Tech Brief :A Survey of Recent Innovations in the Production and Distribution of Video

August 2005

2Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

What is this document about?This technology brief is intended to highlight and define recent innovations in video production and distribution.

However, in such a swiftly changing industry, not every new product or idea could possibly be addressed. Therefore, the breakthroughs covered here are chosen because:

They relate specifically to video, rather than audio or still-image, content. They are embraced by the general public in significantly growing numbers. They disrupt the traditional broadcast industry.

The task of precisely identifying and categorizing innovations in this fast-moving industry is similarly impossible. As soon as a particular technology and its relationship with another technology is established, something new will come along and render both obsolete. Further, businesses will deliberately stretch the definitions of some technologies to include their products, creating confusion in the general public over the meaning of certain technical terms.

Therefore, this document defines and categorizes technologies as they have been defined and categorized by a majority of sources in a number of different contexts.

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Access Find Evaluate Procure Experience Author

The Library The Card Catalog The Review The Library Card The Book The Blank Notebook

These technologies make the media accessible to the

consumer.

These technologies help the consumer distinguish within a category of media.

These technologies help the consumer

make decisions about the media.

These technologies give the consumer the right to consume the

media.

These technologies provide the means through which the

media is consumed.

These technologies aid in the creation of

new media.

Broadband

Video On Demand

Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

IPTV

Internet Television

Interactive Program Guides

MetaData

Content & Speech Recognition

User Reviews & Rankings

Page Ranking Algorithms

Folksonomy

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Free Content Licenses

Micropayments

TimeShifting

PlaceShifting

“Prosumer” Production Tools

“Prosumer” Distribution Platforms

Innovations: The Consumer’s Viewpoint

An overview of the relevant technologies. The five steps in the media consumer chain — with “author” being an optional sixth step — have not changed since media existed to be consumed. The proliferation of accessible media, however, has increased the significance of previously less important steps, such as “find” and “evaluate”. The technologies listed are specific to video, growing in popularity, and potentially disruptive to traditional broadcasters.

4Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

AccessThe Library

Broadband

Video On DemandPeer to Peer

File Sharing

IPTVInternet

Television

IN THIS SECTION

Broadband connections facilitate the transmission of video content to both television and computer platforms. Video On Demand (VOD) is one method that IPTV systems use to deliver content. Similarly, Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing is a method that is commonly used on the Internet to exchange content. IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a common label for systems that deliver video over broadband connections to a television. Internet Television is a common label for the content that users access through the Internet and view on their computers.

What is an access technology?

Access technologies pave the way for the content to reach consumers. Often they are intertwined with other features –Video On Demand, for instance, usually has a procurement component attached – but their fundamental contribution is connection.

How have access technologies changed?

Access has been the link of the consumer media chain to see the greatest change in the last ten years. The next ten years promises a solidification of these innovations – connections will be faster, cheaper, and easier to use. These improvements will lead to broader adoption rates.

Why do these changes matter?

Until recently, televisions and cinemas were the primary means for consumers to access video content. As access technologies proliferate, broadcasters’ roles will be challenged, and they will have to re-examine how they can continue to add value for consumers.

These technologies make the media accessible to the audience.

5Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

BroadbandBroadband Internet access, often shortened to "broadband Internet" or just "broadband“, is a high data-transmission rate internet connection. DSL and cable modem, both popular consumer broadband technologies, are typically capable of transmitting 512 kilobits per second (kbit/s) or more, approximately nine times the speed of a modem using a standard digital telephone line.

>> Broadband use jumps 34 percent, FCC saysCNet, July 8, 2005Homes and businesses in all 50 states saw their numbers of high-speed Internet lines grow steadily last year, the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday in a semiannual report. Data collected from broadband providers showed the tally of high-speed subscribers climbed 34 percent during 2004, from 28.2 million to 37.9 million connections of 200kbps or higher.

>> Study: Consumer Broadband Set to BoomCNet, June 3, 2005The number of broadband households in the United States is projected to grow to 69 million by 2010—up from 32 million in 2004, Jupiter Research said in a statement Thursday.

>>CBS/Comcast Broadband bypass Cable in Favor of Broadband

DailyWireless.org, July 12, 2005CBS Digital Media and CBS News, today announced plans for a 24-hour, multi-platform, broadband news network, bypassing cable television in favor of broadband distribution.

