IPTV is a new age technology in which digital television service is delivered using the Internet Protocol over network infrastructure. The global IPTV industry is rapidly expanding with the rising penetration of broadband in households all over the world, says “Global IPTV: Market Analysis and Forecast to 2011”, a comprehensive market research report by RNCOS, a leading market research company.

The report has found that the global IPTV market is currently dominated by Europe but it is expected that Asia will emerge as a stronger competitor to Europe in coming years. The number of broadband subscribers will take long jump in the Asia-Pacific region and it is expected to grow at Compound Annual Growth Rate of 91% during 2006-2011. RNCOS report has thoroughly studied the reasons that are promoting the IPTV market in the Asia-Pacific region with special focus on the implications of regulations, penetration of personal computers and quality of broadband service.

The IMS Research study IPTV: A Global Market Analysis - 2008 Edition reveals that as a whole, an estimated 13.2 million households received IPTV service in 2007 with nearly 8.4 million IP-enabled set-top boxes shipping worldwide. IPTV households are forecast to grow 52.2% annually though 2012. This new study examines the worldwide IPTV market from infrastructure to operators, providing analysis on the delivery of linear and on-demand content via IP-based networks by telcos, as well as by cable and satellite pay-TV operators.

IP Multimedia Subsystem is expected to provide mobile telephone operators with a forecasted $300 billion in extra revenue over the next five years, according to a new study from ABI Research. Major operators such as Sprint, Verizon and British Telecom will increasingly deploy IMS across their networks in a quickening tempo starting this year.

Some firms – notably Verizon and BT – are facilitating this process by offering an open IMS interface allowing third-party developers easy access, as a way of ensuring a flow of new applications. This means faster testing and deployment of services, which will be critical to their success

Worldwide IPTV service revenues are forecast to cross US$42.6 billion by 2014, reflecting a CAGR of 60.2% over the analysis period 2004-2014. Currently, United States and Europe are generating substantial service revenues, when compared to Asia-Pacific because of higher ARPU (average revenue per user) in these regions. The number of IPTV subscribers in worldwide market is projected to exceed 248 million by the end of 2014.

Currently, IPTV is regarded as an application that enables the triple-play combination of services. Telcos have grabbed the opportunity to move beyond the traditional markets of communication industry. Telcos and media companies together evolved what is known as the ICE market, a mix of information, communication, and entertainment. However, IPTV is yet to take off. There is also inadequate knowledge about the prevailing consumer experience with iPTV. Therefore IPTV, which is expected to be huge success across the world, is experiencing hurdles in its commercialization. IPTV services do not solely depend on the bandwidth availability, but, rather operators need to integrate end-to-end solutions for offering high-class video services through streaming technology.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of “US Cable TV Operator Survey: Competition Reshapes the Industry” to their offering.

Cable TV operators in the United States continue to invest in their networks and roll out new services. A key reason driving this investment has been the increasing competitiveness of the US pay-TV market.

The introduction of telco TV services by companies such as Verizon and AT&T, coupled with the growth of satellite TV service providers, like DirecTV and EchoStar, are pushing cable operators to develop new revenue streams, while at the same time, hang on to their existing video subscribers.

In order to see how US cable TV operators plan to counter this emerging competitive threat, we recently surveyed 50 US cable TV systems operators about the status of their cable systems. We asked the cable operators over 60 questions about their current systems, and this report provides the results.

ABI Research conducted an online survey of 1002 consumers in December, 2007, aimed at discovering how US residents view their service providers, what technologies and programming they use, and their price sensitivity towards available service offerings. The details of this revealing survey are contained in a free white paper which can be downloaded from the firm’s website.

The TV viewing habits of American consumers can be baffling, yet service providers and equipment vendors are betting billions of dollars on how viewers will embrace triple/quadruple play services and demand IPTV.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of USA - Broadband Market - Fibre to the Home Overview & Forecasts to their offering.

Years of unrealised fibre projects have left the USA trailing far behind Asia in the deployment of FttH networks. However, recent changes in US regulation, in the demand for high-speed broadband and for new entertainment media such as IPTV and in falling costs for FttH deployment have all improved the prospects for US FttH. In particular, the loss of voice and broadband revenue to the MSOs has forced the RBOCs’ hands and the USA is finally starting to witness a more concerted fibre deployment effort. Led by Verizon, the RBOCs are committing billions of dollars to building fibre networks. In addition, CLECs and municipalities continue to play an important role in FttH deployments. By mid-2007 FttH deployments in the US were growing at nearly 100% per annum. Over the next 10 years, the USA could catch up with Asia in FttH deployments. The issue then will be the degree of dominance which the RBOCs, aided by regulatory holidays and their mega-mergers, will gain not just in the infrastructure market, but also in the triple play services market.

