Multiroom DVR, premium content delivered direct to the TV set over the internet without the need for a set-top box and addressable advertising were among the technologies demonstrated by NDS at its Innovation Showcase.
New Television Insider was among a select group of industry analysts to be invited to the central London location where Nigel Smith, VP and chief marketing officer, NDS explained that after last year’s focus on convergence, the company was turning its attentions to addressable advertising.
One concept is Infinite TV, which may be familiar to readers through earlier appearances at expos including the IPTV World Forum. Infinite TV is capable of running on a number of devices including PCs, hybrid set-top boxes, integrated digital TVs (IDTVs) and portable media players. Users can register their details and devices online and then view content. Advertising can be tailored to the content viewed, with advertisements appearing when the programme is paused – a functionality that must surely find its way into standard PVRs.
Although multiplatform, NDS was playing up the potential relationship between broadcasters and consumer electronics manufacturers, at the same time being careful not to promote a low end competitor to its core pay-TV constituency. Smith said many operators do not have a direct relationship with their audience other than through the web and this could be a way in.
The advertising elements have already been integrated with both the DART and Microsoft solutions.
Nick Thexton, senior VP research & development, new initiatives, said Infinite TV was being positioned as an open standard and being offered without any lock-ins. The stance is important given the number of approaches to so-called connected TV being explored by the manufacturers. “This is a different segmented market. We’ve been successful in reaching out, but there are other companies who would like to work with NDS, but see us as a pay-TV company.”
Advertising was also at the centre of NDS Dynamic, which uses the PVR/DVR to substitute linear scheduled ads with those more directly suited to the user profile of the subscriber. It is also possible to match advertising with recent viewing choices; for example the viewing of several hours of sports programming would indicate a particular demographic.
Also on display were a number of “proof of concept” demonstrations including the Multi-room DVR that has recently attracted the attention of BSkyB. DVR content can be transferred over a home network, and although functionality is focussed on TV programmes, it can also include the subscriber’s own music and photo collections. Subscribers can use a single DVR to network content to a number of set-top boxes – similar functionality was seen from Cisco at The Cable Show, held in Washington DC in April.
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