Today I was invited to
TVNZ’s headquarters in Auckland, along with several other local bloggers, to check out
their new web-based television on demand service – called TVNZ ondemand and due to be launched
later this month. It will have a mix of free (ad supported) and premium content; the latter may only be viewed for 7 days, after which the user’s rights to it
expires.
Even though Read/WriteWeb has a global focus, it’s worthwhile talking a little about
how a national state-owned television network is adjusting to the IPTV revolution.
Remember that earlier this week Josh Catone wrote a fantastic article for Read/WriteWeb
entitled
Internet Killed The Television Star: Reviews of Joost, Babelgum, Zattoo, and More. I
mentioned this post to the TVNZ honchos, but actually they are well aware of what is
happening in the IPTV world – and indeed they’re already talking to Joost and others, to
try and make deals for their content. The local NZ market is their first priority, but
over time they will market their TV programs to worldwide IPTV services such as Joost.
I was most struck by one thing TVNZ said in our meeting (which btw we were told was
public and bloggable). Part of its digital strategy involves TVNZ promoting and
positioning its website, including the on demand service, as their third
channel. To put this in perspective, TVNZ has two major TV channels (networks in US
parlance) – imaginatively called TV1 and TV2. Being national TV channels/networks, TV1
and TV2 are the prime assets of TVNZ. So to raise the website, tvnz.co.nz, up to the same level as their TV channels…
well that is great for the Web and goes to show that IPTV is seen as a critical
component of television networks going forward.
And just to bring this back to a global perspective, TVNZ’s strategy and zeal for IPTV
is fairly similar to the BBC’s – which has also invested a lot into
Internet TV solutions. Although TVNZ isn’t anywhere as well funded as the BBC, the two
are both supported by their respective taxpayers. Also like BBC, and Google/YouTube for
that matter, copyright is a major issue for TVNZ and something they need to figure
out.
So TVNZ’s website will, in time, become “the third channel”. That’s like NBC in
America saying that their website will become equal in status to their television
network! As well as some existing TV content, TVNZ plans to have unique content on their
website (including extended footage, behind the scenes, also new programs either acquired
or made for the web — in fact I pointed out Revision3’s latest music
show as a good example of unique made-for-Web TV). Also they will of course utilize a
range of platforms – gaming machines, mobile, browsers, etc. Their ultimate goal is to be
the destination for online video content in NZ.
If you want to check out a sneak peak of TVNZ ondemand, this week a 14-year old boy discovered the “secret”
URL for the service and posted a detailed
review onto Throng – a local “TV watching
community” run by Regan and Rachel Cunliffe (both of whom I met today for the first
time). The screenshot and logo in this post are courtesy of that review, because TVNZ ondemand is back behind closed doors for now.
