Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce Final Report and Recommendations May 2014 •

Objective The Taskforce will determine how the UK’s track record of innovation in television technology can be leveraged to deliver sustainable economic growth. 2 1

14 16 18 26 34 42 48 62 64

From the Chairman Steering Group Recommendations



Who’s Who Sponsors and Supporters Consumer Trends Evolution of Devices and Applications Computing for the Creative Industries Data Management Future Networks and Infrastructure Summary of Recommendations Glossary

From the Chairman

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The UK television industry has always been enormously creative and technologically innovative. But we are facing unprecedented global challenges to our ability to compete, let alone lead. The Future of Innovation in Television Technology (FITT) Taskforce was convened to review the current state of the industry, explore ways in which the government, industry and education system could more effectively collaborate, and make recommendations that, if implemented, would enormously increase the UK’s competitive edge in television technologies. I would like to thank the Steering Group and Advisory Group members for their hard work and insight (see page 14 for full list), and the Digital TV Group for running what has been a thorough review of our industrial challenges.

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The FITT Taskforce was set up to understand our innovation system; the point now is to change it.

Dr David Docherty Chairman of the FITT Taskforce

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Steering Group Recommendations

of innovation in television technology and to make recommendations that would strengthen the UK’s audio-visual industries. At the DTG Summit 2013, the Minister posed four questions to the Taskforce: 1. As demand for mobile broadband challenges the amount of spectrum in the market place, what is the best way to ensure the most efficient and effective use of this important resource? 2. Technological innovation will never stop. So how can the TV industry come up with options and solutions to make transitions to new technologies as smooth as possible, whilst at the same time protecting the evolution of public service content delivery? 3. How will consumers interact with new technologies and content?

The innovation landscape for television in the UK has been entirely transformed over the last ten years. Unless the UK responds in a coherent and effective way, it might become an innovation backwater, with its flourishing TV content and software industries becoming subject to technological constraints that undermine their business models. 1.1 Introduction The UK has world-class businesses in TV production, post-production and delivery, set-top box design and development, app creation, Big Data use, silicon architecture and design, and games development and publishing. If we are to create an environment where our major companies and corporations flourish and in which shoals of small companies emerge and thrive, then industry, government, education and investors must create an ecosystem where barriers to innovation are effectively removed or minimised. The UK has an extraordinary track record for developing television and TV-like services1. From Baird’s early experiments, to the launch of the BBC and on to the first generation of the digital video broadcasting standard which was initially delivered on Sky’s digital satellite service followed by DTT and, more recently, Freeview and Freeview HD, the UK has been at the forefront of successfully deploying complex technologies in the interest of consumers and licence fee payers. For example, with red-button technologies using the MHEG2 standard, and new internet-delivered services, such as YouView, Sky Go, NowTV, Freesat Freetime and the expected Freeview Connected services, UK companies have successfully delivered UK variants of digital services for UK consumers. The UK has built up an international reputation for

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successful implementation of all these services, which should ensure the UK is well placed to exploit this experience internationally. Future challenges for the television ecosystem, although formidable, are not insurmountable. First, with the impact of globalisation, the major TV manufacturers have moved most of their production and R&D back to their home bases. Second, the internet and IP delivery of content is starting to reshape the TV industry as some consumers watch catch-up services delivered over their broadband or wireless connections. Third, consumers have become accustomed to a choice between millions of programmes and services delivered to a multiplicity of devices. Fourth, global technology and software giants, mainly based in the US, are targeting television as a means of expansion at the expense of the UK and indigenous industries across the globe. Fifth, computing power and storage continue to expand exponentially. And finally, education at all levels struggles to keep pace with this rate of change to produce the skilled talent necessary to respond to it.

4. How do we maintain strong competition between platforms so that consumers have a range of options to consume television services – including free-to-air digital?

He said that to achieve a stronger UK audio-visual industry, the “whole sector [should] be bold in how it approaches these issues” and that partnerships and dialogue after the report would be essential: “Organisations like the DTG are absolutely critical to bring the different parts of the sectors together” he added.

1.2 The Taskforce – People and Workstreams Comprised of a Steering Group of consumer specialists, senior content executives, technology leaders, mobile and network senior managers and leading academics, the Taskforce responded to these challenges by creating five workstreams and setting the review horizon at 2025 to enable long-term thinking and reflection.

