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MSN Video hits 167,000 show views in 11 days
17 Aug 2009 | 16.04 Europe/London
Having been released to the mainstream on August 3rd, Microsoft's new UK video-on-demand (VOD) upstart has already chalked up nearly 170,000 show views - 167,487 to be precise. The man who's overseeing the launch, Ashley Highfield - managing director of consumer and online at Microsoft UK - is no stranger to VOD success. He's pretty chuffed - but more cautious about the "knowledge" economy.
MSN Video is trying to fill the hole in the market left by Project Kangaroo before anyone else jumps in. Almost as soon as the technology behind the failed venture finally found a buyer, Microsoft's new baby was announced to an unexpecting world. That buyer, Arqiva, had already declared its own intentions to enter the British VOD marketplace - and, of course, established American catch-up service Hulu has a scheduled September launch. With a rushed "pilot" release, MSN Video was therefore able to steal a lead on its future competitors. It went live with 350 hours of programming, including shows that were originally produced for both BBC and commercial channels - from Mock the Week to Shameless. (Three of the most popular shows so far are How to Look Good Naked, Peep Show and The Young Ones).
"We are very happy with the first numbers – it is a very encouraging start," Mr. Highfield told the Guardian. "There is still a strong feeling that, while catch-up TV works, no one wants older programmes. One motivation behind the MSN Video pilot is to see the demand for programmes outside the catch-up TV window." With him at the helm, Microsoft's video strategy appears to have the experience on board to deal with such uncharted waters. Not only did Highfield oversee the launch of the BBC's ever-popular iPlayer but also, according to an anonymous Guardian source, "He was very much the architect of Kangaroo ... absolutely behind the idea of a 'commercial iPlayer' when he was at the BBC."
Despite his ambitious goals for MSN Video - the main one being the service becoming "a one-stop shop for the best British content" - Mr. Highfield says he isn't worried about competition coming from oversees in the shape of Hulu. He wants Microsoft to be the TV and media industry's "out and out friend," building on existing relationships. "Hulu has no track record in [UK] advertising, there is no relationship with [media] agencies and to build relationships with content partners takes years," he says. "Hulu also has zero distribution [to build users coming to the service]". However it's worth noting that, while no-one might want to dance with Hulu at first, Microsoft's history of anti-trust problems mean it could probably do with competition from somewhere.
As you'd expect from someone launching a new product during a recession, Highfield's a man who sees the glass half full. "There are some issues around intellectual property protection but I am pretty optimistic about the TV industry," he says. "There is an expectation of all doom and gloom – look at ITV's results – and the move to the internet. However, I'm going to suggest a number of themes typical to the internet, which if embraced could see a new dawn of TV."
But he says that this "new dawn" will take more than the framework laid out by the Digital Britain report to engineer. "We can do a lot more if there is a will to do it," he continues. "Piracy is the central plank of all of this. We mustn't duck the issue, we must face it head on. There is a growing consensus something can be done. We have to protect IP for the health of our economy. We need implementable anti-piracy measures."
MSN Video is trying to fill the hole in the market left by Project Kangaroo before anyone else jumps in. Almost as soon as the technology behind the failed venture finally found a buyer, Microsoft's new baby was announced to an unexpecting world. That buyer, Arqiva, had already declared its own intentions to enter the British VOD marketplace - and, of course, established American catch-up service Hulu has a scheduled September launch. With a rushed "pilot" release, MSN Video was therefore able to steal a lead on its future competitors. It went live with 350 hours of programming, including shows that were originally produced for both BBC and commercial channels - from Mock the Week to Shameless. (Three of the most popular shows so far are How to Look Good Naked, Peep Show and The Young Ones).
"We are very happy with the first numbers – it is a very encouraging start," Mr. Highfield told the Guardian. "There is still a strong feeling that, while catch-up TV works, no one wants older programmes. One motivation behind the MSN Video pilot is to see the demand for programmes outside the catch-up TV window." With him at the helm, Microsoft's video strategy appears to have the experience on board to deal with such uncharted waters. Not only did Highfield oversee the launch of the BBC's ever-popular iPlayer but also, according to an anonymous Guardian source, "He was very much the architect of Kangaroo ... absolutely behind the idea of a 'commercial iPlayer' when he was at the BBC."
Despite his ambitious goals for MSN Video - the main one being the service becoming "a one-stop shop for the best British content" - Mr. Highfield says he isn't worried about competition coming from oversees in the shape of Hulu. He wants Microsoft to be the TV and media industry's "out and out friend," building on existing relationships. "Hulu has no track record in [UK] advertising, there is no relationship with [media] agencies and to build relationships with content partners takes years," he says. "Hulu also has zero distribution [to build users coming to the service]". However it's worth noting that, while no-one might want to dance with Hulu at first, Microsoft's history of anti-trust problems mean it could probably do with competition from somewhere.
As you'd expect from someone launching a new product during a recession, Highfield's a man who sees the glass half full. "There are some issues around intellectual property protection but I am pretty optimistic about the TV industry," he says. "There is an expectation of all doom and gloom – look at ITV's results – and the move to the internet. However, I'm going to suggest a number of themes typical to the internet, which if embraced could see a new dawn of TV."
But he says that this "new dawn" will take more than the framework laid out by the Digital Britain report to engineer. "We can do a lot more if there is a will to do it," he continues. "Piracy is the central plank of all of this. We mustn't duck the issue, we must face it head on. There is a growing consensus something can be done. We have to protect IP for the health of our economy. We need implementable anti-piracy measures."