4 minute read time.

In 2019, the "new normal" for television is OTT (over the top). We now expect it to work and to work well. If people in the industry say "television" they usually mean "over the top television". OTT means return data and this can now be as important as the forward data or in old money, "sound and vision"!  Over 2019, The IET Multimedia Communications Technical Professional Network will be running events on "Who's Watching Who". We hope to examine what data is being collected, why and who benefits.... 


As a new member of the IET Multimedia and Communications Technical Professional Network, I have been thinking about what our name means. “Multimedia” was a buzzword in the 1990s and for those of us of a certain age conjures images of audio cards and external CD-ROM drives from Creative Labs! In practice, the committee covers television and radio. However, that raises the question of what is meant by “television” and “radio”.   



When I joined the BBC in the late 1980s, one of my early training courses was called “Camera to Aerial” and it made sense because in those days the BBC did actually own the entire signal path. We didn’t ask what “television” was as it seemed obvious, probably because the concept of television was (or seemed to be at the time) inexplicably intertwined with the technical means of delivery. 



Today “television” and “radio” are defined by the content and the curation of the content as much as by the technology. The curation and content presented by the iPlayer, a Sky Q or Virgin user interface “feels like” television whereas YouTube is less so and Facebook video not at all. (Of course, these views are subjective.) 



While there is still much TV specific technology in the broadcast chain, the “new normal” is what used to be called “OTT” or over-the-top. When industry people talk about “television” the assumption now is that they mean OTT. If they mean “broadcast”, they specify. Just as we stopped saying digital television a few years ago. 



As IP has won the long-since-forgotten format wars (cell-relay anyone?) its economies of scale make it the default technology for all by very specialised communications tasks.  



Along with the shift in assumptions, I have noticed that we no longer expect IP-delivered television to just work, but also to work well. As a consumer (and a sample of one!) I can’t remember last time that Netflix was unavailable. This is, in part, facilitated by sophisticated solutions to manage the OTT quality of experience (QoE) – see Conviva and NPAW. Another example of the need to “work well” is DVB’s call for low-latency solutions so that you don’t hear your neighbours cheer before you see the goal. (Of course, cricket fans see this as a feature, allowing them to listen to Test Match Special and then saunter into the living rooms to see the wicket fall!) 



This shift to the new normal of OTT is certainly reshaping the industry and hurting many traditional set-top box-based companies and seeing a near total domination of Android with Widevine riding on its coattails. There are notable exceptions – LG WebOS for example. 



Netflix is the compelling example to cite and a look at their technical blog is revealing. Their concerns are mostly around building good cloud infrastructure and curating return data. This brings us to our theme for the 2019. The IET MMC will be running a series of events on the theme of “Who’s Watching Who”. This is based on our observation that TV is now a two-way data exchange and some business models treat the return data as more valuable than the forward data (video!) 



Of course, the issue of privacy has become more resonant during 2018 with Facebook/ Cambridge Analytica and other stories. The introduction of GDPR in the European Union seeks to bring more robust regulation to this area. 



We are interested in who is collecting which data and who benefits. If an operator can offer me truly interesting recommendations, that can be a customer benefit. If they target me with creepy adverts, perhaps not!  



What else is data used for? Netflix have a reputation for not offering production “notes” but believe that they can fit an audience to any good content. Operators can use data to diagnose faults before customers even know or complain – a benefit to both the operator and the customer. 



There is also a battle to be the aggregator of both the forward and return paths and new spaces of competition are opening, notably smart speakers. 



Of course, television is now less of a technology specialism and more of a current in the ocean of the Internet. However, it is still quite distinctive, so the subject of user data in television is interesting in its own right. It is also a microcosm of the more general issue of user data on the Internet and increasingly the Internet of Things (IoT). 



We will be inviting speakers for operators, broadcasters and technology vendors to explain what they collect, why they collect it and how they see this area evolving.  Keep an eye on this blog and MMC mailings for more details of our events. 


  • So much has changed. The AM modulated video signal served for 50-60 years with only colour, stereo and telextext being added in half a centuary. In those days flat screens, on-demand, and HD pocket phone camera and live streaming from any location to the world was the stuff of sci-fi - and yet within 15 years there it all is and more. Convergence of the public internet and Gigabit consumer electronics has bust open the oligopoly world of state and commercial broadcasters. Creativity has exploded, information has exploded, choice has exploded. The world has changed. Linear TV becomes more like AM radio, there but elbowed aside by on-demand platforms. Data was always collected, viewing figures, mailing lists, profiling, direct mail shots, cold calling, demographic target audiances etc, It's just much easier now and more of it.