The streams were:  Consumer Trends  Evolution of Devices and Applications  Computing for the Creative Industries  Data Management  Future Networks and Infrastructure Each workstream Advisory Group raised issues with finding and developing the right skills and talent to deliver successful innovation. Although we did not create a separate working group to review this, we have included some recommendations. The full findings and recommendations of each stream are reported in detail in their respective chapters in this report. First, we present the Taskforce’s vision of the future, followed by recommendations on how UK television innovation can have the best chance of thriving in this environment. To begin with we focus on the driver of successful innovation – the consumer.

The internet and IP delivery of content is starting to reshape the TV industry as some consumers watch catch-up services delivered over their broadband or wireless connections.

Recognising the need for an integrated response to challenges like these, Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries, asked the Digital TV Group (DTG) to support an industry-wide review

1 For the rest of this report, ‘television’ will be used to encompass traditional linear services and other forms of television-like services that appear on all kinds of screens, large and small, fixed and mobile. 2 Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group (MHEG).

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

1.3 From Couch Potatoes to TV Surfers: Consumer Trends in TV consumption

There are more screens - with over 55% penetration of tablets predicted within the next couple of years.

Although viewing habits for linear television today are almost the same as they were in the late 1980s and 90s, digital technology has transformed the way we view content. We now take for granted multi-channel line ups and Electronic Programme Guides, together with widescreen picture formats and enhanced stereo sound, all displayed on large flat screens with images delivered by transmission masts, satellite dishes, over the internet and cable. As Ofcom noted in their 2013 Communications Market Report: “the average number of hours of television watched by individuals in the UK has risen over the past eight years from 3 hours 42 minutes a day in 2004 (3.7 hours) to 4 hours per day in 2012 (4.01 hours).” And the TV set still dominates TV viewing - 98.5% of TV was watched on a TV set in 20133.

 Mobile connectivity is improving via cellular (3G and more recently 4G, with 5G on the horizon) and Wi-Fi, using wired broadband.

Many have been predicting the demise of this type of viewing for over a decade, but it seems to maintain a tenacious hold on consumer behaviour. However, we can already see the signs of transformational change:

Manufacturers are consistently producing, smaller, smarter and more powerful portable devices that have become ubiquitous. Battery life is improving. For early adopters of new screen technologies - weighted of course towards younger generations - linear TV is only part of their audio-visual consumption. These consumers watch online via Over The Top (OTT) services (video services delivered over the open internet) and expect to view TV content anywhere, anytime. Such viewing will only intensify over time, and in our projection of long-term trends we anticipate a mixed viewing economy, with continued live and on-demand viewing in the home, alongside increasing mobile consumption of TV services. This will, of course, have significant impact on business models, how TV is paid for and by whom. (See Figure 1):

Therefore, although the main set may yet be the hub for other media – and the industry will continue to innovate around interaction with linear TV - most consumers will have a plethora of choice. Channel surfers of the past will be very different from the search-based viewers of the future. As such, we predict a steady increase in the use of Catch-up TV, where the programme or event is watched some hours or days after initial transmission. More disruptively, we anticipate an increase in the use of on-demand content, at the expense of live and time-shifted programmes. Such viewing may require an application to be running on the device, with rights management that meets the requirements of the content provider. This will create an important role for search in TV applications, and perhaps even applications that allow searching of vast archives. The UK is world-class at content and must become world-class at context.

content anytime, anywhere. And – depending on consumers’ willingness to share data on their consumption – this will enable all kinds of producers and broadcasters to track the vast amount of individual data and present tailored offerings and targeted advertising. We return to this challenge in our section on data.

