TV A-La-Carte – From Dream to Nightmare! But There is an Answer …

Posted on by tvangelist

It took some time for the reality of a-la-carte TV to bite and its jaws have clenched down firm on our wallets. So – ‘what you want’ – ‘when you want’ – ‘where you want’ – is now considered complex fragmentation and there is a call for super-aggregation back to Pay-TV  bundles. Ermmmm … Or is there? YES THERE IS – BUNDLING IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD THAT MAKES ANY SENSE – There I said it!

If you want to now call it Super-Bundling it is OK to do that too – People want to have a manageable and clean way to access their numerous subscriptions to TV, Banking, Insurance, Shopping, Music etc. Clean – Manageable and Painless.

The Telco/ Retail and TV industry can enable that this day and age! WHY DO IT?  Well it reduces churn – ties in your customers and if you do it correctly they will stay with you (Loyalty) because convenience is EVERYTHING.

Vive Le Bundle!

Humans and The Need to Defend at all Cost – An Idea, A Philosophy, An Opinion, A Thing, A Position …

Posted on by tvangelist

johann-walter-bantz-Clv9DfJLwac-unsplashOver the years in life, I have noticed human beings’ persistent need to defend, at all cost, an idea, a religion, a philosophy, an opinion, a thing, a position, and, as I am often talking about TV, a technical solution that they are trying to get to market. Social Media has amplified all of this. It really is astonishing how much time is spent trying to convince others they are wrong! Why do we do that as human beings – A psychologist probably has the answer? We should reflect and understand that life is perhaps a little too short and we should be all be more constructive and less destructive.

Of course, most people do this because they are either heavily invested in, or are paid by, a company to take a stance. I have been extremely guilty of it myself in my DVB days — DVB versus ATSC, ISDB-T, DVB-MHP versus alternative middleware, DVB-RCC versus DOCSIS! I was, at one point at IBC, called “R’Anthony” by tech journalist Ferghal Ringrose.

Throughout history, there have been infamous moments — such as the tobacco industry’s Senate hearings on its dangers — where people publicly declared the untruth of: “I swear that nicotine is not addictive.” Most likely, they did so to keep their job, their lofty title, and their fat-cat salary.

We Only Have But One Life

I have myself, learned that in life people come and go, and their words simply become tomorrow’s digital dust (except Mark Aitken @ Sinclair Broadcast, (for those who work in Broadcasting Technology) who seems eternal #LOL), and the technology junket rolls on.

In hindsight, we should be more collaborative, speak kinder words about the amazing things people have invented, built, and deployed, and try to make the world a better place for both inventors and consumers. However, human nature being what it is, we haven’t made much progress, it seems.

Be kind, be nice, and be courteous — it costs NOTHING.

Anthony

The Myth of Personalised TV

Posted on by tvangelist

Since circa 2012 we have been looking at ‘Personalisation’ of content for each viewer of media and entertainment – Online – Sports – Music – and ultimately Television – “Because you watched that you might like this” … It is now 2025 and I ask, “Has personalisation been realised?,” “Does my Television know who I am and what I like?” The document linked below explores this aspect and while it may ruffle a few feathers of those in this segment, I truly believe that we have spent a small fortune on technology getting us not very far. The human aspect and nuances of ‘in the mood for’ as well as the complexity of privacy are just too complex for TV systems to work effectively. In order to understand 100s of millions of people content preferences and desires at any given time, then serve them up accurately may well be a pipe dream. For you to judge and for you to agree or disagree. Here is the ‘book/pamphlet’ called the ‘The Myth of Personalised TV – 2025.’

Thank you

Anthony

Most People Exist Until They Exist No Longer! What Is Life All About?

Posted on by tvangelist

There is so much to talk about here I do not even know where to begin. We were born – not through choice and we make our way in life. What for? Whay are we here and what is this really all about?

