For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Connected TVs Need To Sharpen Their Value Proposition

TV Makers Can't Reinvent TV Without Dramatic Steps

by Laurence Meyer, November 11, 2009

Connected TVs offer a huge advantage compared with legacy interactive TV and Internet TV platforms; they will also be in more than one-third of European TV households by 2014. With more than 150 million potential European users in 2014, connected TVs . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

European Digital TV Forecast, 2009 To 2014

Competitive Pressure In The Western European TV Market Is Going To Intensify

by Laurence Meyer, October 2, 2009

2009 to 2014 will see the end of the TV digitization process and an intensification of competition in the Western European TV market. Although the basics of TV reception in Europe will not change a great deal during that period, TV service providers will . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

European IPTV Forecast, 2009 To 2014

IPTV's High Growth Rates Are Coming To An End

by Laurence Meyer, September 23, 2009

IPTV adoption in Western Europe will continue to enjoy dynamic growth between 2009 and 2014 — 19% per year — resulting in 20.3 million IPTV households in 2014. However, during that period, the dynamics of the IPTV market will change: The main growth factors . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Mediaset Gets Italians Used To Pay TV

Mediaset Premium Ignites The Italian Pay-DTT Market With Prepaid Cards

by Laurence Meyer, September 17, 2009

The launch of digital terrestrial TV (DTT) in Italy in 2004 gave leading Italian commercial TV broadcaster Mediaset the opportunity to diversify its activities; it launched Mediaset Premium, a TV service that offers premium TV content, in January 2005. . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Belgacom Establishes Itself As A Credible TV Brand

The Belgian Incumbent Telco Focuses On Customer Experience To Win Market Share

by Laurence Meyer, July 2, 2009

In 2005, the Belgian incumbent telco Belgacom needed to build a very strong position in the Belgian TV market in order to compete with multiple-play service providers. Four years later, Belgacom TV is a leading IPTV company in Europe and had a 30% share . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

The Future Of European Video On Demand Is TV-Based

by Laurence Meyer, May 21, 2009

The European video-on-demand (VOD) industry has been particularly dynamic over the past nine years. To date, PC-based-VOD services outnumber TV-based-VOD services. In the medium term, however, TV-based-VOD services will play a central role in the European . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Portable TV, Not Mobile TV

Service Providers Should Brand And Sell Their Own Portable TV Devices

by Laurence Meyer, April 23, 2009

With very few subscribers as yet and, in the case of broadcast technologies such as DVB-H, high capex, the viability of the cell-phone-centric mobile TV business model is currently being questioned. At the same time, the range of Internet-enabled handheld . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Preserving Commercial TV Revenues In A Down Economy

Use The Internet, Interactivity, And Consumer Participation To Offset TV Advertising Budget Cuts

by Laurence Meyer, March 27, 2009

Western commercial TV broadcasters are currently facing an apparent paradox: While consumers will stay home and watch more TV during this recession, TV advertising will experience a worsening downturn anyway. With their budgets also tightening, commercial . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Video On Demand Must Compete With DVD And The Economic Downturn

Develop Improved VOD Strategies To Counter Difficult Market Conditions

by Laurence Meyer, March 23, 2009

DVD is still Europeans' preferred medium for consuming digital video content on demand. Video product strategies must operate within the context of DVD's current market dominance. Yet TV-based video-on-demand (VOD) uptake is growing fast; roughly 35% . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Over-The-Top VOD Boxes: An On-Demand TV Strategy For New Market Players In Europe

by Laurence Meyer, February 18, 2009

Until December 2008, Microsoft's Xbox360 and the Apple TV were the only way for Europeans to benefit from over-the-top (OTT) video-on-demand (VOD) services delivered to the TV set. In the short and medium term, standalone OTT VOD offers will become increasingly . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

HDTV in the UK

Acquiring Customers in a Depressed Economy

by Laurence Meyer, December 10, 2008

The UK is the most advanced European market with regard to the number of TV households that subscribe to high-definition TV (HDTV) service. However, the majority of British HD-enabled TV set owners do not yet pay for receiving HDTV packages.

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

DVRs in Europe

Targeting Regular Recorded TV Viewers to Drive Growth

by Laurence Meyer, December 3, 2008

Digital video recorders (DVRs) are now part of the range of services provided by most European pay TV platform operators. However, DVR service is still a nascent market.