IN THE NEWS

AccessThese technologies make the media accessible to the audience.

The Library

Total U.S. Households with Broadband Connections, 1998-2005

Percent

SOURCE: The Home Technology Monitor

1% 1%

3%

9%

11%

14%

21%

28%

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

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Video On Demand

Video on demand systems allow users to select and watch video content as part of an interactive television system. VOD systems are either "streaming", in which viewing can start as the video streams over the Internet (or other network or cable service), or "download", in which the program is brought in its entirety to a set-top box before viewing starts.

EXAMPLES Comcast's On Demand Time Warner's Video On Demand Disney's Movie Beam PBS's Sprout

>> One in Ten Prefer to Control Their Own MediaArbitron/Edison Research, March 15, 2005One in 10 Americans show a heavy preference to control how they access their media and entertainment, according to the latest study from Arbitron Inc. and Edison Media Research.

>> Rupert Murdoch Takes On VODSlate/NPR, June 14, 2005Murdoch plans to digitally deliver movies and other programming from his satellites to home digital video recorders.

>> PBS Announces VOD Deal for SchoolsLost Remote, May 20, 2005PBS and WGBH have inked a deal with Library Video Company to provide schools with their choice of educational video.

>> Comcast Arms for TV RevolutionThe Seattle Times, September 24, 2004According to Chief Executive Brian Roberts, “The personalization of television — that what has happened on the Internet is now going to happen on television — and on-demand is a big part of that strategy.“

IN THE NEWS

AccessThese technologies make the media accessible to the audience.

The Library

Comcast’s OnDemand service allows the user to access a selected collection of shows using their remote control and television.

Some shows are free, while selecting premium content automatically bills the customer a fee for 24 hour unlimited use.

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Peer-to-Peer File SharingA peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively few servers.

EXAMPLES BitTorrentBitTorrent is a recent, freely distributed peer-to-peer system.

>>BitTorrent Traffic Accounts for One Third of Internet Traffic

Wired, January 1, 2005Analysts at CacheLogic, an Internet-traffic analysis firm in Cambridge, England, report that BitTorrent traffic accounts for more than one-third of all data sent across the Internet.

IN THE NEWS

AccessThese technologies make the media accessible to the audience.

The Library

In a client-to-server model, each computer can only download files from a central server. As more clients access the server, the network becomes slower and less powerful.

In a peer-to-peer model, client computers can bypass the server and share files amongst each other. As more clients join the network, it becomes faster and more powerful.

Client-to-Server File Sharing Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

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Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has become a common term for systems where television and/or video signals are distributed to subscribers or viewers using a broadband connection over Intenet Protocol.

>> Interactive TV Poised for a RolloutUSAToday, February 14, 2005Not the cable TV establishment — which questions the technology and the demand for so much interactivity — but rather three Bell telephone companies are taking IPTV off the drawing board in the United States.

>> JupiterResearach Reports Digital Cable TV Will Grow to 43 Million Households By 2009 JupiterMedia, September 1, 2004JupiterResearch announced that it forecasts that digital cable penetration will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11%, from 26 million households in 2004 to 43 million households in 2009.

>> Microsoft Tests Broadband TVPCWorld, August 24, 2004Testers will have access to five pay-TV channels and a video-on-demand service through the set top boxes, which also function as a digital video recorder, Microsoft says.

IN THE NEWS

AccessThese technologies make the media accessible to the audience.

The Library

Typically, IPTV systems deliver third party content through a broadband connection to a set-top box and a television.

EXAMPLES Microsoft TV mVision

Third Parties IPTV Services Provider Consumer

Content Providers

Interactive Program Guides

Ads & Promos

Digital TVServices

BroadcastServices

Business Mgmt.Services

Set Top Box & Television:

• Video On Demand

• Digital Video Recording

• Interactive Program Guides

• Other Information Services

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Because of the increase in broadband connections, it is increasingly common to find traditional television content, accessible freely and legally over the Internet.

