“IPTV and the World of Streaming 4G Devices”

A Conversation with David Garrison, CEO, iBAHN; and Philip Nelson, SVP Strategic Development, NewTek; hosted by Jim Louderback, CEO, Revision3

JL: Newtek -revolutionized video in Amiga days. Now have tech that allows anybody to live stream using a mechanism the size of a breadbox. Phil: talk about world of streaming.

PN: In the 90s, first time anyone could produce their own tv show on a desktop computer, but you still had to find a distributor. Now, you can broadcast to the world online. Every broadcaster is looking at their web content strategy. Radio, for eg, has already reinvented themselves twice. Now, with streaming, they can add additional content. Eg. MTV hosted an aftershow party live on the web.

JL: MTV is building a multichannel tv service. No dish necessary. How will a virtual world evolve?

DG: Television as we know it growing up is dead. Why shouldn’t they stream all 5 cameras on a show and let users choose what they want to watch? The only exception to TV on the web is live sports. As soon as internet revenues start equaling web,  sports will migrate to the internet.

JL: In the pre-now world of tv, it was all about the walled garden. In many ways, that is going away. Seeing a change to producers going to where consumers are, vs. vice versa.

DG: It’s all about video streaming. Content owners are kicking and streaming. You do not want to be a satellite carrier or a network owner today.

PN: Youth don’t see devices as separate. They just see iPads, tv, etc as different screens.

JL: It’s not about different types of content for different types of screens. What about the mobile device is important? will 4g just be everywhere?

PN: Where 4G is exciting is about getting enough upload speed to be able to administer live webstreams, etc.

DG: The device matters, 4G does not. The networks can’t handle the pressure on their. Carriers are all dropping unlimited data and reserving the right to drop video. The experience won’t be complete until there’s pervasive wifi.

It’s not chips that prohibit the spread.

JL: Everyone will eventually be a broadcaster, with chips goinrg,etc. What will that do to Orange, etc?

PN: Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you’re good at it. The cream will rise to the top and help people recognize valuable content. Social is the key to identifying good content. Your networks are the key to finding good content.

JL: You have the ability to pull up a map of events, see who’s there and experience their experience of the event. Is that out of line?

PN: If your friends curate your experience, you’re more likely to be happy with it.

DG: You’re describing bridges between islands. If devices are islands, social networks and user experience are creating bridges between them. That will be here within 2 intel cycles.

JL: Is Hollywood going to wither and fall away becasue they don’t get it.

DG: When it comes to distribution of hollywood content, it’s much easier to buy it in China at a huge cost cut than it is to buy it in the US.

PN: More and more, rather than entities licensing out the rights, sports producers are pulling back in their control over their content.

DG: How do I create an interactive social network experience with fans if im the NHL?

PN: Beauty of streaming video revolution is that tv can now have interactive, streaming, real-time viewer engagement experience, not just a passive viewing experience.

JL: Media is about community. Eg. magazine communities. Internet allows communities to form.

Ty Carlson: There’s not enough spectrum now to have rich media experiences, there’s only so much spectral efficiency you can get from 4G and wifi. How will you get this bandwidth, where will it come from and who’s working on this space?

DG: Our company is spectrum agnostic. Bandwidth limitation is through the cells. Reason we’re bullish on wifi is because the amount of wifi you pump through is only limited by the channels. T-Mobile and ATT are quickly realizing that if they don’t develop these networks, they’re going to lose subscribers.

Q: Can you talk about TiVo and the fact that no one is watching anything at the same time as anyone else?

JL: Produce live shows, which does a few things. Only a few fans will watch live, but they’re the most engaged fans, which binds them to you. It also makes tv performers performance better. You can still have an experience there even if its not live– 14,000 comments on one not live episode in one day.

DG: You don’t need to watch it live to start conversation about this. It can take place over a few days.

PN: Live is important because people want to watch a trainwreck and it cuts cost.

JL: I think the phone is a transition device.

DG. Phone’s dead. You just don’t know it yet.