How Service Providers May Gain or Lose from the Interactive TV Revolution

New York, NY, October 3, 2011-Few can argue that the traditional business of linear television is morphing. Services are changing – from HDTV to 3DTV – while platforms are multiplying to encompass Internet delivery to the computer or tablet, streaming to the handheld device, download to PVRs, and over-the-top services that embed a Web browser and Internet-delivered content into the familiar TV set. This is the subject of a new report by the World Teleport Association, Future TV and the Teleport.

The report seeks to highlight the aspects of today’s TV revolution most likely to affect teleport operators and other service providers, to explore the threats and potential opportunities it will create and to offer advice on what service providers can do today to defend against the downside and seize the upside.
The report explores how the global television industry may change as a result, and how demand for content management and delivery services will change along with it.

WTA Executive Director Robert Bell notes, “The business of broadband delivery is going to become massively more important to content distribution companies of every stripe. It is likely to become an increasingly competitive business at the same time that the "walled garden" approach to delivering exclusive content comes under increasing pressure. Most of the service providers surveyed for this report saw a silver lining in the rising complexity and uncertainty about the future of TV. They expect it to be a net positive for the companies that host, manage and distribute video.”

Future TV and the Teleport is available free to WTA members from the World Teleport Association Web site. Non-members may purchase a copy of the report from the site as well.