-bitrate video encoders, which today are throttled down to broadband because that is where the market is," Ross points out. "Our channels are streamed at 400 kilobits per second, but we have designed the system keeping in mind changes to the market, such as the increase in local Internet access, the mobility of the signal from the PC to mobile appliances and to the TV set-top box." Planetvu currently offers seven Indian channels, and will soon be adding 15 to 20 Chinese TV channels. The idea, according to Ross, is to offer more ethnic TV channels and at lower prices than the $10 to $15 per channel charged by DTH and cable and without subscribers having to first purchase a basic TV package. Planetvu also plans to launch a high-definition online television service, called Planetvu HD, according to the company’s website. Planetvu, financed by capital from Pinnacle Merchant Capital, has no plans to go public, according to Ross. Another Canadian player offering TV channels to the PC is Craig Wireless Systems Ltd. through its Stream:1 TV service, offered over its MDS system in British Columbia and viewed using Microsoft Window Media Player on a desktop or laptop (CCR, July 17/03). Stream:1’s basic package of 22 channels is priced at $9.95 per month if customers also subscribe to Craig’s Internet access service, SkyWeb, or $19.95 without Skyweb. An additional 23 channels are priced at $29.95 per month with SkyWeb and $34.95 without. Skyweb high-speed Internet access is priced at $41.95 per month for residential users and $64.95 per month for businesses. The popularity of TV signals to computer screens will likely grow with increased portability, according to the report, Competitive Scan of the Canadian Broadcasting System, which was prepared by Market Metrics on behalf of Shaw Communications Inc. And new devices, such as Sling Media Inc.’s Slingbox TV streaming device, could increase the use of video streaming over IP networks. The Slingbox TV allows consumers to remotely view their home cable or satellite TV lineup with SlingPlayer software installed on a laptop or smartphone, as well as video streams, PVR programming, and DVC or music library content via high-speed Internet anywhere in the world. Introduced to the Canadian market in March 2006, the Slingbox is available at Best Buy, Future Shop and London Drugs for about $299. A reality check: subscriber uptake to TV programming delivered to the computer has been low so far. But according to The Diffusion Group’s report, IPTV Update 2006 – The Future of IP Media, the number of North American IPTV households will reach close to 14 million by 2010, with the United States accounting for 80% of those subscriptions. It is assumed that Canada and Mexico will make up the remaining 20%, or 2.8 million subscribers.

The evolution of Internet rebroadcasting: part two of a two-part series

Broadcast | December 6, 2006

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