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Blu-ray in Europe

Persuading HDTV Set Owners to Adopt Blu-ray

by Laurence Meyer, November 18, 2008

The battle between high-definition (HD) DVD and Blu-ray finally ended in February 2008. The first occasion for vendors and retailers to therefore promote Blu-ray as the only format for watching HD video will be the year-end seasonal shopping period in . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

TF1 Uses HD as Means to Increase Audience Loyalty and Limit Competition

by Laurence Meyer, November 3, 2008

TF1 is the main French private TV broadcaster. During the first six months of 2008, TF1's prime-time audience averaged 6.6 million TV viewers, and its TV audience share (i.e., ages five and over) was 28 percent.

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

More HDTV Channels and Revised Pricing Policy Help Canal Digital Grow its HD Customer Base

by Laurence Meyer, November 3, 2008

Canal Digital is a Scandinavian pay TV platform that is a subsidiary of the Norwegian telecommunications operator Telenor. Canal Digital TV service is delivered not only by satellite (in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark) but also by cable (in Norway . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Broadcast HDTV and Blu-ray in Europe

Changing Consumers' Expectations of Picture Quality

by Laurence Meyer, November 3, 2008

Broadcast high-definition TV (HDTV) is on track to expand in Europe, having launched in 2005. With more than two million movie discs sold and 3.1 million PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles installed at the end of 2007, however, Blu-ray (having launched in Europe . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

On-Demand TV

Profiling European Nonlinear TV Viewers

by Laurence Meyer, September 30, 2008

Digital-video-recorder (DVR) and video-on-demand (VOD) services that provide TV viewers with increased control over the time spent in front of their TV sets challenge traditional media activities such as DVD viewing. Consequently, profiling viewers who . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Premium TV Channels

Tactics for Competing with VOD Services

by Laurence Meyer, September 8, 2008

TV-based video on demand (VOD) services are becoming increasingly available. Because the programming of VOD services mainly focuses on cinema, these services compete for audience and wallet share with premium TV channels.

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Terrestrial TV and the Digital Dividend

Assessing the Role of High Definition in the DTT Market

by Laurence Meyer, July 22, 2008

The long-term competitiveness of the digital terrestrial TV (DTT) platform depends on its short-term ability to compete with other TV delivery platforms, all offering hundreds of TV channels and advanced TV services such as high-definition TV (HDTV).

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

IPTV Strategies

Applying Lessons from Europe's Successful IPTV Operators

by Laurence Meyer, May 14, 2008

Internet protocol TV (IPTV) has struggled to find its bearings in many parts of Europe. However, operators have driven strong IPTV uptake in a few countries (i.e., France, Belgium, Spain, and Sweden).

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

IPTV in Europe

Targeting Secondary TV Sets to Drive Adoption

by Laurence Meyer, April 16, 2008

Internet protocol TV (IPTV) providers will need to explore innovative marketing options for signing up new subscribers as the end of the TV digitization process in Europe approaches and competitive pressure on the pay TV market increases.

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Canal+ Group Bets on Excellence in Marketing and Communications Alongside Premium Content to Keep Customers Loyal

by Laurence Meyer, March 19, 2008

Canal+ Group is the leader in pay TV in France, with more than 10 million subscriptions to a wide range of TV services including Canal+ (premium general-interest TV channel and Canal+ Group's flagship service), Canal+ Le Bouquet (multichannel premium . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Pay-TV Future

Differentiating Beyond Premium Content

by Laurence Meyer, March 19, 2008

The European TV market is experiencing rapid growth in free multichannel-TV adoption. With the launch of new TV platforms and new TV services, the competitive pressure among pay-TV operators is meanwhile increasing. In this highly competitive environment, . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Value for Money, Simplicity, and Innovation Drives Freeview's Midterm Development Strategy

by Laurence Meyer, March 19, 2008

Launched in 2002 and delivered by terrestrial network, Freeview is the most popular DTV offer in the UK. Freeview's channel lineup comprises 41 free-to-view TV channels, with 12 being commercial TV channels.

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Place-Shifting and Video Alternatives

Leveraging Consumers' Interest in Portable Video Inside and Outside the Home

by Laurence Meyer, January 28, 2008

Various systems competing with Sling Media's devices launched in 2006 and 2007. The development of the European place-shifting market will depend on vendors' ability to understand consumers' expectations of place-shifting.