Is Ivi TV Really the Future of Streaming Television?

Now that sites like Hulu have done a good job of offering up TV shows and series on demand, whether you're on an iPad, MacBook, PC or any other non-television device, the next step for the industry is clearly the channel stream, the sequence of shows, ads and interstitials that comprise a television channel as we currently know it.

The problem is that much more than having TV shows available via iTunes (etc), having TV channels available on the Internet cuts to the heart of the cable TV industry and the modern television business itself. Trying to figure out how much is a reasonable fee for an HD stream of American Movie Classics is a non-trivial exercise, and the revenue on a per-subscriber basis from contractual relationships with companies like Comcast are just one consideration.

Making it more complex are the Byzantine licensing and rights of TV programming, whether it be a 35 year old movie from the MGM archives (oops, bad example given the complexity of the MGM bankruptcy negotiations! Let's say 20th Century Fox instead) or the latest episode of Castle or The Big Bang Theory. Add sports rebroadcast and news and public affair programming and it's astonishingly complicated.

That's why I was startled when I bumped into the new streaming TV service IVI (pronounced "ivy", or "ivy dot tv"). Positioning themselves as David to the broadcasters' Goliath, they have launched a streaming TV service built around their own player and clearly tapping network TV channels in New York City and Seattle.

The Oprah show, as shown on Ivi TV

The service is crude and the video quality works well as a small window but is insufficient for viewing in full-screen mode, but it works. While sitting at Starbucks, I was able to watch some track and field events, then flip to a few minutes of a PBS show on the civil war, ending up with two minutes of Oprah before I started to feel guilty about bandwidth usage and quit the app.

Going through the signup process, however, raised all sorts of red flags in my head, the greatest of which was because of this disclaimer in the User Agreement:

Permission from You for ivi, Inc. to Use Your Computer and Bandwidth to Enable the Peer-to-Peer Viewing of Video on the Site and to Manage the Network of Computers Running ivi tv.

Think about that for a second. It's basically how bittorrent and similar services work: by using the service you are also propagating the content to other users too. If the content is violating copyright laws, you've just become an accessory, whether you read the EULA or not.

The company is clearly pushing the envelope of legal usage and rebroadcast because there's clearly no way that a local network affiliate like WABC NY even has the right to enable Ivi to rebroadcast.

Their take? In a press release issued yesterday, the company boasts that:

Since launching last week, ivi TV has captured the world's imagination and the attention of every major broadcaster in the US who have, subsequently, sent ivi TV cease and desist letters.

This morning a follow-up message highlighted that the National Association of Broadcasters have put them in its legal crosshairs too (though no specific actions have been issued as of yet), but Ivi claims everything it does is legal based on its interpretation of copyright law. The company has even filed a "Complaint for Declaratory Judgement of Copyright Noninfringement" in Seattle, though I don't think that's going to slow things down much.

As NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton says: "It is blatantly illegal to steal broadcasters' copyrighted works and signals. We strongly support broadcasters and their program suppliers in their efforts to combat copyright abuse and signal piracy."

I don't think Ivi TV is going to be around for too long, but there are two things that make this notable: 1.) It works. Really. I can easily imagine watching TV on my computer in a small window while working, particularly otherwise blacked-out sports programming and 2.) I know I'm not alone in jonesing for a commercial TV streaming solution. I've even emailed the marketing department of my favorite channel -- Turner Classic Movies -- indicating my willingness to pay for an HD stream, without a response.

The world is moving digital. It's time for the TV channels, the network broadcasters, to introduce a solution for us so that smaller players like Ivi TV don't muddy the waters.

[ corrected 24 Sept to clarify that NAB isn't suing Ivi TV, according to its press materials ]

 

Follow Dave Taylor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DaveTaylor

Comments

[johntsheehanmme]

06:25 PM on 09/29/2010

It is wonderful consumer concept, but it ignore network(s) advertising schedules and that is a major problem. Example: Running NCIS one-two-three hours earlier in CST, MST and PST, disrupts advertising deals made for specific time slots and shows. A less controversial version could have been offered, playing the shows in time zone patterns, which doesn't wreck as much havoc on revenue models and target audiences..

[johntsheehanmme]

04:09 PM on 09/29/2010

This is about distribution

[Bob Beatie]

02:22 PM on 09/25/2010

Neat! I agree with you that Ivi likely won't last but it does demonstrate the tech. I would love for cable channels to offer live feeds, I would be more than happy to pay for them ala carte. I've been getting all my video thru IP for years now but I would love to be able to subscribe to say, HBO or Showtime, for a reasonable monthly fee. Why should I have to pay my cable company for hundreds of channels I don't need or watch merely so I can get the 1 that I do want? Hell, I don't even mind commercials in streams, but they do need to get more advertisers on board. Too many shows seem to have just a couple commercials, which does get old fast :)

The industry is going to have to realize they need to change, I know more and more people who get their media as I do.

[eronbo]

08:34 PM on 09/24/2010

Dave, your last sentence, "It's time for the TV channels, the network broadcasters, to introduce a solution for us so that smaller players like Ivi TV don't muddy the waters," is remarkable! When was the last time a large media company innovated? Do you expect the owners of bloated legacy infrastructure to provide a low cost alternative for consumers? You come off sounding like a shill for Big Media! New technology waits for no one! "Big media" and its cable consorts will go the way of the Dodo bird.

[Greg Bulmash]

03:47 PM on 09/24/2010

I don't think that traditional channels are going to survive in the format they use now. Look at the direction of radio. People are flocking to services like Pandora and Last FM that both build streams based on expressed preferences as well as helping to surface new content based on those preferences and the preferences of peer groups.

What will rise, I believe, are personalized video programming channels that use that kind of preference algorithm to queue content in a stream rather than offering a "one size fits all" channel. They may still have interstitials and commercials, and may still wrap the content in an intro and outro with a host providing added value, but the programming those bits and pieces interrupt (or enhance) will be personalized to the individual viewer.

The traditional channel model is dying, because aside from live programming, nothing HAS to be on at a certain time anymore.

[Dave Taylor]

01:03 AM on 09/25/2010

Actually, I'd love to see more personalized channels. I can see something like the Noir Channel, or Suspense Channel or 50s Musicals, etc etc. In the mix would be professional channel programmers too, like the team behind American Movie Classics, Home Box Office Family Channel, etc. Then it'd be the market that would decide.

I just want to have some of these choices, not be trapped paying $60+/mo for Comcast so i can get Turner Classic Movies...

[Bob Beatie]

02:23 PM on 09/25/2010

Exactly! See my other post :)

[Jay Walter]

02:53 PM on 09/24/2010

Wow Dave, what a corporate mess. It's possible that viewers may stop caring about Network tv, as soon as the produced for Web TV shows start gaining some momentum. And, as long as its as easy to use as facebook, I could persuade my wife into adopting web tv sooner. I hope Ivi stays around for as long as possible.