LOOKING ABROAD (CASE STUDIES)
After discussing the current trends in regards to online television consumption within Australia, it is important to look towards more technologically advanced countries, to better understand the future behaviours of on-demand television consumption here in Australia. With a possible increase of internet speeds with the arrival of new communication technologies in the coming years, there should be more opportunities for media content providers (government and commercial alike) to distribute their television content exclusively via the internet.
Not only will more advanced communication network benefit wired computer devices, it should also pave the way for true ‘mobile computing’ devices, which are highly capable of running high quality video. Tablet and smartphones, linked to these high speed broadband connections (wired or wireless) will possibly help to shape how television viewers will consume their favourite shows in the future. Never before has a ‘television set’ (or a ‘television space’) been so close to our fingertips - being able to access highly personalised on-demand content, wherever there is reasonable internet available. |
This in mind, we shall now look abroad to discuss three key global case studies, in regards to the uptake of on-demand technologies;
- BBC’s iPlayer (United Kingdom - Government controlled, free-to-air, marketed as a ‘catchup’ service to the UK, radio and television offered)
- Hulu.com (U.S.A - Commercial subsidiary of NBC, Fox and Disney Channels, subscription based, high quality on-demand television)
- Starhub.com (Singapore - Commercial entity, phone and data carrier, television content provider, subscription based, cellular based)