EXAMPLES Web Only Broadcasters

Broadcasters with no parallel television channel

Open Media Network, The Research Channel, ifilm.com

Television/Web SimulcastsLive events accessible both online and on television simultaneously

AOL Live 8 Concert Simulcast, Major League Baseball

On-Demand Rebroadcasts from Television BroadcastersContent available online after an initial television broadcast

CNN, PBS, Discovery Channel

Web-Exclusive Content from Television BroadcastersContent from television broadcasters, but available only online

PBS’s NerdTV, Food Network’s Chef Video Tips

Internet Television

>>Broadcaster Pie Shrinks as Cable, Internet Take Off

Hollywood Reporter, May 10, 2005Traditional broadcasters are in trouble, while cable and Internet Television platform players are taking off. And the difference is starting to show up on balance sheets.

>> Web Evolving Into New Entertainment MediumUSAToday, July 2, 2005Microsoft's MSN and rivals Google and Yahoo also are beginning to act, look and feel like networks in everything they do. They want to be programmers — just like traditional TV networks, only wielding tools that help you navigate the new universe of hundreds upon hundreds of Web sites and channels.

>> As TV Moves to the Web, Marketers FollowNew York Times, May 28, 2005The emerging-media group at Scripps Networks, part of the E. W. Scripps Company, plans to introduce an all-video Web site that will use programming from its Food Network, Fine Living, HGTV and DIY Network brands, as well as new clips. A major advertiser in Scripps offline media, General Motors' GMC division, has paid for a video showroom on the site and a presence throughout it.

IN THE NEWS

AccessThese technologies make the media accessible to the audience.

The Library

A wide array of programming is easily accessible online – from international news and documentary programming to feature-length shows — such as PBS’s Web-exclusive series, NerdTV.

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FindThe Card Catalog

IN THIS SECTION What is a find technology?

Find technologies help consumers distinguish and locate a specific media item or group of items from among the media items they have access to. While many find technologies include evaluation features – such as a review in a TV Guide – their primary feature is to distinguish and locate.

How have find technologies changed?

As access technologies have developed, the amount of media available has dramatically proliferated. Further, the number and type of media sources have grown and diversified. Voice and image recognition software is designed to cope with this volume of media by automating the information collection process. MetaData systems aim to standardize the way multiple sources of media label their products.

Why do these changes matter?

Improved find technologies encourage the “long tail” approach to media consumption by allowing users to more easily manage their personal media stream. Therefore, the traditional broadcasters’ curatorial role may be threatened.

These technologies help the audience distinguish within a category of media.

Interactive

Program Guides

MetaData

Collection Methods

Traditionally, video content has been categorized “by hand” – someone has to watch the clip and record dialogue and image as they perceive it. As the volume of content grows, this method of collection becomes less viable. Recent advances in both image recognition and voice recognition software help automate the task of collecting information – rendering even the most up-to-the-minute news video clips, for example, accessible to search engines instantly.

Guides

The print edition of the TV Guide has recently given up offering comprehensive schedules because of the overwhelming success of Interactive Program Guides. Versions of IPGs are available for both television and computer platforms.

Labeling Methods

As the amount of available content has grown, so have the sources of content: everyone from CNN to your next door neighbor can create video clips and make them accessible to the same online search engines and directories. However, people name things in different ways: one person’s “title” is another person’s “headline”, for example. MetaData addresses this problem by establishing a standardized way to label media.

MetaData helps structure the information provided on Interactive Program Guides

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Interactive Program GuidesAn electronic program guide (EPG) or an interactive program guide or (IPG) is an on-screen guide to scheduled broadcast and cable television programs, allowing a viewer to navigate, select and discover content by time, title, channel, genre, etc, using their remote control.

EXAMPLES TVGuide Interactive Guide Plus+

>>Interactive Program Guide Industry To Grow To $1B Worldwide by 2008

In-Stat/MDR, September 1, 2004Interactive Program Guides (IPGs) are becoming the entertainment portal for TV viewers, and In-Stat/MDR expects the worldwide IPG market value to grow to nearly $1 Billion (US) by 2008.

>> TV Guide Removes Listings from Print Edition

Reuters, July 26, 2005TV Guide, in a major shift to win over readers and advertisers, will be overhauled as a full-sized magazine with more celebrity features and fewer program listings, its publisher said on Tuesday. It has been hard hit by a decrease in advertising revenue as TV watchers increasingly look to the Internet or on-screen guides for program listings.

IN THE NEWS

FindThese technologies help the audience distinguish within a category of media.