Take Albert my 97-year-old neighbor who lies prone on a ‘Lazy-Boy’ in his front room. He cannot eat or swallow and to add insult to injury had recently suffered a bout of shingles as he slowly withers away. He entered the world in 1927 and made his way in life, out of Alexandria in Egypt to what will be his resting place in California. That is a detail I know little about. Why California? What I do know from when he was able to tell me stories of his life, he once waltzed in tea rooms in Phoenix with his darling second, younger by 10 years, wife Barbera. Barbera is on her third marriage and even while sitting with the poor, declining Albert she extols the virtues of Marty the mechanic (A much loved husband number two). I look at the two of them and realize that they have spent 30 years at the same address, in our cul-de-sac, and just like our other neighbors Anne and Rodney they will simply exist until they exist no longer. Anne and Rodney sit in their cluttered garage several houses down, with the dog. They wave occasionally as we drive by. They have sat in their open garage in the cooler times for the last six years we have been there, doing nothing but simply existing.

Death can be a slow, agonizing process and seeing Albert like this makes me weep each time I visit. Once upon a time Albert was a proud man, but today he is embarrassed at his physical state. He apologises more than he needs. I understand and tell him it is OK. Albert confessed to me last Saturday that he wants to die. He is fed-up, but the release will not come quick for him. The interesting thing about Albert is that his grip is incredibly strong and his mind sharp, which makes it all the more frustrating for him. He rides the pain he feels in his skinny frame and tries his hardest to see out of his tired old eyes that see only blurred grey shapes. His hearing aid whistles with distortion as it is now maxed out in volume setting, it no longer disturbs him. He did ask Barbera to stop the wall clock, as the ticking and chiming is a reminder of how slow time is passing. Barbera will not stop the clock – maybe that’s psychological. This end-of-days scenario is, I am sure, not what Albert was expecting.

Albert at 92 spoke Egyptian, French, Greek, Italian and was quite an accomplished artist. He baked Baklava for the Saturday market on Bethany Road and sometimes on a weekend we played Backgammon (When we did, he cheated – how can you cheat at Backgammon?). Jewish by faith he, thankfully, has not been able to see the hell that is happening in Israel and Palestine. Barbera has shielded him from that. It is too tiring for her to talk a lot as his hearing is all but gone. At 86 Barbera is now his full-time care giver and she is frankly too old to be doing that chore.

Looking at Albert and the tired, hunched over Barbera has made me question my own existence and to ask myself what my life is really all about. Why do I exist?

It appears to me that, for many people I encounter, life is indeed all about survival. They do what they can, with the resources they have, for as long as they can. Yet, I find it hard to believe that this is the sole purpose of our existence as human beings. It seems like an immense expenditure of time and effort for naught but fleeting memories, especially if these experiences are never recorded.

As I watch Albert’s slow decline, I’m reminded that life’s meaning must extend beyond mere survival. There’s a deeper purpose, something greater than the daily struggle to endure. Our lives should be more than just a series of moments that slip into obscurity if left unmarked.

Poisonous Plant if Consumed in Large Quantities – What is it

Posted on by tvangelist

Sorrel
This herb is not that well known but adds a real kick to certain recipes

Do you know what this is?  It is apparently quite poisonous … It is very acidic and adds a very unusual kick to certain meals.  It is well known in Europe and mainly used in soups.  We were told to fry up some onions, this herb and some creme-fraiche:  We used it on fried (pre-bolied potatoes) and it was FANTASTIC!  – What is it called?

The Pay-TV Industry’s Long Game

Posted on by tvangelist

Let’s jump straight in. Linear TV is dead because online VOD services are what people want. This headline from 2014 was a typical attack on broadcasting –

“Netflix CEO says broadcast TV will be dead in 16 years.”

