How Consumer Psychology is Redefining IPTV in the United States and United Kingdom
How Consumer Psychology is Redefining IPTV in the United States and United Kingdom
Blog Article
1.Overview of IPTV
IPTV, or Internet Protocol Television, is growing in significance within the media industry. In stark contrast to traditional TV broadcasting methods that use expensive and largely exclusive broadcasting technologies, IPTV is delivered over broadband networks by using the same Internet Protocol (IP) that serves millions of personal computers on the current internet infrastructure. The concept that the same on-demand migration is anticipated for the era of multiscreen TV consumption has already piqued the curiosity of key players in the technology convergence and future potential.
Consumers have now begun consuming TV programs and other media content in varied environments and on multiple platforms such as smartphones, computers, laptops, PDAs, and other similar devices, alongside conventional televisions. IPTV is still in its early stages as a service. It is expanding rapidly, and numerous strategies are taking shape that may help support growth.
Some argue that low-budget production will potentially be the first content production category to reach the small screen and play the long tail game. Operating on the commercial end of the TV broadcasting pipeline, the current state of IPTV services and infrastructure, on the other hand, has several clear advantages over its rival broadcast technologies. They include HDTV, flexible viewing, personal digital video recorders, communication features, web content, and immediate technical assistance via supplementary connection methods such as cell phones, PDAs, global communication devices, etc.
For IPTV hosting to function properly, however, the Internet edge router, the core switch, and the IPTV server consisting of video encoders and server hardware configurations have to collaborate seamlessly. Numerous regional and national hosting facilities must be highly reliable or else the broadcast-quality signals fail, shows may vanish and don’t get recorded, interactive features cease, the picture on the TV screen is lost, the sound becomes interrupted, and the shows and services will malfunction.
This text will address the competitive environment for IPTV services in the U.K. and the United States. Through such a side-by-side examination, a range of important policy insights across various critical topics can be revealed.
2.Media Regulation in the UK and the US
According to legal principles and associated scholarly discussions, the regulatory strategy adopted and the policy specifics depend on one’s iptv service provider views of the market. The regulation of media involves competition-focused regulations, media control and proprietorship, consumer safeguarding, and the protection of vulnerable groups.
Therefore, if the goal is to manage the market, we must comprehend what defines the media market landscape. Whether it is about proprietorship caps, market competition assessments, consumer rights, or media content for children, the regulator has to possess insight into these areas; which media markets are growing at a fast pace, where we have competition, vertically integrated activities, and cross-sector proprietorship, and which industries are lagging in competition and ripe for new strategies of industry stakeholders.
Put simply, the media market dynamics has always evolved to become more fluid, and only if we reflect on the policymakers can we identify future trends.
The rise of IPTV everywhere makes its spread more common. By combining a number of conventional TV services with novel additions such as interactive digital features, IPTV has the potential to be a key part of increasing the local attractiveness of remote areas. If so, will this be sufficient for the regulator to adapt its strategy?
We have no evidence that IPTV has extra attractiveness to the people who do not subscribe to cable or DTH. However, a number of recent changes have slowed down IPTV's growth – and it is these developments that have led to reduced growth expectations for IPTV.
Meanwhile, the UK implemented a flexible policy framework and a engaged dialogue with market players.
3.Key Players and Market Share
In the UK, BT is the key player in the UK IPTV market with a market share of 1.18%, and YouView has a market share of 2.8%, which is the landscape of basic and dual-play service models. BT is generally the leader in the UK according to market data, although it experiences minor shifts over time across the 7 to 9 percent bracket.
In the United Kingdom, Virgin Media was the pioneer in launching IPTV using hybrid fiber-coaxial technology, with BT entering later. Netflix and Amazon Prime are the leading over-the-top platforms in the UK IPTV market. Amazon has its own digital set-top box-focused service called Amazon Fire TV, akin to Roku, and has just entered the UK. However, Netflix and Amazon are absent from telecom providers' offerings.
In the American market, AT&T leads the charts with a 17.31% stake, outperforming Verizon’s FiOS at a close 16.88%. However, considering only DSL-based IPTV services, the leader is CenturyLink, followed by AT&T and Frontier, and Lumen.