The Card Catalog

38 3741

46

Spring '03 Fall '03 Spring '04 Fall '04

Total U.S. Households with IPG, 1998-2005Percent

SOURCE: The Home Technology Monitor

% %%

%

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MetaDataMetaData (Greek: “after” +"information"), is information that describes another set of data. A common example is a library catalog card, which contains data about the contents and location of a book. It is data about the data in the book. Other common types of metadata include the source or author of the described dataset, how it is accessed, and its limitations.

EXAMPLES Dublin Core Metadata Element SetThe Dublin Core is a metadata standard for describing digital objects (including webpages), often expressed in XML. It was so named because the first meeting of metadata and web specialists was held in the town of Dublin, Ohio.

PBCoreTo address the need to manage metadata within public broadcasting’s diverse community, version 1.0 of PBCore (the Public Broadcasting Metadata Dictionary) has been developed by a cross-organizational team of public radio and television producers and managers, archivists and information scientists.

>> Intel Saves $6 for each $1 Spent on MetaData RedNova, July 23rd,While some organizations are still struggling to help executives see the cost benefits of managing MetaData, such an effort has paid off big for Intel. After a false start six years ago, the chip maker now estimates that for every $1 it spends on metadata management, it saves $6.

IN THE NEWS

FindThese technologies help the audience distinguish within a category of media.

The Card Catalog

The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set is designed to help users standardize how they categorize all types of online media, including video. When video clips are labeled in a standardized way, fast and easy exchange becomes feasible. Dublin Core tags are already used for podcast labeling and exchange.

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Content & Speech RecognitionContent-based image retrieval (CBIR) software “reads” an image and identifies its contents by matching colors and textures to items it has previously identified. It bypasses the need for a human to manually view and identify the image.

Speech recognition technologies allow computers equipped with a source of sound input, such as a microphone, to interpret human speech, e.g. for transcription or as an alternative method of interacting with a computer.

EXAMPLES

MarvelA software program developed by IBM that uses statistical techniques to learn about relationships between colors, shapes, patterns and sounds from video footage to identify its content.

Flexible Image Retrieval Engine (FIRE) DemoThis amazing demonstration offers the user a series of random images. Click on one and the demo will find similar images using CBIR technology.

blinkx.tvAs soon as a word or phrase is mentioned in a radio broadcast or television program from a Blinkx partner, users are notified. Blinkx uses voice recognition technology to create searchable transcripts.

>>Marvel Wins Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award of 2004

Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2004

IN THE NEWS

FindThese technologies help the audience distinguish within a category of media.

The Card Catalog

The Flexible Image Retrieval Engine (FIRE) Demo asks users to click on one of a number of random images. The system will then use CBIR technology to “read” other images in the database and select ones it thinks may be similar.

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EvaluateThe Review

IN THIS SECTION What is an evaluate technology?

Evaluate technologies allow consumers to decide if a media item they have found is worth procuring. Evaluate technologies are distinct from find technologies in two ways: a) they provide primarily qualitative and subjective information about the item and b) they are necessarily outside the control of the producer of the media item.

How have evaluate technologies changed?

As with find technologies, evaluate technologies have grown in number and sophistication as the amount of available content has grown. Primarily due to interactivity limitations (i.e. keyboards), nearly all recent evaluation innovations are accessible only on the computer platform.

Why do these changes matter?

Since evaluation tools are necessarily outside the control of the producer, the information they provide is more credible. Further, most evaluation tools create a genuine sense of community where consumers are encouraged to browse and share, thus increasing usage and loyalty. Because nearly all evaluation innovations are on the computer platform, traditional broadcasters risk a growing competitive disadvantage.

These technologies help the audience make decisions about the media.

Ranking Methods

In 1999, Google broke through the Internet search engine market by moving beyond mere categorization into evaluation. Their PageRank algorithm counted links to a particular site as “votes” for that site, and listed it closer to the top of the search results page. This page ranking algorithm method has recently been applied to video clips.

Opinion Communities

As online communities have developed, often a key purpose has been the exchange of opinion. Consumer review and ranking sites are devoted to many consumer products, including television shows and movies. A variation of the consumer review site is a “Folksonomy” site (a combination of “taxonomy” and “folks”). On “folksonomy” sites, visitors don’t review things, they describe them. Distinct from MetaData-style labeling where only the producer is allowed to describe the work, “folksonomy” sites offer all visitors the chance to describe it, presumably providing more credible information about the true contents and significance of the piece.

