With a large amount of entertainment programming streaming to TVs, mobile devices, and PCs, the need for efficient content creation, management and distribution is more critical than ever.
DTC’s most recent research estimates that there were more than 239 million worldwide pay TV subscribers , 99 million mobile TV/video subscribers, and just under 12 million Internet video subscribers in 2008. And that doesn’t include people who only view free content. With this many people watching over limited bandwidth, technical efficiency is the new brass ring.
One example of the quest for efficiency is greater use of IP to the contribution level of content production, rather than just distribution to the end user. Companies, such as T-VIPS and other “behind the scenes” content management players are helping providers move content to and from multiple points using IP networks. This is of fundamental importance with multiple platforms that must now be considered. These range from a patchwork of set-top boxes, PCs, and mobile devices to multiple audio and video codecs, transmission networks, and varying bandwidth capacities that each piece of content must be calibrated for. Larger infrastructure companies are feeding this trend as well. Cisco, for instance, managed NBC’s Olympics coverage from Beijing in 2008 using such an IP-based system.
Although dabbling with new consumer distribution pipelines gets lots of attention, the more sophisticated use of IP technology to manage content before it gets to the consumer represents a dramatic – and likely permanent – shift in the business of content distribution.