Cable TV has the majority hold of the American market, with AT&T drawing 16.5 million IPTV customers, primarily through its U-verse service and DirecTV service, which also operates in the Latin American market. The US market is, therefore, split between the major legacy telecom firms offering IPTV services and modern digital entrants.
In these regions, major market players use a converged service offering or a loyal customer strategy for the majority of their marketing, promoting multi-play options. In the United States, AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen largely use infrastructure owned by them or legacy telecom systems to provide IPTV options, albeit on a smaller scale.
4.Subscription Types and Media Content
There are distinct aspects in the programming choices in the IPTV sectors of the UK and US. The types of media offered includes real-time national or local shows, programming available on demand, pre-recorded shows, and unique content like TV shows or movies exclusive to the platform that could not be bought on video or broadcasted beyond the service.
The UK services offer traditional rankings of channels akin to the UK cable platforms. They also include medium-tier bundles that cover essential pay-TV options. Content is categorized not just by preferences, but by medium: terrestrial, satellite, Freeview, and BT Vision VOD.
The primary distinctions for the IPTV market are the subscription models in the form of preset bundles versus the more flexible per-channel approach. UK IPTV subscribers can select add-on subscription packages as their content needs shift, while these channels are included by default in the US, in line with a user’s initial fixed-term agreement.
Content collaborations highlight the different legal regimes for media markets in the US and UK. The era of condensed content timelines and the ongoing change in the market has notable effects, the most direct being the commercial position of the UK’s leading IPTV provider.
Although a late entrant to the saturated and challenging UK TV sector, Setanta is placed to attract a large customer base through appearing cutting-edge and having the turn of the globe’s highest-profile rights. The brand reputation goes a long way, combined with a product that has a competitive price point and caters to passionate UK soccer enthusiasts with an attractive additional product.
5.Future of IPTV and Tech Evolution
5G networks, combined with millions of IoT devices, have transformed IPTV evolution with the implementation of AI and machine learning. Cloud computing is significantly complementing AI systems to enable advanced features. Proprietary AI recommendation systems are being widely adopted by content service providers to enhance user engagement with their own distinctive features. The video industry has been revolutionized with a modernized approach.
A larger video bitrate, by increasing resolution and frame rate, has been a primary focus in boosting audience satisfaction and gaining new users. The advancements in recent years were driven by new standards established by industry stakeholders.
Several proprietary software stacks with a reduced complexity are nearing release. Rather than releasing feature requests, such software stacks would allow streaming platforms to concentrate on performance tweaks to further refine viewer interactions. This paradigm, similar to earlier approaches, hinged on customer perception and their need for cost-effectiveness.
In the near future, as rapid tech uptake creates a uniform market landscape in audience engagement and industry growth reaches equilibrium, we foresee a service-lean technology market scenario to keep elderly income groups interested.
We emphasize two primary considerations below for the UK and US IPTV markets.
1. All the major stakeholders may participate in the evolution in media engagement by making static content dynamic and engaging.
2. We see immersive technologies as the key drivers behind the emerging patterns for these fields.
The shifting viewer behaviors puts data at the forefront for every stakeholder. Legal boundaries would limit straightforward access to user information; hence, data privacy and protection laws would hesitate to embrace new technologies that may risk consumer security. However, the present streaming landscape makes one think otherwise.
The cybersecurity index is currently extremely low. Technological advances have made cyber breaches more virtual than a job done hand-to-hand, thereby benefiting digital fraudsters at a greater extent than manual hackers.
With the advent of headend services, demand for IPTV has been growing steadily. Depending on customer preferences, these developments in technology are set to revolutionize IPTV.
References:Bae, H. W. and Kim, D. H. "A Study of Factors affecting subscription to IPTV Service." JBE (2023). kibme.org
Baea, H. W. and Kima, D. H. "A Study about Moderating Effect of Age on The IPTV Service Subscription Intention." JBE (2024). kibme.org
Cho, T., Cho, T., and Zhang, H. "The Relationship between the Service Quality of IPTV Home Training and Consumers' Exercise Satisfaction and Continuous Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic." Businesses (2023). mdpi.com
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