In a previous blog posting I discussed the topic of IPTV, and as promised I am now following up in further detail as well as comparing it against a similar concept called "Internet Television."
IPTV is generally considered to be a technology to enable the distribution of broadcast TV via a newer, and more granular, form of distribution technology vs. legacy cable distribution systems. IP as previously discussed can specify source and destination addresses, and the packetized nature of the technology is transparent to the medium it traverses to get from source to destination.
The diagram above gives a great depiction of the "IP core" as the new intermediary network allowing the smart delivery of regular TV broadcast content to the household. The important concept here, is that IPTV is also considered the domain of large telcos, who are making an aggressive push to displace the traditional domain of cable broadcasters. The Verizons, and AT&T's of the World no longer want to play second fiddle to the Comcast and Cox's of the World, with their legacy and non-IP based cable distribution technologies.
Internet Television on the other hand, can be considered more of a framework for Television content that is communications transport independent. It's more or less a forum or portal for one to seek and obtain the TV content of their choice as needed and on-demand (
good link to a Q&A session with Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allaire who explains the future of online video distribution). The previous blog topic discussed Hulu, which is a great example of an Internet Television upstart. Though Hulu may used IP to deliver it's content, it's serving a larger purpose as an Internet Television forum. The screenshot below gives a good understanding of what Hulu does; it bridges traditional content such as SNL from content provider NBC, with other unique TV content from independent and potentially free providers.
So the issue is even more complex. IPTV is a distribution technology, better suited to the existing players such as telcos who want to make a foray into TV distribution, as well as existing cable providers who want to exercise more control over distribution and adopt the latest technology. But will Internet Television as a type of "open source" forum for TV programs eventually supplant the provider-controlled distribution most subscribers are typically beholden to? My humble opinion is that cable providers and telcos will have a run for their money as "Quadraple Play" (great
read on quad play and Internet Television at
www.quadplay.com) becomes more entrenched and the transport mediums for digital information become more and more irrelevant to the control we as users exercise over the selection of the content that rides over it.
