DTV in the UK to ramp more quickly. All because of the settops with a higher feature set, namely interactivity........................
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Digital TV Positioned to Tap Pent-Up Demand: 33 Percent of UK Homes Eager for Interactive Services Via TV
08:17 a.m. Oct 27, 1998 Eastern
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 1998--
Jupiter Warns That Second Platform Requires Separate
Strategy To Avoid DTV Cul-De-Sac
Digital TV (DTV) is quickly emerging as a second interactive platform in Europe, competing with the Internet for consumer interactivity, and cannot be ignored by commerce, advertising and broadcast companies.
According to the research, released today by Jupiter Communications to attendees of its Jupiter Consumer Online Forum/Europe and its Strategic Planning Services (SPS) clients, DTV will require Web ventures to create new strategies and broadcasters to create new competencies.
European consumers use of DTV is rising faster than its US counterpart. According to the Jupiter report, DTV-based interactive services will reach over 19 percent of households in the UK, 28 percent in Sweden, and 12 percent in France by 2002. In addition, a newly released Jupiter/NFO survey showed that 33 percent of UK households and 29 percent of French households are willing to pay for interactivity on their television sets, services that many European broadcasters are expecting to offer for free.
While consumer demand exists, broadcast, commerce and advertising companies face a new series of challenges, including high cost of entry, possible limited revenues and the lack of experience with the platform. All players will incur some costs to develop interactive services for the TV platform, while the revenue streams to support these ventures may come from current Web budgets. In addition, companies will need to create a strategy that would work on this untested interactive medium.
"Designing efforts for a DTV platform has a higher potential for failure than designing for the Web," said Phil Dwyer, managing director of Jupiter's European Internet Strategies. "There's no history of success or failure for the DTV interactive services platform and simply taking a Web strategy directly to a DTV platform can leave companies behind their competitors."
Jupiter cautions companies to avoid making DTV into the "Web on TV." The key is to provide a utility-based, commerce-driven environment. Companies should further avoid offering only supplemental information. Jupiter recommends that most satellite and terrestrial broadcasters pursue a "walled garden" strategy, similar to an AOL model, for their interactive services. This strategy locks the audience in and controls the interactive environment, providing greater value to advertisers and commerce partners. However, consumer demand may require them to offer Internet access, which they could provide through a "back door." Companies stressing Internet access via DTV must implement a portal strategy to drive viewers to their advertisers and commerce partners.
This DTV research was announced during the opening remarks of the Jupiter Consumer Online Forum/Europe, which kicked off today in London, England. Jupiter analysts and leading industry luminaries will explore the most important issues related to Internet business in Europe: the role of traditional vs. new media, DTV, and interactive services; branding and strategic alliances; retail; residential access, and more.
More than 400 attendees are expected to fill the Park Lane Sheraton Hotel to hear the opening Jupiter research presentation, as well as keynote presentations by Bernd Schiphorst, president & CEO of Bertelsmann New Media; Paul Harris, chief executive of G.U.S. Homeshopping Ltd.; and Michael Schulhof, chairman of World Online. Additionally, industry panel discussions will include speakers from Deutsche Telekom, WebTV, NetGem, Nortel, Virgin Net, N2K/Music Boulevard, Excite, MSN, Egghead.com, ESI (E*TRADE UK), Associated Newspapers, Sony Online Entertainment, and Intel, among others.
Now in its fourth year, the Jupiter Consumer Online Forum/Europe assembles the leading players from the media, commerce, technology and communications industries to probe the most pressing issues surrounding the European consumer Internet economy. Specific panels of interest include: "Is There An Internet Economy?;" "Constructing High Street On The Web: Analyzing European Portal Deals;" "The European Online Mall: Analyzing The Shift From Bricks & Mortar;" "Internet Retail: American Models, European Consumers;" "Defining The Internet Category Killer: What Product Sells On The Net;" "Deconstructing The European Portal;" "Branding, Alliances, & The Web;" "Entertaining The World: Digital TV & Interactive Services;" "Attracting The Like Minded: Creating Communities On The Net;" "Comparing The Online Worlds Across The Pond;" and "Market Forces: Buyers & Sellers."
Jupiter Communications is a new media research firm that helps companies make intelligent business decisions about consumer interactivity. Focused exclusively on how the Internet and other technologies are changing traditional consumer industries, Jupiter's Strategic Planning Services (SPS) deliver a continuous flow of analysis, primary data and market projections. SPS offers companies investing in new technologies a framework for realizing return on investment, both for new lines of business in mainstream media, entertainment, commerce, and marketing, as well as for Internet- and technology-based start-ups. Jupiter also produces industry seminars and book-length research studies. Jupiter Communications, LLC, established in 1986, is an independent, privately held company with offices in New York City and London.
Copyright 1998, Business Wire
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