By Joseph Williams Virtual reality streaming company NextVR has delivered live content from the NBA, NASCAR, the PGA and several other event organisers. It currently uploads about one event a week to its Web platform, often more. During the PGA Masters Tournament, for example, NextVR broadcasted live every day. Cofounder David Cole said the company has the “largest compressed audience of VR viewers on the planet,” though he declined to provide further detail, as he said the company only … [Read more...] about Virtual reality experiences ‘addicting,’ may change some viewing patterns, exec says
The Edge
Pay-TV innovation landscape in Asia-Pacific
In many respects, the pay-TV industry is a global success story, exceeding a billion subscribers and US$200 billion in global industry revenue earlier this decade, and widely expected to approach US$250 billion in global industry revenues by 2020. However, the industry is going through a period of change and development, with service providers in many markets facing a perfect storm of slowing growth, intensifying competition and business model disruption, driven by improving broadband quality … [Read more...] about Pay-TV innovation landscape in Asia-Pacific
The war between OTT and Pay-TV
The video industry continues to see a shift in a number of time consumers watch their traditional pay-TV service, as more content is being viewed on Over-The-Top (OTT) services such as Netflix, Hulu, and others. Pay-TV providers must focus not only on why consumers are gravitating to these OTT offerings but also on how these providers can slow and ultimately reverse the trend. The average Netflix subscriber watches content for 1 hour and 33 minutes per day, while the average pay-TV subscriber … [Read more...] about The war between OTT and Pay-TV
Global Video Index
Engagement patterns by device There’s a common cliché in our industry that says the bigger the screen, the better. Well, it may be cliché, but it’s also true. The biggest screens, connected televisions, have seen their share of time watched for content longer than 10 minutes increase steadily over the past year. From Q1’s 43% to Q2’s 53%, Q3’s 71% and Q4’s 74%, a growth of more than 72% over 12 months. On the tablets, meanwhile, the share of time watched for the same content has declined … [Read more...] about Global Video Index
4K UHD – Getting from Risk to Reward
The advent of 4K UHD content brings new opportunities for operators along with a number of challenges in terms of costs, compatibility and compliance. Before discussing these, however, it’s important to note that the terms Ultra HD (UHD) and 4K have been used interchangeably by TV makers, broadcasters, the media, and as a result, consumers. While they are not the same, 4K appears to have caught on as the de facto term for both. What’s often lost in the discussion is that the UHD specification … [Read more...] about 4K UHD – Getting from Risk to Reward
Primetime on Toggle
How has Toggle evolved over time? A lot of changes and enhancements have taken place. We’ve improved our content offerings significantly. What started off as a catch-up TV is providing Live coverage of major sports events today. Last year, we broadcasted the SEA Games and now, we are able to bring the UEFA EURO 2016 tournament to soccer fans. We’re enabling soccer fans to catch the matches Live on a multitude of devices with a direct subscription without first having to subscribe to other … [Read more...] about Primetime on Toggle