Page Ranking

Algorithms

Search

Engines

Tagging &

FolksonomyUser

Reviews

Folksonomy

DirectoriesConsumer Sites

Different evaluation methods typically appear on different types of sites, nearly all of which are accessible only on the computer platform. This evaluation represents a significant competitive advantage for web-based video.

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Page Ranking AlgorithmsPage ranking algorithms, such as Google's PageRank, have revolutionized the search engine approach. Before PageRank, a search engine could list sites that matched the user's requested key word, but the search engine could not inform the user as to the site’s relevance as determined by the entire web community.

GoogleFrom the Google Site: "PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves 'important' weigh more heavily and help to make other pages 'important.'"

>>Google Revenues Up 98% Year Over Year; "We Had an Excellent Quarter," Says CEO

ITSolutions, June 30, 2005

"We had an excellent quarter. We continued to innovate, we continued to execute and we stayed focused on our users," said Google's CEO Eric Schmidt, as Google Inc. on Thursday announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, including record revenues of $1.384 billion for the quarter  - up 98% year over year.

IN THE NEWS

EvaluateThese technologies help the audience make decisions about the media.

The Review

Google assigns a value to each page in its directory based on a PageRank algorithm that counts links to that page as “votes”. Among the highest ranked sites are FirstGov.gov, Apple.com, and Google’s own google.com.

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User Reviews and RankingsThe Internet's instantaneous nature shortens the feedback loop between customer and producer. Most online media entities — commercial and otherwise — include user feedback systems of varying complexity to help users distinguish between several items in the same category.

EXAMPLES

Internet Movie Data Base (imdb.com) Amazon Consumer Reviews ePinions.com NetFlix Friends Rotten Tomatoes

EvaluateThese technologies help the audience make decisions about the media.

NetFlix Friends is an update of the now-familiar user review. With this innovation, you can select your “reviewers” from a group of your trusted taste-makers. Many sites offering video clips include evaluation tools like this to increase traffic and site loyalty.

The Review

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Tagging & FolksonomyA specialized version of the consumer review, folksonomy (a combination of "folk" and "taxonomy") is a system that allows any user to label, or "tag“, any category of stuff — news articles, digital photos, video and audio clips, even life aspirations — and share those associations with other users. Online entities devoted to this practice list the most popular tags, their associated items, and other tags associated with those same items.

EXAMPLES YouTube Technorati 43 Things

EvaluateThese technologies help the audience make decisions about the media.

Tags from three different types of “folksonomy” sites: YouTube, on the left, describes video clips. 43 Things, in the middle, describes life aspirations, and Technorati, on the right, describes blogs.

The Review

18Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

ProcureThe Library Card

IN THIS SECTION What is a procure technology?

Procure technologies give the audience the right to consume media. Often they involve financial transactions and security systems, but sometimes they consist only of licenses limiting usage. The procurement process can be, and is, bypassed.

How have procure technologies changed?

Digitized media is easy for consumers to copy and distribute with an imperceptible loss in quality. The marketplace has responded by creating free content licenses for some media and by developing new payment and security systems to limit the usage and transmission of other media.

Why do these changes matter?

New procure technologies make profitable distribution equally viable for both established and independent media companies thus creating a larger marketplace, but with many more competitors.

These technologies give the audience the right to consume the media.

Business Models

Commonly, media entities fund themselves through advertising or subscription, but some companies have recently found success with the micropayment model, like Apple’s 99¢ songs. For businesses that deliver content through the Internet, the micropayment model improves on the subscription model by protecting them from the penalties of popularity and the associated bandwidth costs.

License Types

Home-grown producers and publicly-funded media entities are embracing free content licenses as a way of fostering creativity while trying to maintain certain rights over the source material.

Security Systems

In the same way anti-theft devices on store merchandise prevent illegal use, digital rights systems (often just referred to as DRM) restrict the illegal use of digital content. For example, a song bought through the Apple Music Store is programmed to play on only registered computers.

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MicropaymentsMicropayments are means for transferring money in situations where collecting money with the usual payment systems is very expensive relative to amount of money being collected. For example, a system that allows customers to charge 99¢ on a credit card is a micropayment system.

Apple Music StoreThe most successful recent procurement innovator, Apple recognized that "free" music downloads came with a price tag of download time, unreliable quality, and legal liability, and determined that consumers priced those drawbacks at one dollar.

