Telcos% TV Strategies

• Publication date: January 2012

Telcos’ TV services are currently enjoying one of the highest rates of growth in the marketplace. Initially a source of distinction between ISPs, TV has become a central part of telcos’ marketing and growth strategies. This report takes a detailed look at the marketing strategies that telcos use when marketing their TV services, and at their growing prominence in a TV market in the throes of major upheavals. Key questions ...

Telcos’ TV services are currently enjoying one of the highest rates of growth in the marketplace. Initially a source of distinction between ISPs, TV has become a central part of telcos’ marketing and growth strategies. This report takes a detailed look at the marketing strategies that telcos use when marketing their TV services, and at their growing prominence in a TV market in the throes of major upheavals.

Key questions

• What role do television and associated services play in telcos'strategies?
• What type of media offers are telcos marketing and what networks are they using to deliver them?
• How are telcos fitting their services into the multi-screen universe (TV, mobile, PC...)?
• What live TV services are on offer? How are video-on-demand (VoD) services being incorporated?
• Is there a single dominant model, and what are some of the more innovative solutions out there?
• What role do telcos play in the TV market and how are they positioning themselves?
> In addition to in-depth analysis and a series of case studies, the report provides 11 detailed company profiles.

Television Broadcasting Industry in Portugal

Contents

The electronic version of this report (PDF) ships with a slide presentation (PowerPoint)

1. Executive Summary 6
1.1 IPTV, a natural medium/fit for telcos’ content strategies . 6
1.1.1 TV: a core area of focus for telcos . 6
1.1.2 Growing prominence of mobile platforms. 6
1.1.3 Adding online services to provide content everywhere 7
1.2 TV services sold mainly as part of broadband access bundles 7
1.2.1 Live programming at the core7
1.2.2 On-demand services gaining traction, but tied to pay-TV services8
1.3 Organisation and industry strategies. 8
1.3.1 Telcos occupy mainly the lower section of the TV/video content value chain8
1.3.2 TV: an element of differentiation between telcos and now the source of added competition between them . 9
1.3.3 Telcos still only minor players in the TV market, their role largely determined by the competitive environment9
2. Methodology10
3. Telcos’ TV services . 12
3.1 Television services14
3.1.1 IPTV (managed networks). 14
3.1.2 DTT 19
3.1.3 Satellite23
3.1.4 Cable. 27
3.2 Mobile services 28
3.2.1 Over broadcasting networks28
3.2.2 On unicast (3G) networks32
3.3 Online TV services36
3.3.1 Largely an extension of the fixed or mobile TV service36
3.3.2 But also a desire to reach all internet users . 36
4. TV marketing strategies . 39
4.1 Live TV offers39
4.1.1 The end of the “TV bonus” model? 40
4.1.2 Most common model: no TV without internet. 41
4.1.3 Less common: standalone TV services. 41
4.2 Video on-demand services42
4.2.1 Services often tied to live programming. 42
4.2.2 Except when the telco does not offer live programming on its own network43
5. Organisation & industry strategy 44
5.1 Telcos’ role in the TV market . 44
5.1.1 Distributors above all. 46
5.1.2 Usually pay-TV package and service providers. 46
5.2 And more seldom producers of content and/or TV channel operators . 46
5.3 TV at the heart of telcos’ strategies. 47
5.3.1 TV as an element of distinction between ISPs . 47
5.3.2 Need to distinguish from other TV broadcasting networks. 49
5.4 Telecom carriers’ role in the TV market56
5.4.1 Still modest weight in the equation, but reporting the highest rates of increase. 56
5.4.2 Different positions depending on the state of local market competition. 59
5.4.3 Strategies influenced by the regulatory environment. 61
6. Annexes. 63
6.1 AT&T . 63
6.2 Belgacom. 68
6.3 BT Vision. 71
6.4 Free. 74
6.5 Orange. 76
6.6 Portugal Telecom/MEO . 80
6.7 Verizon 83
6.8 Telefónica Spain87
6.9 Telecom Italia90
6.10 Deutsche Telekom. 94
6.11 KPN. 98

Tables

Table 1 : Comparison of telcos’ TV and video distribution strategies 13
Table 2 : Comparaison des principales caractéristiques des décodeurs haut de gamme proposés par certains opérateurs télécoms européens et américains. 16
Table 3: Growth in the number of Digitenne (DTT) and Interactieve TV subscribers (IPTV) 20
Table 4 : Main operational mobile terrestrial broadcasting services31
Table 5 : Comparison of a selection of unicast mobile television and video services marketed by telcos 34
Table 6 : Comparison of a selection of online TV services offered by telcos. 37
Table 7 : Positions occupied by telcos on the TV value chain . 45
Table 8: Country rankings by IPTV household numbers, 2007-2015 . 56
Table 9: Change in telecom carriers’ share of the TV market58
Table 10: Key AT&T partnerships in the realm of content63

Figures

Figure 1: Neufbox Evolution hardware15
Figure 2: Some of the interactive services on Meo TV48
Figure 3: Example of a home page promoting the lowest Internet access price: Telefónica Spain . 49
Figure 4: Example of a home page promoting the content selection: AT&T U-Verse 49
Figure 5: Meo TV widgets (Portugal Telecom)51
Figure 6: The Freebox V6 designed by Starck52
Figure 7: Telecom Italia’s CuboVision . 53
Figure 8: Evolution of the main TV access networks’ global market share between 2007 and 2015 57
Figure 9: Changes in the main TV access modes between 2010 and 2015 by geographical region. 57
Figure 10: Evolution of the MEO line of TV services . 82
Figure 11: MEO’s OTT strategy . 82