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Digital Entertainment - A Time of Challenge |
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Proposition |
As a new consumer premise technology, OneListener
presents a way for television viewers to use voice
commands to navigate the increasingly-complex array of
options offered by new service platforms. |
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Background |
For the last
ten years consumers have been promised and getting more
and more services over their digital entertainment
networks. Not just more channels, but advanced services
such as VOD, music on-demand, and interactive commerce.
The problem is that more channels mean more complexity.
People want to find and access what they want, but
existing electronic program guides were designed when
times were simpler. |
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New Digital
Platforms |
The latest
set-top boxes have only made this problem worse. The EPG
has become an interactive program guide (IPG), each
entry jammed with valuable information about programs
and services. Lineups too have evolved so that the same
program can be available at separate times, across
different channels. But the interface to the IPG is
suitable only for a channel line-up of 70 or fewer
options, and remains hard to use. As a
result, many viewers simply give up. |
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Consumer
Behavior Patterns |
Viewers
respond in several ways. According to a major researcher
of trends in television viewing they exhaustively surf
the channels, then settle on a surprisingly small number
of favorites: between four and seven. Before long, they
often decide an expensive digital service is not worth
the cost. Churn among digital service customers is now
persistently high. Result: a highly underutilized
network. |
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A Ripe
Marketplace |
Operators
meanwhile are recognizing the true profit potential of a
more enlightened approach to the IPG. If viewers can
search for programs by type, genre and schedule, the
network can target advertiser dollars much more
precisely - and charge a premium. Executives such as
Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, have identified voice
recognition as a strategic technology. |
