Broadband News
News, views and analysis
Profile: Analyst Benedict Evans on OFT’s Canvas ruling, HD streaming concerns and troubles for American rival Hulu
13 May 2010 | 08.05 Europe/London
Canvas is likely to be approved by the Office of Fair Trade, next Wednesday , according to Benedict Evans, at telecommunications analysts, Enders Analysis.
He predicts the combined Freeview and online tv platform could be the iPhone of home entertainment, providing the elusive link between online content and the television.
Although the founding partners, (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, five, TalkTalk, BT and Arqiva) may possibly be asked to make concessions over ownership, Evans believes the OFT is likely to approve the platform, which is still open for its rival critics, most notably Sky and Virgin Media, to join.
“There’s clearly a missing link between the PC and the television, everybody knows that it has to be bridged by some new device or technology and it looks most likely it’s going to be Canvas,” he says.
“The vast majority of home video entertainment is on the television, only 2% is online, and people clearly want a lean back experience where they’re not being asked to watch movies and tv shows on a small computer screen. We’re in a pre iPhone kind of moment where we all know there’s going to be a platform that bridges the gap. It’s obvious that’s the way it has to go and I think most people would agree it’s going to be Canvas.”
HD streaming headaches
To Evans’ mind there are now two big concerns about Canvas; branding and HD streaming.
“The main problem the partners are going to have is it’s built in to the system that the main gateway is the Canvas menu, which is also branded Canvas,” he says.
“That’s going to make it difficult for some other companies to get involved. I can’t see Sony relishing the thought of not having the tv experience branded on their PS3 as anything other than Sony.
“Also, the satellite and cable operators are pushing HD content hard and so for the ISPs that’s going to be tough to keep up. They’ve got to find a way of providing a faster service to stream HD and typically if there’s one truth about broadband in the UK it’s that you can’t charge more – people get used to the price they’re paying and they only really expect that price to come down or to receive more for the same price.
“Downloading won’t be so bad because it will obviously just take longer for HD content, but live streaming is going to be a major headache for the ISPs.”
Hulu unlikely to be a UK success
The success of Canvas, if approved, could erase any chance of American rival, Hulu, launching in the UK, Evans suggests. Although the American platform’s owners are a who’s who of the entertainment industry, without content the system is just a platform with nothing much to offer.
“I used to work at NBC and I can tell you that I can’t see Hulu launching here,” he says.
“They’ve been talking to content owners but with the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 all happy to have their content on their own platforms, what would Hulu offer? They may have some movie rights but lots of the big shows its owning companies have created have already been sold in Europe, they don’t own them themselves.
“So, there’s been a lot of hype about Hulu but outside the USA I really don’t see what it offers.”
He predicts the combined Freeview and online tv platform could be the iPhone of home entertainment, providing the elusive link between online content and the television.
Although the founding partners, (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, five, TalkTalk, BT and Arqiva) may possibly be asked to make concessions over ownership, Evans believes the OFT is likely to approve the platform, which is still open for its rival critics, most notably Sky and Virgin Media, to join.
“There’s clearly a missing link between the PC and the television, everybody knows that it has to be bridged by some new device or technology and it looks most likely it’s going to be Canvas,” he says.
“The vast majority of home video entertainment is on the television, only 2% is online, and people clearly want a lean back experience where they’re not being asked to watch movies and tv shows on a small computer screen. We’re in a pre iPhone kind of moment where we all know there’s going to be a platform that bridges the gap. It’s obvious that’s the way it has to go and I think most people would agree it’s going to be Canvas.”
HD streaming headaches
To Evans’ mind there are now two big concerns about Canvas; branding and HD streaming.
“The main problem the partners are going to have is it’s built in to the system that the main gateway is the Canvas menu, which is also branded Canvas,” he says.
“That’s going to make it difficult for some other companies to get involved. I can’t see Sony relishing the thought of not having the tv experience branded on their PS3 as anything other than Sony.
“Also, the satellite and cable operators are pushing HD content hard and so for the ISPs that’s going to be tough to keep up. They’ve got to find a way of providing a faster service to stream HD and typically if there’s one truth about broadband in the UK it’s that you can’t charge more – people get used to the price they’re paying and they only really expect that price to come down or to receive more for the same price.
“Downloading won’t be so bad because it will obviously just take longer for HD content, but live streaming is going to be a major headache for the ISPs.”
Hulu unlikely to be a UK success
The success of Canvas, if approved, could erase any chance of American rival, Hulu, launching in the UK, Evans suggests. Although the American platform’s owners are a who’s who of the entertainment industry, without content the system is just a platform with nothing much to offer.
“I used to work at NBC and I can tell you that I can’t see Hulu launching here,” he says.
“They’ve been talking to content owners but with the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 all happy to have their content on their own platforms, what would Hulu offer? They may have some movie rights but lots of the big shows its owning companies have created have already been sold in Europe, they don’t own them themselves.
“So, there’s been a lot of hype about Hulu but outside the USA I really don’t see what it offers.”