Just recently and six years into that prediction, Netflix started a LINEAR TV service akin to broadcast, online (in France). Streaming linear is now the norm for many online services. In the end, and to please most of the viewing population, you have to create small changes to existing habits and please as many people as possible with different access choices. I have discussed this often in previous posts. To gain volume viewership, you have to satisfy a vast demographic, and many people don’t want to spend 20 minutes searching for content, which is the norm in streaming – Linear is convenient and has been in the market using the good old EPG since 1981.

DAZN, who professed to be the new ‘Netflix of sport,’ talked about their LINEAR service offering just a few days ago in a conference and added insight into why they are signing up with Pay-TV Service providers. Their streaming dream and takeover of sports stuttered to a halt, exacerbated by COVID with the lack of live events. However, before COVID, DAZN was already struggling, and when the pandemic really hit, they immediately sought investors to shore up the company. The volte-face of the ‘Netflix of Sports’ and D2C disruptor was a pragmatic move and a strategy change needed to keep the DAZN legs pumping.

Broadcast TV isn’t dead nor dying; it is merely morphing and has another medium (the Internet) upon which it rides. Pay-TV is TV that you pay for but the phrase is often used to describe the traditional cable and satellite service bundles are now aggregating streaming service as channels or additional VOD stores. Its all going to look the same soon.

In fact in the USA the ATSC 3.0 NextgenTV will be an IP Stream over the air, which means that they will have the ability to offer streaming-like service. 5G will too look to be the new TV ‘high-speed-access-to-the-home.’ While all of this is good for consumers the business model of TV remains as complicated as ever – You have to pay for access to premium content (Pay-TV) – unless it is funded by another method such as advertising.

The difference today is that you can take as little or as much content as you want, depending on your budget (not necessarily desires). Consumers are simply giving up on certain pay-walled content or pirating it in this complex a la carte landscape. The technology boundaries are blurring – how long will it be before the subscription costs start blurring, and we have a market that levels out price-wise … not long methinks.

2020 – When The World Went Nuts

Posted on by tvangelist

When 2020 dawned, there seemed to be hope – a new decade. Then BAM! We were hit in the face with a baseball bat! COVID-19 spreading out of China. Then the world went into a panic. What did we do? We listened to the people in charge, the experts, and those who are supposed to be ‘leaders.’ How did that work out? This moment in history will be studied at the universities of the future, and people will read incredulous stories of human incompetence, disdain, ignorance, selfishness, greed, and gullibility.

What transpired from the onset highlighted an incredible lack of leadership, intelligence, performance, and foresight. As the virus took hold, it started to do its worst … the old, the frail, and the already sick were hit the hardest. Illness and death ensued; then, medical facilities in certain locations were overrun. Unlike the disaster movies, hospitals were not prepared. The medical support for such a respiratory attack was not available; then, world panic set in.

Covid-19 showed that faced with the ‘potential threat of death,’ many humans manifested an ugly side. People raided supermarkets to stockpile goods. Weak supermarket managers did not control them. People took advantage of others. Violent men beat their children and their wives in confinement. As this all played a new money making opportunity was seized upon:  the mask, sanitizer, wipe businesses looked to make a fast buck.  Everyone looked for  branding opportunities on facial wear.

The world went nuts … it was very ugly.

Leaders and I use the term loosely, decided to just shut things down, well, some things down. Leaders stopped people from earning a living except in Sweden, and look at the reaction to that by the so-called experts on Social Media platforms. Companies under duress (or not) started to release staff then realized they could make a buck or two furloughing people with aid from governments … but ugly humans took advantage of that, and even large corporations took the money they did not need. Bad people faked their situation and stole  much-needed government money. 

As we continue meander through this lopsided pandemic with no resolution, their are wealthy people on Social Media platforms posting holiday snaps from the Bahamas and other far-away destinations where they had fun in the sun … fun while others could not keep their local businesses going or pay their rent or mortgage. 

Many months later, we are still unsure what the final outcome will be as more shutdowns, and ludicrous rules for some and not others are imposed.