However, there are even greater forces at work stoking consumer demand. By 2025, the internet and computing technology will have transformed not only our relationship with our TV screens, but also with each other and the world around us. Devices will be connected all of the time, providing access to our own personalised

1.4 The ‘New Convergence’: Evolution of Devices, Applications and Big Data

Figure 1: Business Models Matrix

Not Live VOD replaces TV decline of the channel (but not brand)

“Users” (Online only licence-fee)

Behaviour Services Business Models

+ smaller audiences + longer engagement + storage capacity + “Bingeing” & release of whole series simultaneously Small, portable streaming devices (connected device)+ better battery life

+ branded short form content + adverts and additional content

+ Wi-Fi only tablets

New TV measurement across ‘X’ days and devices + better data + OTT subscription + Connected devices streaming to TV

Home

Main set dominates + social viewing

(Broadcast & Online licence-fee) + PPV

Connected devices dominate + personal experience

VOD complements TV + event e.g. sport subscriptions + Contextual ads via connected sets

+ contextual ads IP delivered linear TV Overnight viewing remains standard

“Audience” (Broadcast only licence-fee)

Schedule remains important

Live

Content follows you around

Anywhere

Figure 2

Digital technologies have disrupted entire industries through the seemingly limitless capacity to squeeze more and more traditionally discrete services into one device; for example, the smartphone. This has led to consumers owning media production capabilities on an unprecedented scale: every owner of a smartphone can take photographs, record audio and make movies. It is to the evolution of such devices that we now turn.

The long awaited convergence in technology will not be between TV and the internet, or broadcast and mobile, but the meeting of Big Data, mass market consumer electronic products and consumer appetite for new applications and services. Smart networks will develop where devices are always connected both in and out of the home, opening up the possibility of ‘hybrid’ and ‘virtual’ services where equipment cooperates by sharing resources. The data gathered will feed Big Data and the analytics that will optimise and bring real value to applications. This New Convergence is the policy sweet spot where the support for innovation should focus. UK companies may not manufacture complete devices, but they can certainly build on them to provide new services and applications. UK companies have a great deal of knowledge and experience in these areas. However, there are barriers to exporting them, such as lack of skills and export expertise, particularly in small companies. The industry needs government organisations, such as the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), to work with the industry on licensing, IP development and export advice that flow from the ‘New Convergence’.

Big Data

Devices

Analytics mine for correlations & value.

Big Data source. Analytics enable new applications.

Innovation New business.

Consumer Appetite For new applications & services.

Figure 3: UK Innovation Strengths in TV Technology Stack

✔

3rd Party App and UI Design (iPlayer, Sky Go etc)

n

on Desig

Applicati

turing

Finished Consumer Goods Production

Manufac

✔

Product and Application Design

Creative

Design

✔

Silicon Firmware

Software

Design

Chip Fabrication

Manufac

Gate and System Design

Silicon D

✔

turing esign

Social viewing via connected people Live refers to all content as it is broadcast, +1 or PVR and watched on the same day.

3 http://www.thinkbox.tv/98.5-of-tv-was-watched-on-a-tv-set-in-2013 [accessed 18 Feb 2014]

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Figure 4: Data standards and value

“In 2025 devices could be up

• Wiki- Mozilla-

Mass targeting

Innovations in storage, processing and networking inside and outside the home. Apps that enable consumption of content on-demand - preferably by using an application framework that works across devices from different manufacturers, and perhaps even across diverse device classes. This would ensure that a larger proportion of the viewing public can be reached. This framework should ensure easy search and discovery of available content. Synchronisation between second and third screens and home networking.

S econd, that the UK has the skills needed to engage effectively in this space. YouView and Sky already hire a significant number of the available C++ engineers. The UK requires a large increase in software engineers to enable the TV industry to compete with banks and global software companies such as Google and Apple. As we show in the next section, these changes will only be possible with major transformations in the computing power and storage available to the creative industries.

Synchronous [shared viewing on living room TV]

• Remains key currency of advertising

“

In 2025 devices could be up to a thousand times more powerful than today, networks an order of magnitude faster and storage media may offer a thousand times more local and affordable storage. In this complex but vibrant business environment, we recommend that the government develops a coherent industrial and research strategy to support the UK audio-visual industry’s drive to lead the field in the following areas:

• Current model, enhanced with more metadata

Two key considerations to support UK success in exploiting and reaping the potential rewards of Data Management are: First, that industry works constructively to find ways to engage consumers in the domain of data management – by working for a transparent and meaningful way of explaining the benefits of sharing their data with service providers; and

Potentially targeting: • Content, UGC and Adverts • Max room for SME innovation

“Platform led”

“Adsense”

• Used for content search and discovery, and for social media comments about programmes

• Primarily focused on targeted advertising – steals value from TV value chain

• No universal infrastructure

• Secondary focus on targeting content

• Led by Verticals (Sky, Virgin...)

