By Dom Serafini
As we prepared for our interview with Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo (which is scheduled to appear in our NATPE Issue), it came to mind that nowadays, confusion exists not only due to various content delivery systems, but also because of the abundance of receiving systems available.
Launched in 1997, TiVo became the world’s first major DVR system, cementing its place as forerunner after winning a marketing battle with Replay two years later. Rogers is the former president of NBC Cable (where he founded CNBC) and the former executive v.p. of the NBC network.
Now, let’s count the ways a TV signal can be delivered (“transmitted,” in the old lingo). There are four major routes – terrestrial broadcast, satellite, cable and broadband.
Then there’s the list of ways that same TV signal can be consumed (or, “received”): directly into a TV set, via a cable box, via a satellite STB, or via broadband. With this latter receiving system, the world becomes either more complex or more simple, depending on the point of view.
But no matter how simple it may be in concept, broadband reception will inevitably require at least two set-top boxes near one’s TV. (I would say “on top” of the TV, as their name implies, but with the growing popularity of flat-screens, there is no longer enough space up there).
Even if U.S. viewers receive their TV signals through an aerial, they now need a digital converter box. If an antenna is not used, then a cable or satellite box is needed.
Additional clutter – or, boxes – may include a Blu-Ray player or a TiVo-style DVR device. Nowadays, these are able to “sniff” out a broadband signal (i.e.: Web-enabled) and connect to the Internet. One also might install a third box, an IPTV converter, in order to receive foreign TV channels not currently supplied by cable or satellite, and/or a Wii unit, for those who like to play videogames.
No matter how you slice it, for the time being and the near future (at least), we’re all doomed to be lost in a jungle of wires, multiple subscription packages minutiae and confusing technologies, regardless of broadband’s promise.
The digital TV revolution is certainly creating more delivery options, but at the same time is complicating home entertainment with its multitude of receivers.
