Infonetics Research released excerpts from its 2012 IPTV Service Deployment Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey, for which service providers currently providing IPTV network services were interviewed to assess their needs and to analyze trends in the IPTV market.

ANALYST NOTE

“Because it’s so challenging to differentiate on content, pay-TV providers are looking to stand out from their competitors by offering additional services and features, such as multi-screen viewing, social networking, and content discovery and recommendation services,” says Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband access and video at Infonetics Research.

Heynen adds: “In particular, multi-screen video—“TV Everywhere” to some—is gaining momentum across all pay-TV operator types (cable, satellite, and IPTV) in all regions: 83% of the operators we interviewed plan to offer some type of multi-screen viewing—PC, smartphone, tablet—by 2013.”

IPTV SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Operators participating in Infonetics survey most often deliver linear broadcast TV over a pure IP network
• The majority of IPTV service providers interviewed do not currently support video streaming services such as YouTube, Hulu, or Netflix
• Only 1/3 of IPTV operators surveyed currently offer social networking capabilities for the TV
• Subscription video on demand (S-VOD) is the money-maker among VOD offerings; 83% of respondents offer S-VOD for access to premium channels like HBO, Showtime, and Starz, and libraries of first-run movies today, growing to 89% in 2013