• Dominated by internet giants using their own standards: • Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple

Value drifting this direction

Figure 5: Mapping the future: data privacy Willing to share data “Available but Unhelpful”

“Open Access”

• Personal data shared freely by consumers

• Maximum amount of data can be gathered about consumers

• Regulation prevents internal/external data sharing without explicit consent

• Data can be combined from multiple sources – Mobile, TV, Smart home, Auto

• Consumer trust is high, data supply is secure

• Sophisticated and integrated services that save consumer time, money and increase choice. Trust can be lost easily

Tightly regulated

• Constrained but reliable business models. Revenues stable.

• High revenue potential through targeted ads and services

“Privacy Paramount”

“Data Mining”

• Consumers are limited to what data they can share

• Consumers either by default or choice share little data

• Regulation limits creative exploitation of that data

• Businesses have less data to mine and lose economies and insights of large scale

• Consumer loses benefits of Big Data and Internet of Things • New business models are constrained. Innovation is stifled. Revenues minimised.

• Consumer trust is low and people may be generally suspicious of connected/smart devices • Revenues at risk

Unwilling to share data

1. Focus our energies on the innovation ‘sweet spot’ of the New Convergence - where Big Data meets devices on the internet of things (IOT) and matches consumer appetite. This should include a cross-industry government review of licencing and export potential. We strongly welcome the government’s establishment of the Alan Turing Institute which will focus on the collection and analysis of Big Data. We call on the TV industry to engage actively with the new institute. 2. The DTG to convene a cross-industry working party group with industry measurement bodies, such as the Broadcasters Audience Research Board, and Open Data think tanks, such as the Open Data Institute, to respond to the challenges of Big Data in television. This should include a review of self-regulation. 3. Industry and academia to form a Technology Advocacy Programme where innovators can share newly developed technologies and find applications (and therefore potential sources of revenue) through connecting with other inventors and entrepreneurs. Very often innovation comes when a technology from one sphere crosses over into another. Such a programme could bring together people from all parts of the industry value chain to ensure cross-pollination of ideas.

Proprietary data standards

Growing Innovation in Big Data Intelligent use of big consumer data could enable better targeted advertising and increase revenues in the TV value chain. (See Figure 4) A major issue is whether open or proprietary data standards dominate and the extent to which consumers accept that sharing their data provides value to them, without infringing their privacy. The industry should review its privacy criteria and explore models of selfregulation to reassure viewers and consumers. (See Figure 5)

• Dominated by top broadcasters

• Advertising/ targeting

Loosely regulated

The markets for CE devices and apps are increasingly global, and whilst the UK market on its own is vibrant, it is relatively small. Therefore, the UK must take an increasingly global view of technical standards to ensure that its voice is heard more effectively. The UK’s audiovisual industry must continue to engage with the development of European and global standards where it can leverage its significant long-term implementation experience for the benefit of UK consumers and create opportunities to export this knowledge and technology for UK plc. The UK must be seen to be good collaborators in international standards development.

“HTML...”

Targeted

Growing Innovation in Devices and Apps The UK currently holds a strong position in the global components market: if you have a mobile device in your pocket, it probably has technology inside from [UK] companies such as ARM, Imagination Technologies and Wolfson. So there is an opportunity to build on global mass market hardware platforms (mobile phones, tablets, games consoles etc.), that may be manufactured elsewhere but which enable new, valuable and innovative applications to be developed in the UK and which may be successfully exported.

“BARB 2.0”

Personalised asynchronous [viewing on personal IP connected Devices]

to a thousand times more powerful than today, networks an order of magnitude faster and storage media may offer a thousand times more local and affordable storage.

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Recommendations

Open data standards

4. The EPSRC4 should fund research to advance the science of integrated circuits, pushing silicon beyond the current 10 nanometre processing boundary. And although an old technology, magnetic storage should not be ignored. For many applications the read/write resilience of magnetic media is very important and universities should continue to focus research in this area. The Taskforce welcomes the investments in ‘Quantum Hubs’ (funded by the TSB5 and EPSRC) which address the challenges of developing quantum science through technology to application. And it calls upon the TV industry to work with the hubs to find innovative solutions to the New Convergence. 5. Computing platforms and operating systems should be the focus of government and industry initiatives and funding. Initiatives in this area should include work with European partners and there must be greater coordination of UK efforts in standardisation.

