Over the last couple of years we have seen a shift in how some users view video. Today, “on demand” video is available from many sources–cable based VOD and prerecorded DVR content, as well as several newer sources. Hulu®, YouTube®, Netflix® as well as many network providers allow streaming of popular programs over the internet as an alternative to watching a linear broadcast.
At WOW! this phenomenon has caused us to rethink how we provide video to our valued customers. It appears many viewers, particularly the younger generation, will shift from linear viewing habits to an on demand model. Fewer people will schedule themselves to be available when a program first airs, and instead will watch programs at their convenience .
To respond to this new paradigm, our company plans to make more programming available on demand. To facilitate this model we need to reduce the amount of bandwidth on our network used by linear broadcast services. For example if nobody is viewing a particular program can we shut it off and use that bandwidth for other services? Would anyone even notice? It’s like the old saying “if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around does it make a sound?” Or does the fridge light stay on after you close the door? Who cares as long as it’s on when I open it, right? Research indicates that 80% of viewers are watching 20% of available linear content. By offering more programming in an on demand environment we can increase the efficiency of our network and offer additional services.
Specifically, by utilizing IP based mpeg 4 streams that are only invoked by demand rather than the conventional linear mpeg 2 streams that are “nailed up”, video can be sent only when and where it is requested. All this happens in an environment that is transparent to the user who just knows the “light is on when the fridge is open”, so to speak. The customer experience remains the same high quality digital picture and sound to which one is accustomed with WOW!
As stated previously, internet video providers are getting better every day and are increasing in popularity, but it is difficult for them to produce a high quality picture to your television screen. Our customer research shows that most users today still want their video services provided on their television, not on a PC in their office. We expect to be able to integrate web based and network based services together, allowing our customers to get what content they want when they want it from a variety of sources, all with the crystal clear picture and sound you have come to expect from us as your video provider. More on this to come—Stay tuned!
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Last week I addressed the best way to determine what is going to be the best computer technology for your individual needs.
This week we are going to take a look at those “winning” computer technologies of the past that, for whatever reason, have either evolved way beyond what we remember or have disappeared altogether.
So just for fun, let’s take a stroll down computer memory lane to reminisce on “winning” technologies of the not-too-distant past…
For starters how about the relentless pursuit of disk storage space in the mid 1990’s and what that brought us? If you guessed Zip drives you would be correct! Those babies were $200 for starters and the 100 MB cartridges sold for $20 bucks apiece. Seems ludicrous now but that was better than using a stack of 100 disks to swap in and out of your computers floppy drive. And speaking of which, I can remember way back in 1984 (yep, I have been around for a while) when as an entry-level programmer I had a chance to see the new IBM mainframe data storage unit that held a whopping 5 GIG! And it was the size of a refrigerator! Back then that was an amazing piece of equipment. Now you can get an 8 gig thumb-drive as a giveaway at your kid’s school carnival fundraiser. It is unbelievable really where we are with data storage today.
How about 1200 baud dial-up modems that were the size of a large shoebox? Of course that would be a shoebox that was made out of steel and weighed 10 pounds. You could probably paint the screen with a crayon faster than that dial-up speed could but it allowed us to have network connectivity at home and we were thrilled that it even worked at all!
Speaking of dial-up, who can forget those endless AOL floppy disks and CD’s that would show up unsolicited in your mail or on your doorstep and would fill-up the trashcans at your local post-office? AOL must’ve sent out about a billion of them (literally)! That little memory (nightmare?) should give you an even greater appreciation for having WOW! Internet services available to you!
I could go on and on about 35 pound “portable” computers the size of a sewing machine but now I’m beginning to sound like that old-guy character from “Saturday Night Live” commiserating about how good “you kids” have it today compared to what “we” had way back then…
Anyway, good luck in your research for what is going to be best for you and bear in mind as soon as you buy it and get it home and the timeframe has passed where you can still return it, it will already be cheaper somewhere else and that specific technology will already be on the path to obsolescence…enjoy that piece of gear nonetheless and drive it like you stole it!
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Ray talked about an exciting viewing opportunity that is available to WOW! subscribers through the NBC Olympics website back in his January 29th post . The Olympics have so many events yet there are never enough hours in a day to watch it all. My favorite Winter Olympic sports are Figure Skating, Snowboarding and Speed Skating. I really try my best to be able to watch them but sometimes that isn’t the case such as this past weekend.
This past weekend I was very busy and it was one of those rare times that I forgot to set my DVR. I remembered that Ray had posted about how to view past events through the NBC Olympics website and decided to give it a shot. I went to the Video tab on the homepage and clicked on the “Live and Full Replays” tab. When I clicked on the tab, this is what I saw:
All I had to do was select my provider from the drop down box, which is WOW! You have to scroll to the end of the list to find us. After I did that, a pop up window asking me for my WOW! login information. Once I did that and it was confirmed, I had access to all the exclusive content.
Now that I am registered, I can go back and watch previous events such as the Women’s USA Hockey team who defeated China, 12-1 this morning. I saw some great highlights before heading out the door and definitely want to watch the entire game later on tonight.
In addition to being able to view prior events, I can also set alerts to remind me of live events that will be available through their website. The sports that are available on live stream are Hockey and Curling. I also like that I can bookmark that specific page so I don’t see the results ahead of time.
I think this is a great opportunity that our subscribers (Full Basic and Digital Cable customers) can take advantage of and am extremely happy that we can provide this type of experience.
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