Comments on: Want To Know More About the Future of Internet TV?: Let’s Look to Korea http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/ ...focusing on the evolution and economics of high technology business and strategy. By day, I am a venture capitalist at Benchmark Capital. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:25:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Want To Know More About the Future of Internet TV?: Let’s Look to Korea - YEC - CLB Nhà kinh tế trẻ | YEC - CLB Nhà kinh tế trẻ http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/#comment-3310 Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:30:10 +0000 http://abovethecrowd.com/?p=472#comment-3310 [...] Comments RSS Feed [...]

]]> By: Tommy Toy http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/#comment-1915 Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:22:27 +0000 http://abovethecrowd.com/?p=472#comment-1915 Web TV is dead for now. Apple, Google and MS scare the dickens out of the networks. They don’t want to end up with their content on some DVD being sold in downtown Beijing. Their IP needs protection from dupe. the economics need to make sense. Jobs tried negotiating download prices. networks said, bye-bye. web tv leaves too many questions. how bout censorship issues. internet content is mostly user-generated. junk at best. quality content will drive demand for Web tv. i say its at least two, maybe three years away before anybody makes real money.

]]> By: mbharrington http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/#comment-1204 Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:33:48 +0000 http://abovethecrowd.com/?p=472#comment-1204 I recently bought a new TV and Blu-Ray, and one of the features on both that enticed me to get the specific models was that they were both net-capable. My first reaction was that it would be great for future development, but I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of current offerings.

I have a Sony Bravia W-Series that has a ton of content including full screen (fast and good quality) YouTube video, Amazon on-demand, Slacker Radio and many more options. As well as features like yahoo weather and twitter widgets, which are a bit cumbersome to use, but it seems like there are many features being added.

I also have a Samsung Blu-Ray which offers streaming Netflix, Pandora, Blockbuster, and a few more options. The Netflix is very quick and high-quality (yet limited in content), and the Pandora is fantastic. I probably would have purchased a PS3 over this at the time if PS3 had offered the netflix option at the time, which it now does (Sony TV promises this feature direct within the next few months as well).

From what I can tell on the TV Sony and Yahoo are the major players for both content and control.

There are some great

]]> By: Renaud Célibataire http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/#comment-1011 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:04:14 +0000 http://abovethecrowd.com/?p=472#comment-1011 My parents live in a small town where the Internet is pretty slow (well not slow but someone coming from a bigger city could easily notice the difference)and the Internet is actually too slow to handle TV, even though they’re paying for this service.

]]> By: phillip http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/#comment-1002 Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:45:52 +0000 http://abovethecrowd.com/?p=472#comment-1002 First of all, the assumption that the network operators help drive usage is not necessarily accurate. For example, Korean mobile networks are some of the most advanced in the world. However, mobile services lag behind many other markets because the carriers maintain high data charges and only allow users to operate in a walled garden environment. Similarly, the landline telcos have not not come up with compelling applications that can draw users away from either (1) PC interactivity (which Koreans are congenitally comfortable with), and (2) cable TV (which has almost full penetration). The limited market share that IPTV providers have taken away from the cable companies has been mainly through service bundling and pricing. This strategy only leads to cannabilization. But then again, these are telcos, not media companies, that we are talking about. They mainly care about churn and ARPU. What is needed is an innovative company that creates a reason for consumers to want to use lean-forward services on a lean back platform. Maybe it’s an Apple-like company that will emerge that combines cool hardware, a solid operating system and an open Application environment that will change the way that TV is used.

]]> By: Benjamin http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/#comment-996 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:31:36 +0000 http://abovethecrowd.com/?p=472#comment-996 The real challenge is on the content licensing part, as IPTV distribution competes terrestrial and satellite broadcasts. Similar issues took place with mobile TV in South Korea (S-DMB and T-DMB). This is a moment for innovation on content offering and business models. A lot is still in the making.

Here are some info on the recent evolutions on the content side of the IPTV offering in South Korea:

- Sale of various digital products related to TV programs by Qook TV(KT’s IPTV brand) such as characters, ringback tones and animation songs for its animation channel

- Satellite TV channels offer combined with KT’s Qook TV (170 Skylife channels + 65,000 VOD programs of Qook TV for 15 USD/month)

- Creation of ISPN, an IPTV sports channel jointly produced by the 3 IPTV operators

]]> By: bgurley http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/#comment-994 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:23:36 +0000 http://abovethecrowd.com/?p=472#comment-994 Very, very helpful. Thank you.

]]> By: Hoo Kang http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/#comment-993 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:02:02 +0000 http://abovethecrowd.com/?p=472#comment-993 I’m an Korean-American living in Seoul, South Korea.

My family has Cable and More (C&M) a smaller company, but they also provide VOD, which feels similar to IPTV.

On a side note, I believe KT renamed their Mega TV to Qook and then combined their other telecommunications features (home phone, mobile phone, internet, internet phone) to KT Olleh (http://www.kt.com/ollehkt/ – site in Korean), but I could be wrong.

Who will own the operating system layer?
Currently its the companies providing the service, KT, Dacom, etc…

Who will own the menu “stack” which dictates discovery?
I think by default its the IPTV companies, but it would be smart to let the users have the image of control- e.g. customization.

What will be the key features of this menu system, and which applications will be most useful and successful?
Personally, I don’t use the menu system and I typically just channel surf the live channels. However, there are random mini games, read comics, and of course movies.

What type of programs are most popular in this format?
I don’t have this data, but my guess would be Korean dramas and sporting events – kind of like a Tivo- but records all of your shows.

What are the typical pricing/product offerings?
Monthly figures seem to hover around 30,000won about $30 a month. There are always sales going on and if you sign a 3-4 year contract you can get it even cheaper.

Will this product live inside the carrier set-top box or outside?
Not sure how to answer this question. My best guess is that we will have computers with screens that merge all of these worlds.

Will the carriers that control the pipe also control this interface (either directly or indirectly)?
I hope not.

Are these systems selling at rates that are above or below expectation? Why or why not?
Is it considered a viable alternative to cable or satellite?
Being in the highest average work week in the OECD nations. I don’t visit many Korean homes. However, they are always outside my apartment complex marketing to everyone who walks by with free “premium” coffee. It is an alternative to cable and satellite, but I see less and less satellite dishes outside of people’s apartments.

Here are a few personal observations:

Compared to the fast Korean internet, IPTV requires load time, which is a few seconds- but feels like an eternity. They use these load times to show commercials.

Some episodes require additional micro payments – personally its annoying.

User interface is slow, moving around with a D-Pad control feels archaic. Thus, making it difficult to find shows. It would be nice to have a “suggestions” feature.

The library is still too small and sometimes they do parts of a series, instead of having the whole series on there.

It seems like I’m complaining, but that’s not my intention. I just want better services.

Let me know if I can help, but I request people ask specific questions.

]]> By: Alex Calic http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/09/29/want-to-know-more-about-the-future-of-internet-tv-lets-look-to-korea/#comment-990 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:20:13 +0000 http://abovethecrowd.com/?p=472#comment-990 Can’t comment on the Korean Internet TV market, but I did just finish a lengthy post on my thoughts of the U.S. market this evening: http://alexcalic.com/2009/09/29/the-future-of-television-programming-will-require-better-discovery/

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