4 EPSRC - Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 5 TSB - Technology Strategy Board

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

1.5 In the Clouds - Computing for the Creative Industries The creative industries – both TV and gaming – are on target to originate content at increasingly higher definition, including so called “4k” and “8k” formats and higher frame rates, up to 60 frames per second (fps) per eye for 3D or 120fps for 2D. This creates major business challenges for the UK’s post-production and gaming industries. Most technology advances more than double the data

storage requirements and, in production and post-production, data transfer times will increase hugely, especially when digital cinema is standardised. Audio formatting is also evolving from channel-based audio to object-based coding – independently positioning objects anywhere within the sound field. While this does not significantly increase the final delivery data, the computational complexity in production is increased. High-end production and post-production, especially visual effects, can generate up to 40 terabytes per day and, once stored in the common file formats used in the industry, can take several days to transfer across networks. The IT industry needs to address seriously the specialist needs of the production and post-production industry. If the UK is to remain at the forefront of content creation, it needs to provide the resources - capable of easy expansion - to embrace ever-increasing data and network requirements. With the increased use of motion capture and CGI effects, there is an increasing desire from the industry to see previsualisations and first-run effects on set. This requires the computing capability and the skills to be available during the shooting of content to ensure that the captured images will be effective. Digital Television is currently going through a process of agreeing standards for UltraHigh Definition (UHD). This is likely to include larger sample grids moving from 1920 x 1080 to 3840 x 2160 or 7680 x 4320, increasing frame rates from 25 Hz or interlaced 50 Hz to 50 Hz progressive or 100 Hz, and increasing the dynamic range requiring a move from 8-bits to 10

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or 12-bits per pixel. The mobile industry is also converging with media creation and distribution, with recent devices capable of 4k video capture and display. Although capturing and processing this content is possible today, the main challenge for television is to accommodate ‘Live’ outside broadcast. A standard sport broadcast programme makes heavy use of slow-motion replays and on screen graphics to analyse the game. Therefore, not only does the live end-to-end chain

Games are no longer restricted to dedicated platforms or PCs: they can now be found on social media platforms, mobile, tablet and TV devices as well as simple websites using a variety of different operating systems and standards.

need to handle much higher data-rates for UHD, but the tools for fast storage, manipulation and playback need to be available as well, to support a typical outside broadcast environment. Gaming has similar challenges; where technologies like ray-tracing help create the effect of visual realism at the cost of significant computational complexity. Fortunately, graphics processing units are evolving quickly to meet these needs and provide the creative community with tools to push the boundaries. The other challenge for gaming across multiple platforms is around payment and discoverability. Games are no longer restricted to dedicated platforms or PCs: they can now be found on social media platforms, mobile, tablet and TV devices as well as simple websites using a variety of different operating systems and standards. The most rapidly growing sector of games is with “Free to Play” apps but with over one million apps in the iTunes store and almost the same number on Android platforms, getting discovered is extremely difficult. It is therefore recommended that a cross-platform promotion network be considered to promote UK-developed applications. A cross industry working group, including TIGA, should be formed to discuss how cross platform promotion might help promote UK-developed games and other applications.

Within the Apple ecosystem, the mechanism for secure micro-payments is extremely well implemented and has made a success of the business model of “Free to Play” games with monetisation via micro-transactions. Although there are many web-billing systems, there is no equivalent trusted one-touch billing system for TV apps, in part due to the fragmentation of technical standards in the connected TV market. The greatest computing challenge for the production and post-production community is the handling of huge peaks and troughs in demand for computationally intensive rendering. This requires a data centre with sufficient energy, processing capability, connectivity and storage to meet this demand but also to provide the benefit of being a shared resource across the UK creative industry. Similar successful initiatives have been implemented in Canada to support the growing creative community there. The Canadian productive and economic method of working needs to be introduced in the UK to support the industry and to keep it competitive and world-leading in this age of rapidly advancing digital production. Moving forward, it is recommended that a “Creative Cloud” be provided in the

