Three New Media Recorders from Panasonic

Looking for an alternative to your now obsolete shiny new HD-DVD recorder? Here's the DMR-BR500 from Panasonic, a Blu-Ray video recorder with 250GB of HDD. Now, if you're more “old-school” and don't really care about Blu-Ray, you'll still be able to record HD video on DVDs thanks to the DMR-XW320 (500GB) and the DMR-XW120 (250GB).On a side note, all our three new recorders support the AVC codec and will let you record full HD video in Mpeg-4 AVC/H.264, with a maximum bit rate of 8.6Mbps.

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Celrun TV HDD Hi-Def Multimedia Player

Looks like the Mvix MV780 is getting some competition in the unique space of hard-drive equipped HD media player/PC media streamers that also double as NAS devices. However, what sets the Korean manufactured Celrun TV apart from the crowd is that it also functions as a PVR with the ability to record to its 320GB hard drive from either an unencrypted cable (QAM) TV connection or over-the-air (ATSC) antennae signal, according to Akihabara News. But that’s not all… since the Celrun TV is powered by Sigma Designs’ SMP8634 chip, the device makes easy work of playing 1920×1080p HD video (HDMI out), outputs S/PDIF digital audio, and plays back a multitude of popular media files codecs/formats like H.264 MPEG-4/AVC, VOB, Xvid, WMV HD, MPEG-1/2/4, FLAC, OGG, AAC, MP3, etc. (full list below). The device even offers wireless 802.11b/g connectivity and USB 2.0 Host functionality.

Unfortunately, there’s no word if this product will make it to the states and for how much. But from the reaction this product has been getting in the blogosphere, I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes soon. MORE »

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ABI Research Says Streaming Online Rentals to Lead Online Video Growth

BI Research says that online rentals will lead the online video pay market in the years to come. According to ABI Research pay video streams online will grow from 215 million in 2008 to over 2.4 billion in 2012 with online video rentals accounting for half of these numbers.

ABI says a number of challenges remain for the online streaming rental market with poor rental terms that studios dictate to all distributors. Other competition will continue to come from VOD services offer by cable companies as well.

"Studios are locked into the same 24-hour 'once-started' viewing window and similar pricing for all online rental partners," said Michael Wolf. "We believe that over time they will begin to offer greater flexibility, in particular as DVD and other physical media continue to mature and new consumer Internet-to-TV hardware expands their audience of consumers."

Via ABI Research

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Study Claims to Prove What TV Watchers Want in Interactivity

A new study has been released today that claims to prove what consumers want in interactive TV programming. According to the study from enseQuence 70% of TV viewers would sign up for another cable provider or satellite is it offered advanced interactivity at no additional charge.

I would bet a large portion of these same people would be willing to pay slightly more for the service, I know I would. The survey says that 72% of TV viewers now find programming to watch via the onscreen viewing guide.

The study also shows that 72% of reality TV watchers want to interact with the shows. 65% of those watching sports want to interact with the event, and 66% of viewers want to interact with commercials. An interactive TV commercial is an interesting idea that could get some of the DVR owners to stop skipping commercials.

Via enseQuence

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Digital TV Set-top Box Sales Break 100M Barrier

IPTV Set To Become Fourth Major DTV Platform

London, England - 20 February 2008 - Worldwide sales of digital TV set-top boxes broke through the 100 million barrier for the first time in 2007, according to the latest research from the Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices service. The report, "Digital TV Set-Top Boxes: Global Market Forecast," found that sales reached 102.4 million units last year, an annual increase of 12%. IPTV's market share rose to 5.9%, compared to 3.6% in 2006. Cable's share also rose, to 36.2%, while satellite and terrestrial shares declined. For 2008 the report predicts a surge in demand for digital terrestrial set-top boxes, driven by the impending switch-off of analog broadcasting in the US. By 2012 annual global sales of all digital TV set-top boxes will reach nearly 200 million units.

"We expect the Asia-Pacific region to overtake North America and Europe in 2008, accounting for a third of this year's 129 million sales," says Peter King, Director, Connected Home Devices. "Sales of digital terrestrial TV boxes in Europe have now plateaued, as consumers begin to transition to integrated digital TV sets, but this pattern is unlikely to prevent overall market growth across all platforms."

