The various content offers and the support behind them are doing pay-TV operators a disservice, according to Deutsche Telekom’s VP global and entertainment, Gerry O’Sullivan.
Speaking at the IHS Screen Digest Future of Digital Media Distribution event, O’Sullivan said the manufacturers did not have the back office support, such as a 24 hour customer service operation that were part and parcel of pay-TV operations.
“It’s easy to throw up an EPG as a TV manufacturer but that doesn’t address the things that you get thrown up in consumer focus groups time and time again,” said O’Sullivan. “We are kind of in this together but the TV manufacturers have made a move that is interesting.”
O’Sullivan said that Deutsche Telekom was not ignoring the connected TV sector, already having struck partnerships with some manufacturers and with games consoles.
Speaking about the multitude of devices now needing support, O’Sullivan spoke of a US operator, who told him it was best to cut from the bottom and make the decision not to support certain platforms.
While initial deployments on an Xbox or PlayStation required some thought, the iPad was a no brained, because of the need to be seen by customers as constantly innovating. It was, said Sullivan, a requirement to second guess his customers’ future behaviour.