UK to meet current and future creative demands. There is an opportunity for this UK resource to be innovative, ‘World Class’ and further develop energy-efficient processors and servers. Also new ways need to be found to exploit existing infrastructure and resources, such as the UK academic networks and high performance computing capability. A UK Creative Cloud would need to manage access and scheduling securely to deliver a flexible and efficient pay-as-yougo service to the UK creative community. A minimum 10 Gbps connection would be required into central London to handle uncompressed video assets. Any data centre should have access to an adequate source of low cost energy and utilise natural cooling where possible to minimise running cost. Optimising processors to handle audio, video and graphics would significantly improve the efficiencies of the computing equipment. Secure storage would provide a vital disaster recovery service for the industry.

Recommendations 6. Industry work with the Technology Strategy Board, E-Infrastructure Leadership Council and the Connected Digital Economy Catapult to create a resource to demonstrate UK leadership in this area, whilst supporting the needs of the creative industry. We call upon the government to create incentives to facilitate the introduction of the UK Creative Cloud and to continue to promote the sector in the UK. With a likely implementation cost of £5-10 million, we call on the government to provide seed funding, and for industry to match this with contributions in kind and in cash. 7. An industry working-party group consider the development of a cross-platform promotion network to promote UK-developed applications.

To facilitate these changes in production and consumption, the UK will require robust and sustainable networks and infrastructure; we will review these challenges in the next section.

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

By 2025, consumers will expect to view their own personalised content and data around the home and on the move. The amount of data and content being delivered will have continued to increase, as will the amount of content viewed on mobile and handheld devices. There will therefore be a need to strike a balance between the requirements of terrestrial broadcasters and mobile operators to ensure the UK is well placed to meet these requirements, and to exploit the roll out of new technologies and services globally. What does this mean for technology development? The UK has been a leader in the rollout of digital TV, and HD, but these changes still take time. With Ultra HD, further developments are required to make this commercially viable for broadcast on any platform. However, as the next generation of High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is expected to be widely supported in set-top boxes and TVs that come on to the market in the next three to four years, this will make 4k and, in the future, even higher resolution broadcasts, feasible on the satellite platform. Superfast broadband is expected to be available to 95% of homes by 2017 with a substantial take-up by the end of the decade. This in itself should allow broadband using multicast technology to become a credible TV platform which could support the delivery of UHD content, either live or on-demand.

Were a second generation digital terrestrial (T2) switchover to take place, and for sufficient legacy products to reach the end of their lives, it is reasonable to expect HEVC encoding to be used for broadcasting on the DTT platform too. This will open up opportunities for more HD, a greater number of services or the introduction of some UHD services on that platform. These are exciting possibilities for broadcasters but there is still, in the short to medium term, an issue of how to meet the rising demand for more and more services to mobile devices while at the same time balancing the needs of the terrestrial broadcasters. The next generation of cellular technology, known as 5G, is unlikely to be rolled out until after 2020. The full extent of changes expected is still to be defined, but higher data rates are undoubtedly going to be available. Delivery of content over 5G networks is an area where major changes can be expected. Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) allows multimedia content to be sent once and received by many end users, and the technology is already available on the current 4G networks.

“These are exciting possibilities for broadcasters but there is still, in the short to medium term, an issue of how to meet the rising demand for more and more services to mobile devices.

“

1.6 S  ustaining the Future Networks and Infrastructure

More spectrally efficient distribution methods could significantly change the way we receive and watch content on mobile devices. Already the cost of memory is falling while its storage capacity increases. The availability of larger memory chips due in part to the reducing cost of storage would allow the most popular on-demand content to be delivered to devices prior to consumption. Of course, off-peak network capacity would be required to do this, but as we shall discuss later, this may well be a part of the solution to meet the overall growth in demand. Another aspect of mobile delivery is Wi-Fi and, if more 5 GHz spectrum were to be released, then within three years 802.11ac would help deliver higher bandwidth capacity to Wi-Fi enabled devices and encourage the adoption of the 5 GHz licence-free band. Standardised beam-forming would bring increased spectrum efficiency to Wi-Fi, and multiuser MiMo would enable more efficient usage of the airtime in hotspots and other deployments that currently have predominantly single antenna devices. Wi-Fi will be well equipped to play a full and valuable role in satisfying consumer requirements and demand through: An increased licence exempt spectrum allocation at 5 GHz. The technological developments of Passpoint to ensure seamless changeover between networks. Carrier Grade certification to provide QoS (Quality of Service) and DSA (Dynamic Spectrum Allocation) rather than DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection). Smart algorithms in devices to allocate and select spectrum more efficiently (with proprietary solutions initially before some of these are available in standardised form).

