The past few years have seen a substantial alteration in how people view television, especially with the development of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). In Canada, this transition isn’t merely a happening; it is a development that is fundamentally changing how Canadians go about obtaining and enjoying their preferred broadcasts, whether those be shows, films, or live events. This piece looks at IPTV’s arrival in Canada, the upsides it has, and the challenges it poses.
The internet protocol (IP) television is a relatively new technology that promises to change how we watch television. Watching television via the internet isn’t a new concept. However, the way we access and interact with internet television is continually evolving. IPTV—in the simplest of terms—refers to watching television over the internet. But it’s a bit more complicated than that. In fact, by using the term “television,” we aren’t technically being entirely accurate. What’s undeniable is the growing influence of IPTV, and how it’s inching closer toward taking over the television viewing landscape.
In Canada, technological progress and evolving consumer tastes have led to a decidedly pro-IPTV atmosphere. Among the major players of the Canadian telecommunications landscape, Bell, Rogers, and Telus have rolled out their own IPTV platforms. Bell’s, Fibe TV, is a direct response to the growing popularity of video consumption on portable devices. To this end, Fibe TV features a Cloud DVR option that, unlike the original version of the service that required a physical component, stores recorded shows directly in the Internet Protocol’s backbone and makes them accessible through either TVs or any device that connects to the Internet. This feature pretty much guarantees that would-be recorders of “The Amazing Race” can catch the show anytime, anywhere, even if they miss it during its regular timeslot.
IPTV has many benefits, but its flexibility is perhaps its greatest asset. As long as they have internet service, users can watch programming whenever and wherever they want. And this “content anytime, anywhere” capability is really what appeals most to younger audiences, who, with their smartphones, seem to consider the most basic necessity of life to be the ability to watch programming on their own terms, without being tethered to a specific time and place. That young audience clearly seems to like the affordability factor of most IPTV services as well. In fact, with their slimmed-down channel selections, some IPTV platforms actually offer a greater diversity of content than 21st-century homeschooled BAT: the basic cable package.
Often packed with cutting-edge features, IPTV services let you pause, rewind, and fast-forward live programming; enable you to record shows and stuff your virtual cloud with them; and on the most basic level, give you instant access to the kind of on-demand library that operators like Bell, Shaw, or Telus can provide. IPTV — or Internet Protocol Television — is basically digital TV sent to your browser over the internet rather than through the kind of cable infrastructure that, to some extent, still dominates the Canadian pay TV marketplace. Nonetheless, this division of IP vs. cable has very little to do with your actual TV experience; what’s at stake is the battle for the viewer’s eyeball.
Moreover, a big obstacle comes from the regulatory side. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has the mandate to ensure fair competition and to protect broadcasting consumers. Regulating this fast-evolving, technically complex, and highly competitive platform is no easy task, and the CRTC must accomplish it using an old regulatory toolbox. Nevertheless, the decision taken on May 22, 2008, signals a new era for the IPTV platform in Canada.
IPTV is changing the Canadian television landscape in ways that are almost dizzying, and it’s bringing many unprecedented opportunities along with it. The tremendous potential here is clear: IPTV is a medium that not only provides options for viewers but also presents integrated somewhat panoptic solutions for the television industry itself.
Despite the many advantages that IPTV brings, it also exposes both viewers and the industry to several serious challenges. That said, what opportunities does IPTV provide to us as viewers and to the industry as a whole, and what challenges does it present? And what does all this mean for the future television landscape in Canada?