Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and Narrowcasting

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) refers to television or video delivered to subscribers via the internet. What's so great about that?

Well, if you like to have many choices when it comes to television programming, but you don't want to go for satellite TV, you can go for IPTV (assuming you have a broadband internet connection).

While it is possible to watch such television shows in "real" time, it might be better to just download the files into some kind of appliance which you can connect to your television set.

Why would anyone want to do that if their cable TV system works well? The answer lies in having a lot of choices.

In the article From the Internet to Your TV, Stephen Wildstrom writes about how Akimbo's subscription service capitalizes on IPTV's "narrowcasting" strength. It can offer both regular and highly specialized programming.

Akimbo's programming clearly needs far more breadth and depth. Many of the cable on-demand channels provide only a handful of the shows you would get through a normal cable subscription. And Akimbo needs to serve a wider range of interests. For example, speakers of such languages as Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and various Indian and Pakistani tongues are barely touched by conventional TV. They might flock to Akimbo if programming were available.

Hmmm. In the US, there's The Filipino Channel. I wonder if Pinoys living in other countries long to see Tagalog TV programs. Perhaps if more Tagalog shows (or movies or sports videos) are produced and delivered via the internet, our kababayans might take advantage of IPTV.

For now, Akimbo suffers the same dilemma faced by people trying to publish or broadcast something via the internet: lack of content. But don't worry, in the beginning there was nothing, right? ;-)
[ First posted on 06/02/2005 by Manuel Viloria ]