"The set-top box remains the key gateway to advanced digital television services around the world," says David Mercer, Principal Analyst. "Added value services such as high definition TV, digital video recording and Internet video are all set to drive further growth in this strategically important sector."

The report provides Strategy Analytics' latest global market forecast for digital TV set-top boxes, based on analysis of more than 200 digital television platforms and operators around the world. It includes 5-year demand forecasts for 22 countries across the principal geographies, and segmentation by the major access platforms DTTV, IPTV, satellite and cable.

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Samsung See'N'Search

Several companies over the years have tried to bring web access to the TV and computerless web browsing. Samsung announced yesterday that it has new technology that allows for web surfing directly from the TV without the need for a PC, keyboard, or special content programming.

Samsung’s See’N’Search technology automatically suggests Internet content that goes along with TV shows that the user is already watching. Samsung says its device needs no special content ecosystem to work, which is what Samsung cites as a key to failure for other TV based Internet connectivity systems. The core vision for the system is to allow users to search the Internet just as they would search on onscreen programming guide.

"See'N'Search technology will revolutionize how consumers will see and use the Internet in the living room in the next few years" said Alan Messer, director of connected consumer technologies of Samsung's U.S. Research and Development Center. "By greatly minimizing the need to manually search for related content and special interactive content authoring, this technology enables consumers to directly watch or surf Internet content that is relevant to them."

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Nielsen Reports DVR Playback Is Adding to TV Viewing Levels

Time-Shifting of Shows is Extending Prime Time to Later in the Evening;

DVR Users Comprise Three Distinct Groups Based on How Much They Time-Shift

February 14, 2008, Las Vegas, NV- Playback from Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) is increasing the amount of time people spend watching television, according to new data from The Nielsen Company. In comparing total television usage (Live viewing plus DVR playback) for persons 18-49 in November, 2007 to total television usage in November, 2005 (before Nielsen measured DVR homes and penetration was very low) Nielsen found that viewing had increased slightly throughout the day, and was three percent higher at 9:00 p.m. and five percent higher between 11:00 p.m. and midnight.

This has implications for primetime viewing levels in the future because as the number of DVR households in the U.S. population grows, DVR prime time viewing levels will likely rise as well.

Nielsen also reported that the traditional prime time period between 8 PM – 11PM was expanding because people are watching the shows they recorded later the same evening. In fact, by creating their own “personal television schedules,” viewers are pushing prime time as far back as midnight. Nielsen found that DVR playback peaks at 9 to 10 pm with eleven percent of viewers age 18-49 in DVR homes playing back recorded programming on their DVRs, while between 11:00 p.m. and midnight seven percent of people are playing programming back.

The information was presented today at Nielsen’s Client Meeting on Audience Measurement in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is attended by more than 600 television, online, mobile, advertiser and agency clients from around the world, as well as by senior Nielsen management, including CEO David Calhoun.

“Consumers are increasingly making time-shifted viewing an important part of their overall television experience, and are beginning to change traditional TV models,” said Patricia McDonough, Senior Vice President of Insights Analysis and Policy at Nielsen Media Research. “DVR playback has added to TV usage, particularly during the most watched hours of the day, as viewers take advantage of their ability to watch their favorite shows according to their own schedules.”

Providing new insights into time-shifted audiences, Nielsen identified three distinct groups of DVR users based on how much they time-shift:

• Heavy Shifters are primarily middle income women, ages 18-49, who record and later watch nearly 26 hours of television– or about half of their TV viewing – a week. Males, 18-34, are least likely to fall into this group.
  
• Medium Shifters watch somewhat more television than the average person; and about a third of their viewing is time-shifted.
  
• Light Shifters, who represent nearly 70% of all persons in DVR households, watch less television than the average viewer. With incomes that exceed $100,000 and the most prone to own a high definition TV set, they spend only about 10% of their television time with time-shifted programming, watching shows they would otherwise have missed.

Nielsen also reported that time-shifting is not evenly distributed by forms of programs. As would be expected, most viewers prefer to watch news, sports and movies live. On the other hand, general dramas, such as House, Grey’s Anatomy and Heroes, are most often recorded and viewed later, and account for one-third of all time-shifted content.

Among other types of programming that is heavily time-shifted are talk shows like Oprah; soap operas like The Young and Restless; and reality television shows such as Survivor, The Biggest Loser and Dancing With the Stars.

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