>>Consumers Want Micropayments for Television According to CBS

Los Angeles Times, January 18, 2005Among CBS executive VP for Research and Planning David Poltrack's findings is that consumers appear to be receptive to an economic model that provides an alternative to DVRs. In this scenario, viewers would pay $1 to see an episode of a favorite TV show on demand — much as music fans do when they download a song from Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes music store.

>> Apple Celebrates 500 Million DownloadsSoftpedia, July 20, 2005"Just over two years ago, we sold our first song. Yesterday, we sold our half billionth song. WOW!" said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "As we cross this major milestone, we couldn't be more excited about the future of digital music, iTunes and the iPod."

IN THE NEWS

ProcureThese technologies give the audience the right to consume the media.

The Library Card

Apple Music Store allows users to pay 99 cents for each song and around $10 for most albums. After just two years, it has sold over 500 million songs.

20Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

Free Content LicensesFree content licenses are a category of standardized license, the Creative Commons License being the most prominent, that copyright holders can grant to users. These licenses are designed to facilitate the free flow of material such as software, written works, music, and video while allowing the authoring entity to designate certain restrictions.

EXAMPLES Creative Commons LicenseThe Creative Commons License refers to the name of several copyright licenses released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a US nonprofit corporation founded in 2001. These licenses all grant certain baseline rights, such as the right to distribute the copyrighted work on file sharing networks. The copyright holder has the option of specifying certain extra conditions.

The Creative Archive Licence GroupThe BBC, the bfi, Channel 4 and the Open University set up the Creative Archive Licence Group to make their archive content available for download under the terms of the Creative Archive Licence - a single, shared user license scheme for the downloading of moving images, audio and stills.

>> bfi Downloads Success Story

CALG, May 5, 2005The British Film Institute (bfi) is delighted to report that the first four clips it made legally available under the Creative Archive Licence at launch on April 13th have already attracted more than 3,000 downloads.

IN THE NEWS

ProcureThese technologies give the audience the right to consume the media.

The Library Card

The Creative Archive Licence Group aims to ease the process of acquiring public domain footage in the hopes of fostering creativity

among the United Kingdom film and video community.

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Digital Rights Management SystemsDigital Rights Management (DRM) systems, or simply “DRM”, refer to several technical methods used to control or restrict the use of digital media content on electronic devices with such technologies installed. The media most often restricted by DRM techniques include music, visual artwork, and movies.

EXAMPLES Windows Media DRMWindows Media Digital Rights Management (WMDRM) is a platform for the secure delivery of audio and video content over a network, to a PC or other device.

Apple’s FairPlayFairPlay is Apple Computer's digital rights management system built into the QuickTime multimedia technology and used by iPod, iTunes, and the iTunes Music Store. Every file bought from the iTunes Music Store is encoded with FairPlay. It digitally encrypts audio files and prevents users from playing these files on unauthorized computers.

>>Consumer Electronics Giants Agree on Digital Rights Management PCPro, January 20, 2005Sony, Matsushita (Panasonic), Samsung and Philips have agreed to adopt a common method of digital rights management (DRM) and have formed the Marlin Joint Development Association (Marlin JDA) in order to establish a common standard for playing 'appropriately licensed video and music on any device'.

IN THE NEWS

ProcureThese technologies give the audience the right to consume the media.

The Library Card

22Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

ExperienceThe Book

IN THIS SECTION What is a experience technology?

Experience technologies affect where, when, and how media is experienced. Often, they are combined with other types of technologies – for example, DVRs often include an Interactive Program Guide– but their primary innovation is to allow consumers control over how they view the content they have access to.

How have experience technologies changed?

Developments in procurement technologies are giving consumers unprecedented control over how they experience their media at the same time that the potential sources of media are proliferating.

Why do these changes matter?

Both timeshifting and placeshifting technologies shift consumers’ focus away from the source of the content and towards the content itself, thus easing the way for new, independent producers to compete with established media entities.

These technologies provide the means through which the media is consumed.

Placeshifting

Placeshifting

Placeshifting technologies allow media originally or traditionally accessed through one platform to be viewed on another platform. Many placeshifting technologies transfer content between computers and televisions, while others allow programming to be viewed on mobile video devices like cell phones.

Timeshifting

Timeshifting allows programs to be recorded from a broadcast signal and viewed at a later time. The VCR might be considered the original timeshifting device. Today, TiVos perform the same function.