Last year, subscribers to IPTV services worldwide numbered only about 13.5 million, but ABI Research forecasts their ranks to grow to more than 90 million by the end of 2013.

“The IPTV market as a whole is poised for strong growth,” says senior analyst Cesar Bachelet, “but clearly it will be stronger in some areas than in others. ABI Research anticipates particularly substantial growth in North America and most emerging markets.”

In North America, until recently only a few Canadian operators and smaller rural/regional operators in the US have offered IPTV services, although 2007 saw Verizon and AT&T begin to achieve some scale in their fiber deployments. IPTV growth in the US is closely linked to those large fiber rollouts.

The Online Video Content report analyzes the factors that are inexorably leading to convergence between television and online video content.

The most popular online video content, watched by 40% or more of the US online video audience, are short pieces of five minutes or less: news clips, jokes, movie trailers, music videos, clips from TV shows and entertainment news.

As technology problems are solved, however, making the computer-television connection more viable and pleasurable for the average consumer, online video content will expand in both length and breadth, and professionally-produced material will account for a large part of the menu.


Key questions the “Online Video Content” report answers:

• Is the convergence of TV and the Internet more hype than reality?
• Why do most people prefer professional-quality video more than user-generated?
• Are today’s top video sites the best places for TV-style video content?
• When will the online video audience demographic match the overall Internet?
• How soon will the online video audience reach critical mass?
• And many others...

IPTV service revenues will approach $14 billion in 2012, growing from $694 million in 2007, according to “US IPTV Forecast and Outlook,” a report just released by Strategy Analytics. Although there are numerous IPTV providers of all shapes and sizes in the US, the landscape is largely dominated by the two incumbents: AT&T and Verizon, each of which has a different approach in terms of technology and investment.

“2007 was a watershed year for IPTV in the US market,” said Ben Piper, Director of the Strategy Analytics Broadband Network Strategies service. “The two major US players reached critical mass in terms of subscriptions. The onus is now on service providers to quantify and articulate the benefits of IPTV against ‘traditional’ Pay TV media, such as cable and satellite.”

Yankee Group claims that IPTV will redefine pay TV in the United States. IPTV will change the competitive landscape for subscription services by morphing the service from one-size-fits-all traditional broadcast TV into an open, flexible, customizable offering, tailored to the needs of local communities. By 2011, more than 9 million households in the US will subscribe to telco-provided video service.

IPTV’s influence in the communications field and on consumer communications services in the US is driven by the impact of the global connectivity revolution on business and market dynamics. As a result, we are witnessing massive transformations taking place in media and entertainment and communications industries. With the digitization of content and the internet as a platform, both industries are morphing from structured, linear ecosystems to open and fluid sectors influenced by greater consumer control.

comScore and Media Contacts showcased the results of a proprietary study of the online video audience at a Video Symposium in New York yesterday. The research was designed to understand the consumption habits and mindsets of Internet video users as they relate to online video, TV, and advertising and content across both media. The results revealed differences in orders of magnitude: the heaviest viewers (top 20 percent of viewers) averaged 841 minutes of online viewing per month, while moderate viewers (next 30 percent) averaged 77 minutes, and the lightest viewers (bottom 50 percent) watched just 6 minutes each.

A survey of American residents has shown that IPTV has a way to go before consumers understand what it is or the associated benefits beyond the value of videos on YouTube. The survey, conducted in late 2007 in New York City, asked 225 residents about their attitudes and knowledge of IPTV. More than half (54%) of respondents were not familiar with the term ‘IPTV’ or ‘web-based TV’, and only a fifth (20%) had seen an IPTV show or program that was not YouTube, though a huge majority (92%) had watched videos on YouTube.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of "The End-to-End VOD Systems Market 2007 (Competitor Focus)" to their offering.

The communications environment is evolving as telecoms gain traction into the broadcast space through IPTV provision in an effort to remain competitive. Video on-demand is proving as a key differentiator for IPTV operators allowing for consumers to access a library of content at anytime. This Decision Matrix addresses some of the key players in the IPTV VOD solution provider space.

Screen Digest revised its usage data and forecasts on the online TV market in the UK. A surge in usage for the BBC’s iPlayer catch-up service has prompted Screen Digest to revise upwards its forecasts for free-to-view TV consumption in the UK. The change reflects the emerging prominence of the FTV model in driving usage of web-TV services.

Screen Digest reports that 0.8bn free-to-view online TV streams and downloads – including TV shows, sports and niche programming – were initiated by UK broadband households in 2007. This is now expected to rise to 1.5bn in 2008, and forecast to hit 2.8bn by 2012. Screen Digest analysis of comScore consumption data indicates that video streams initiated via the bbc.co.uk domain, including the iPlayer sub-domain, accounted for 38 per cent of total UK FTV streams and downloads in 2007.