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This of course points to a possible need to redefine the meaning of “licenceexempt” spectrum, and may require changes such as permitting devices access to certain spectrum, based not only on their technical characteristics, but also on aspects such as whether they are carriergrade broadcast devices. Equally the use of newer technologies for spectrum allocation in Wi-Fi, such as Dynamic Spectrum Allocation which is currently under investigation for TV White Space, may also, over time, make Wi-Fi an even more efficient spectrum user. These help to answer some of the above points, but still there is the issue about greater and greater volumes of content and data being delivered, particularly to mobile devices within the available spectrum. With Wi-Fi and mobile re-using the spectrum, it is critically important to enable this finite resource to be used in the most efficient manner. Mobile cell sizes will need to become smaller, similar to the size of Wi-Fi cells, and so the future will undoubtedly see the fast growth of small cells. As per the new cellular standards, and as broadly agreed by industry, Wi-Fi and cellular technologies will increasingly complement each other and their networks will evolve to become interconnected: users will not have to worry about which technology their device uses or how to gain access. Their devices will make these choices automatically, while the networks feed applications with relevant data. The delivery of on-demand and linear video content to mobile devices is expected to continue to be the most significant driver of mobile data traffic growth for the rest of this decade. To meet forecast demand in the most efficient way, from a spectrum-usage and cost perspective, live TV and the most popular on-demand TV/video content can be delivered using multi-cast techniques. In the most efficient scenario, users of all four mobile network operators would

have access to a single set of services, transmitted live or via a data carousel: however, this would require more advanced versions of eMBMS or DVB-T2 technology to deliver services in a network-operator agnostic way. If these broadcast/multi-cast techniques were adopted for mobile networks, only a proportion of existing base-stations would need to be equipped, and would be sufficient to provide the required coverage to mobile devices due to the fact that the power used for broadcasting can be higher than that used for standard cellular communications, requiring smaller cells. This approach is known as a Low-Power, Low-Tower (LPLT) network that could co-exist with the current High Power High Tower DTT network consisting of high power main transmitters and lower power relay and repeater transmitters. This could be delivered in the various mobile bands that are currently available and that may be made available in the coming years. The use of LPLT networks to deliver media content to mobile devices could enable spectrum currently unused in parts of the UK to be allocated for this purpose. The ideal spectrum for LPLT purposes would be in bands already in use for mobile services elsewhere in the world, because suitable mobile handsets are in production and available. This use of lower power delivery (i.e. similar power levels to those used by mobile transmitters) may also have other uses, such as the delivery of TV in some coastal areas subject to an assessment of the cost relative to other available options such as additional relay and repeater transmitters. This could have the benefit of opening up additional frequencies for the use of DTT that are currently unavailable due to international restrictions because of high power high tower transmitters in nearby countries using them. The adoption of such technologies for mobile delivery and for static home delivery begins to provide numerous

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

options for the future. With multiple TV platforms, consumers will have even more choice of what content to watch, both live and on-demand, and how they receive it. However, this also leaves options for how to ensure other aspects of PSB requirements are met. This mixed economy in the UK should enable the best technologies to meet specific needs in each location. Broadband, DTT, satellite and cable will all be capable of delivering linear TV services to the home in the next ten years. However, for services to be made over broadband free at the point of consumption would require a suitable commercial model, and potentially funding arrangements to be in place for those homes not already taking a broadband service. Broadband TV already has a role in delivering linear content to homes, and this role is expected to grow over the next decade, including, potentially, in the delivery of some local TV services. LPLT may also allow the use of additional spectrum previously unused in some locations. These could all enhance the DTT, satellite and cable networks currently in use. The intelligent use of mobile spectrum, developments in Wi-Fi and the increasing number of Wi-Fi only mobile devices will act as a way to moderate data demand on cellular networks and will all work together to help manage the finite spectrum resource.