Placeshifting technologies allow content to be exchanged between the television and computer platform, effectively blurring the line between broadcast television and Internet television.

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Timeshifting & Digital Video RecordersTimeshifting is the technique of recording television/satellite/cable transmissions for later viewing. Timeshifted content can be viewed as long as days, months or years later, or as soon as a few minutes behind actual broadcast time, to provide a buffer for fast-forwarding through commercials.

The personal video recorder (PVR), also called digital video recorder (DVR) or digital personal video recorder, is a consumer electronics device that records television shows to a hard disk in digital format. Since first introduced by TiVo in 1999, PVRs have steadily made the "time shifting" feature (traditionally done by a VCR) much more convenient. Popular abilities are: pausing live TV, instantly replaying interesting scenes, and skipping advertising.

EXAMPLES TiVo ReplayTV

>>Worldwide PVR Unit Shipments More Than Double in 2004

In-Stat, May 1, 2005Demand for PVR products increased tremendously during the past year, as unit shipments rose from 4.6 million in 2003 to over 11.4 million in 2004. Leading the surge in unit shipments were products designed for satellite TV subscribers and for consumers wanting a DVD recorder with an integrated hard disk drive.

>>Gartner: Half of U.S. Households to Have DVRs within 5 Years

Cnet, April 11, 2005About 8 percent of U.S. households have DVRs, according to research firm GartnerG2, but in five years, half of all homes with TVs are expected to have the recording devices.

>> TiVo, Comcast Reach a DealCnet, March 15, 2005TiVo and cable giant Comcast have reached a distribution deal, easing some investor concerns over the digital video recorder pioneer's future.

IN THE NEWS

ExperienceThese technologies provide the means through which the media is consumed.

The Book

The first and still most popular DVR. “TiVo” is sometimes also used as a verb to describe the digital recording of a television program, regardless of whether the equipment is a TiVo brand DVR (e.g. "Could you TiVo Star Trek for me tonight?").

24Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

PlaceShiftingWatching or listening to recorded media on any device - not just the television, computer, or DVR that originally received it. Placeshifting technologies threaten to blur the line, in the eyes of the audience, between independent and traditional broadcast entities.

EXAMPLES SlingboxThis small device, which retails for about $250, can beam any live TV show coming into your home to an Internet-connected Windows PC anywhere in the world. It also allows you to remotely watch shows you have recorded at home on a digital video recorder.

cyberSkyA free software application for sharing television signals, it allows users with a broadband Internet connection to share the TV channels they are able to receive. TV channels can be shared regardless of the means of reception ( cable, terrestrial or satellite) as long as there is a way of getting the signal to one’s pc.

AkimboAkimbo is a $229 set-top box that allows the user to download video from their broadband Internet connection to play back on their television.

Video iPodApple is reportedly releasing a video iPod in the fall, designed to play music videos sold through the Apple Music Store.

>>Television Networks Threatened with Extinction: Change or Die, Says Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, April 1, 2005What was previously considered "television content" is now being burned into DVDs, time delayed by Personal Video Recorders (PVRs), broken into fragments, piped on demand over the Internet, downloaded into mobile devices and syndicated around the globe. Such changes are having a profound effect on the structure, dynamics and future of the global broadcast television industry, both private and public, according to Deloitte.

IN THE NEWS

ExperienceThese technologies provide the means through which the media is consumed.

The Book

Akimbo allows users to access Internet channels like ifilm.com and National Geographic through their television sets, effectively blurring

the line between broadcast and cable entities and Internet Television.

25Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

Author

IN THIS SECTION What is an author technology?

Author technologies support the production and distribution of new media.

How have author technologies changed?

At the same time the Internet has broken down the media distribution monopoly, technological developments have put professional-quality production tools within the reach of consumers.

Why do these changes matter?

As the barriers to entry into the media world drop, the value of each media item similarly plummets – especially in the case of video, where many of the new entrants are motivated not by profit, but simply by creative expression.

These technologies support the production of new media.

The Blank Notebook

“Prosumer” Production Tools

Since the term “prosumer” (“professional” or “producer” combined with “consumer”) was introduced in 1980 by futurist Alvin Toffler, the market for “prosumer” production tools has proliferated dramatically, particularly in the medium of video. Twenty-five years later, a “prosumer” can outfit a professional quality production studio for less than $5,000.

