"Satellite TV may be new channel to the Web "
by Paul Andrews
Special to The Seattle Times
The region's satellite-TV watchers got a boost Tuesday when EchoStar, operator of the 500-channel DISH TV system that has partnered with Microsoft's WebTV, began offering local TV broadcasts.
The Littleton, Colo.-based provider is offering KING, KOMO and KIRO to a 16-county area in Western Washington. Fox's channel, KCPQ, will be available by March 1.
The move demonstrates shifting competition in the TV industry. Previously, regulatory sanctions aimed at protecting cable franchises meant satellite-TV subscribers couldn't receive local stations. Now, with deregulation of the telecommunications industry under way, satellite is free to compete with cable, just as the cable industry is beginning to compete with telephone companies for phone and Internet service.
In a larger sense, however, the move symbolizes the diversity of content bringing the Internet, TV and print media closer together. Ultimately, the satellite-WebTV hybrid could offer Microsoft another significant avenue to computer and Internet users - a segment made all the more strategic by the planned America Online-Time Warner merger.
"If captive content (represented by the AOL-Time Warner deal) is required to build subscriber bases, then there could be a real feeding frenzy over the next six months," said Seattle analyst Scott McAdams. "And Microsoft with MSN will clearly be involved somewhere with that."
However, if the Internet continues to "break down the old models," McAdams added, "it may be better to leverage the `open world' of content."
Microsoft's satellite strategy seems aimed at the latter. The company wants to provide software and technologies expanding Internet usage of all kinds, from individual exchange of content such as pictures and video to corporate teleconferencing and Web-transaction mechanisms.
"Microsoft is good at plumbing rather than content," said analyst Mark Anderson, head of the Strategic News Service. "Whereas AOL only has content people on board."
Through WebTV and EchoStar, Microsoft is offering a new technology called Personal TV, which allows viewers to save and manipulate TV shows digitally, the way PC users work with computer files.
"We're using what we know about software to create great services for TV and Internet users, regardless of who own the content properties," said Rob Schoeben, service marketing director for WebTV at Microsoft's Silicon Valley headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
Viewers can stop shows in progress, resume them moments later, or record them for later watching. Microsoft's set-top box has a 17-gigabyte hard disk capable of storing 10 to 12 hours of shows. Because the shows are captured digitally, organizing and accessing them is much easier. Fast-forward and rewind are quicker and more efficient than with tape.
Viewers can interact with TV shows, such as playing along with "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune." Down the road, voting for favorite actors, joining live chats about a program or giving feedback on talk shows are possible.
The addition of the Internet, however, adds a new dimension to satellite TV.
Sound and video, which telephone modems and even high-speed Internet connections have problems handling, are a breeze for satellite transmissions. Low-resolution video in 2-inch-square boxes on a computer screen resembles a standard movie or TV image.
Satellite will enable the return of "push" technology originally envisioned for PC users on the Web via PointCast, an early Web innovator. Such programs continuously sent Web-page updates, news, stock quotes, sports and other content to computers. But PointCast's software slowed down network operations and modem connections, and "push" never caught on in the method anticipated.
With satellite, it is being revived as one of myriad TV channels. When a WebTV user wakes up in the morning, his or her favorite news sources will have beamed up-to-date headlines, weather, sports, articles, video and other time-sensitive content to a personal channel. The content can be updated around the clock.
"Figuring out how to make these computer technologies work in a TV environment is really very different from on PCs," said Schoeben. "We've already addressed and tackled these pretty hard issues."
A further boost will come when users are able to upload photos, video and other high-bandwidth content to the Internet via satellite. At present, users are limited to a telephone modem connection, which is too slow for real-time teleconferencing and other video services.
WebTV is working on offering DSL compatibility to raise upload speeds. EchoStar, which has 3.4 million users nationwide, and Hughes, another satellite provider, say they are working on super-fast upload connections that will enable live "broadcasts" of a kids soccer game, family vacation or just-happen-to-be-there news event.
The TV-Internet synergy may represent an ace in the hole in Microsoft's arsenal against content deals like the AOL-Time Warner alliance. Ultimately, Microsoft wants all content providers to find its software expertise useful.
"There's no reason these two companies (AOL and Microsoft) shouldn't be partners at some stage," said Anderson. "They understand each other's strengths."
Copyright ¸ 2000 The Seattle Times Company
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