IPTV (or television over the Internet) and VOD (video on demand) are two topics I've spent quite a bit of time discussing on this blog, and I was on the lookout for new options in these markets at the DigitalLife Press preview last night. What I wound up with is a good example of why the cable companies and telecoms are probably the best options, and will probably remain so.

Tucked into the back to the Terrace Room was the display for ITVN, an independent IPTV service. When I strolled up to the exhibit the television they had set up was stuck on some kind of menu, the representative told me they were promised a dedicated line, but the conference didn't come through. He tuned to a channel and after about a five-second delay the television tuned to a movie, the picture quality was probably comparable to broadcast television, but would pause from time to time. Obviously, with more than 40 other presenters all connected to the same network, there's bound to be connectivity problems. I'm just wondering what the picture quality would be like over your home network if you were downloading a file on your computer while watching your television.

Discounting problems with connectivity and picture quality, this service still has holes big enough to drive a truck through. The service requires a box, much like a cable box, which is hooked up to your television. The box is $99.95, but they wave the price of the first box when you sign up for the service. The only problem is that you need a separate box for every television in your house, when I asked the price of another box the representative didn't have an answer. This became a common theme when I asked further questions.

When you get beyond the hardware problem, you get to the most troubling aspect of the service, content. When I asked what television channels the service offers, or was even planning to offer the answer was "New channels are signing up with us every day." When I asked for the names of a couple of the channels he repeated the company line, "New channels are signing up with us every day." When I pressed him further he mentioned LacrosseTV and the Karaoke station, which are both listed as premium channels on the company's handout for and extra $9.95 and $4.95 per month respectively. I never did get a straight answer from the representative, but from the handout it appears that for $9.95 per month you get Pulse, a music television network, Radio (which streams radio stations), Silver Screen which is described as "Thousands of classic movies," and "More channels added every month." For an additional $14.95 per month you can sign up for Starz On Demand and Starz/Encore. This is the big name network ITVN is hanging its hat on. 150 movies on demand and 15 premium movie channels. The handout goes on to mention pay-per-view Independent films at $2.95 each and an "after-dark entertainment" option for $29.95 per month.

According to the representative, the service launched in September 2005. Honestly, I just can't see it going anywhere. The last thing consumers want is to pay multiple bills for their television services. Starz packages can be added to any cable or satellite subscription for the same price ITVN is charging, and none of the other content it offers at this point has any real appeal to the general viewing public. The only way this service would have any chance of surviving is if it could offer comparable service to that of cable, satellite and upcoming IPTV offerings from the telecoms AND beat the stalwarts on price AND spend a ton of money marketing itself. I think the moral of the story is that at this early stage of the IPTV industry, only the telecoms who already have a customer base and control their own pipes have even the slightest chance of cutting into the cable and satellite television companies' market shares. — Brian Ward

Technocratic tags: iptv, itvn, television.