“Prosumer” Distribution Platforms

From vlogs to microchannels, many different types of “prosumer” distribution platforms have blossomed recently. Many of them cater to the amateur simply interested in creative expression, but some hope to develop businesses around enabling producers to sell downloads of clips and then keeping a percentage of the proceeds.

26Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

“Prosumer” Production ToolsThis grade of production equipment is marketed to the hobbyist interested in creating professional quality media. In the last fifteen years, these products have dropped dramatically in price and increased in quality and usability.

EXAMPLES Final Cut ProA $1200 software editing package offered by Apple, this is the industry standard for independent producers. The most recent version provides High Definition Video (HDV) support.

Sony HDR-FX1 HDV Handycam® CamcorderRetailing for $3800, this new Sony product claims to be the first consumer level high definition camcorder. CNet gave it an editor’s choice award in May of this year, calling it ideal for early adopter prosumers.

>> Sony HDV Camera Under $2000

USA Today, July 13, 2005“When it comes to consumer electronics, price is typically a moving target, and the good news is that it almost always moves south. How fast it gets there is another matter.” – Edward C. Baig

IN THE NEWS

AuthorThese technologies provide the ability to create new media.

For about $5000, a “prosumer” can be fully equipped to shoot and edit HDV compatible programs. For another $300, she can add special effects.

The Blank Notebook

$1200 $3800 $300

27Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

“Prosumer” Distribution PlatformsAs broadband connections have proliferated, so have Internet-accessible channels of video distribution. Some are simply collections of clips, such as Google Video and Brightcove, while others have special intents, such as Bridges.

EXAMPLES Google VideoThe next step in Google’s quest to “organize the world’s information”, Google Video includes content from a large number of traditional media entities like CNN, C-SPAN, PBS, and KQED. They also encourage “prosumers” to upload their own videos.

BrightcoveBrightcove aims to provide an online service to allow mainstream and emerging video publishers to offer material directly to consumers over the internet. Producers set their price and BrightCove takes a finder’s fee.

BridgesBridges is an interactive online program that helps connect middle school students in the developed world with their peers in indigenous communities across the globe.

>> Akimbo Enables Vlog Delivery to Television

Silicon Valley Business Journal, June 18, 2005Akimbo Systems Inc. says it is adding video blogs to the content available to its subscribers. Five of the Internet's most popular video blogs are now available on the Akimbo service, including Rocketboom, FreshWave.TV, Clint Sharp's Vlog, Steve Garfield's Video Blog and "The Carol and Steve Show."

>> BBC Opens TV Listings to Programmers

TechWire, May 15, 2005The British Broadcasting Corporation announced that it has launched a new program that will allow coders, computer-program writers and graphic designers the chance to tweak digital content into new applications and Internet-based prototypes that can be shared with others.

IN THE NEWS

AuthorThese technologies provide the ability to create new media.

Bridges provide the tools and training that enable middle school students to share stories from their own lives and communities with their contemporaries in indigenous communities. These stories are shared through bridgesweb.org where students can engage each other, ask questions about each others' lives and collaborate on creating multimedia stories exploring their cultures.

The Blank Notebook

28Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

Appendix :Video Innovation from the Producer’s Viewpoint

29Tech Brief, Corporation for Public Broadcasting 08/02/2005

Innovations: The Producer’s Viewpoint

Procure

Access

Find

Evaluate

Currently, video distribution centers around two platforms: the television and the computer. However,

a) the computer allows access to more types of content

b) only the computer platform provides evaluation tools

c) placeshifting technologies allow content to be moved from one platform to the other, blurring the line between traditional and independent producers.

Commercial ContentWeb-Intended

Commercial ContentProsumer Content

Experience

IPTVInternet

Television

Interactive

Program Guide

Video

On Demand

Timeshifting Placeshifting

Broadband

MetaData

DRMFree Content

Licenses

Tagging &

Folksonomy

Page Ranking

Algorithms

P2P

Micropayments

Broadband

IPGsMetaDataContent

Recognition

User

Reviews

DRM

TimeshiftingPlaceshifting

a

c c

b

Tech Brief :A Survey of Recent Innovations in the Production and Distribution of Video

August 2005

For more information, contact:

Andy Russellarussell@cpb.org202-879-9702

Loren Mayorlmayor@cpb.org202-879-9735