ITVN Serves Starz/Encore, Sports and More via Web STB

ITVN Serves Starz/Encore, Sports and More via Web STB

September 26th, 2006

Deep in the recesses of CEDIA in a non-descript 10×10 booth, dwarfed by comparison to its mammoth display technology neighbors, was a company with a big vision. Interactive Television Networks Inc. (Santa Monica, CA www.itvn.com) was going head-to-head against the big boys, no less than network TV, cable and satellite networks by leveraging the power of the internet and their own proprietary set top box to deliver a-la-carte cable programming.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor
of Projection Monthly

The company offers a monthly subscription service that includes a Set-top-box and upgrades like a Starz / Encore package of films on demand plus the standard 17 Starz / Encore channels, available for $14.95/month. There are also extensive sports offerings from European Setana and other sports channels that feature international football, Rugby and Lacrosse games, a "Silver-screen" network that features classic films on demand, as well as other specialty content including music video on demand, adult content offerings, MP3 digital audio channels and even a karaoke channel.

The service is powered by a home broadband set-top-box delivering video on demand from the ITVN servers based in California. SDTV format is delivered over standard IP today with an eye on empowering technologies to compress DVD and HD quality films on the roadmap (see my June 26 Display Daily on MatrixStream HD over IP solution).

While cable and satellite TV networks are not shaking in their boots just yet over this announcement, Pricewaterhouse Coopers estimates 46.7M current broadband subscribers in the US, and that number is estimated growing to 73.4M by 2010.

The company is targeting mainstream viewers by removing the barriers to ITV delivery. The simple set-top-box offering removes the PC from the living room and opens up the main TV display to the unlimited potential of video on demand TV. This goes beyond time shifting and leverages the power of the internet to provide instant access to a growing body of digital content.

ITVN shows us the technology is ready and with consumers tired of duopolistic pricing from satellite and cable, look for more internet delivery competition to follow in the footsteps of ITVN. –SS

See the expanded version of this article in the October issue of Projection Monthly.