The privileged will survive as rest of us are subjected to even more ineptitude. 

Clearly, the human race fell apart in 2020.  

TV Fragmentation Reigns

Posted on by tvangelist

Some years ago, it was plainly evident to anyone who has any common sense that the world of media and entertainment content would fragment. In the transition from broadcast to online, the opportunity seemed clear to content owners that a global reach for their content was as simple as putting it all online and direct-to-the-consumer. However, the business, at the time, just wasn’t ready for this and quite frankly still isn’t prepared to allow that to happen ‘carte-blanche.”

I wrote on this topic in 2009 and an update in 2012. It is now 2020, and content rights, geo-blocking, and market dynamics all inhibit the passage of content from broadcast to over the Internet worldwide. Like websites, there is a myriad of Apps all purporting to offer the same content, but in reality they do not. Still, the truth is that national, regional, and content licensing remains an industry sticking point – there is not going to be a central repository of content that we can dip in and out of.

Sports are the most affected in recent years and coming up against the complexity of the industry. Pay-TV has been able to keep sports as one of the mainstays of its premium tier offers and, in some instances, they offer less popular sports (lower tiers), often at odd times of the day i.e. not prime time. This causes a dilemma for these sports as they sign-up to broadcast deals (often behind pay-walls), limiting their rights to show the games on other platforms such as OTT in particular. Happy to be considered good enough for broadcast TV, but then caught in the mouth of the lion.

The industry adage of ‘What I Want – When I Want – Where I Want’ still cannot be satisfied. Content owners have fragmented or gone vertical, leaving the consumer foraging for certain content across all manner of locations. The costs are mounting up and the consumer is becoming disheartened.

On a recent weekend, I wanted to watch Wales against Scotland and saw that it was not on my NBC Sports Gold app. I quickly went hunting and could not find the match on any platform that I was subscribed to. How frustrating! Very, very disappointing! Even the pirate sites that I found were asking for money (naturally) so its not an option.

At home I have a Cox subscription (it wasn’t being shown on any channel) … I also have a NBC Sports Gold rugby pass but it didn’t show it, Netflix – don’t do sport – Hulu – don’t do sport – HBO Max – don’t do sport … then there is DAZN purported to be the Netflix of sports – don’t do International rugby in the USA – Rugby Pass – geo-blocked … #WTF what’s the point? I am feeling hard done by and frustrated. I am tempted towards piracy – it is cheap and is available. Doesn’t the industry understand that they have an issue?

I’ll keep up my hopes of getting – What I Want -When I Want – Where I Want, but I don’t think that will be for quite some time, if ever!

Same Market – Same Challenges – Different Location

Posted on by tvangelist

Moving continents is quite a task. Taking care of the family takes a lot of time – So much time that the months in fact the years seem to be flying by. One very interesting challenge is the management of the ‘electronic world’ that we live in … changes of email providers, TV providers, subscriptions to websites and blogs, passwords, phones – and the dreaded ‘Two Step Verification’ that relies on you still having the emails and phone etc. In the ‘melee’ that is moving some things slipped through the cracks. If an Email is provided by a ‘Service Provider’ and that service is not available in another country then you lose access. All of the things associated with that email are lost.

  • BTW – iTunes cannot be moved from one country to another without a massive amount of effort – Downloads (EST) are Geo-locked due to rights … No I didn’t use Ultraviolet and that is shutting down anyway.

If you have multiple websites, blogs and so on and so forth then its complex. I found that I need a ‘digital-life’ manager.

I lost the password to ‘TVangelist’ and as I was busy I didn’t chase up … The two step verification caught me out as I relinquished the European Phone – I took a little accidental involuntary hiatus in 2019. But I am back after a lot of haggling and deep memory management.

Time has passed and so much has happened in ‘TV la la land’ – there is so much to discuss and a look back on whether some of the musings were correct or just plain blah blah!

Will talk to the ether soon.