UKNM: DTV Industry: Is There One?

[Sajid Mohammed]

Interactive Digital TV is a fairly unknown quantity - only one

operator (Sky Digital) has brought their offering to market, with four

others (ON Digital, C&W, NTL/Virgin.Net & BIB) yet to do so. There are

a few companies out there who set out to provide content for these new

channels - Futurescape & Online Magic are two that leap to mind - but

this nascent industry does not enjoy an especially high profile. Add

in to this the fact that there are competing platforms (WebTV, Open

TV, blah blah blah), incompatabilities (eg apparently ON Digital

doesn't support Sky's EPG etc.) and general Brit-style cynicism.


Very few people in the 'new media' seem to be taking DTV seriously at

all. We've all been here before ("The Internet? Isn't that just for

programmers and video game fans?") but I would have thought that the

impact of emerging technologies over the last few years would have got

people wise to the fact that at least they deserve some intelligent

discourse.


Meanwhile, the Americans seem to be going barmy about Digital.

Companies such as Broadcom and Philips are offering single-chip

solutions for enabling TV's to go digital. There is earnest discourse

about the potential for ad revenue and so on. Redmond is on the case,

so no doubt Larry Ellison is even now dreaming about taking out Bill

Gates' TV aerial with a stinger missile.


There must be market opportunities opening up right now in the UK to

service the needs of this emerging technology. Certainly, C&W and NTL

seem to be taking a good approach - both will be offering Internet

access via their set-tops as I understand it. And DTV feeds into a

whole host of other pertinent issues: e-commerce and Masthead TV being

just two. Have I been looking in the wrong places for signs of life?


Sajid Mohammed

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