Recommendations 8.  Engage industry, government and the regulators in the ‘Next Generation of TV Planning Programme’ under the guidance of the ‘TV Leaders Assembly’. This would create an evolving plan for the next decade and beyond to ensure a varied and competitive TV platform landscape, both Pay and Free. It would cover broadband take-up and spectrum in the near term, and, in the longer term, solutions encompassing all applicable technologies and infrastructure to ensure universally available public service content and efficient use of spectrum. Additionally, in order for some of these developments to occur, government needs to provide certainty around future policy and investment in the following ways:

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How should the UK deliver TV in the future using all of these technologies? The UK needs to develop an ongoing review process to ensure the most efficient delivery mechanisms are used to provide universally-available content. In the short- to medium- term, this needs to look at improving availability and take up of superfast broadband, spectrum replanning in the UHF band in the event of 700MHz clearance, including protection of broadcast services in the 470-694 MHz band, to ensure DTT can deliver services in the most efficient manner and a cost and benefit analysis of any T2 switchover. In the longer term, an economic study and trials to understand how Low Power Low Tower transmission may complement the current High Power High Tower terrestrial network and the roles that multicast eMBMS and 5G can play. The process should include DTT, broadband, satellite, mobile, Wi-Fi and cable to ensure that core services are available nationally. Technologies currently being used for TV White space should continue to be explored, as should the use of dynamic spectrum access as a fundamental feature of future wireless communication. This has the capability to be used in many areas of the spectrum - not just in the UHF bands - and, as has already been discussed, such technologies will enhance Wi-Fi use and will become an intrinsic part of the delivery of the Internet of Things.

9. That the government’s policy, licensing and regulatory decisions for the TV industry ensure fair and effective competition between cable, satellite, terrestrial and broadband TV providers. Domestic and international policy should ensure the UK is well placed to take advantage of changes and create an environment to ensure that economically sound investments can be made by the industry in the innovation and development of all platforms, for the good of the UK and TV consumers. 10. Public service content should be available to all consumers across all age and socio-economic groups free at the point of consumption by using the most appropriate technologies, including a choice of cable, satellite, broadband, mobile and DTT.

Methods of delivering content to mobile devices using multicast and broadcast techniques aiming to raise efficiency need to be encouraged and further investigated. Currently available technologies such as eMBMS go a long way to achieving this, and the step change expected in 5G at the end of the decade should provide opportunities for further innovations to enhance efficiency. Some of these options are radical, but the finite nature of available spectrum means that we must find practical ways to use this resource more efficiently. Some major changes and developments in infrastructure may be required but equally they may lead to real benefits to TV viewers. There are choices to be made and questions that must still be answered, and in making such choices the impact and cost to TV viewers must be a primary consideration. Additionally, there is an opportunity, before capacity crunches really begin to bite, whereby pilots and further investigation could be carried out. Activities should include the following:

1.7 Talent, Talent, Talent: Education and Skills We need to stimulate the talent pathways from schools to post-graduates to ensure that the UK can continue to innovate in television technologies. The digital industries are hungry for data specialists, and are fighting with other industries to employ them. Creative companies need interdisciplinary graduates who understand technology and creativity. The two-year Brighton Fuse project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, showed clearly that superfused companies, driven by arts and humanities graduates working with digital and technology specialists, are the fastest growing businesses in the Brighton cluster. Two or three decades ago most broadcast engineers above a certain age were trained within the BBC, ITV and Independent Local Radio. Today’s environment is very different and there is a mix of public and private provision. Initiatives like the MediaCityUK University Technical College (UTC) in Salford are essential to train the professional innovators of tomorrow. We recognise the good work being done by the BBC Academy and the Sky Academy in fostering training for the television industry. The Taskforce also commends the work of the following organisations in developing skills in talented graduates and apprentices:

11. To ensure that sufficient licenced and licence-exempt spectrum is available to DTT, DSAT, Mobile and Wi-Fi for the future developments required to support delivery of TV content to all, fixed and mobile.

Conclusion

Recommendations 12. The National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) to work with the sector skills councils to conduct a deep dive into the delivery of data scientists for the content industries. 13. NCUB, universities, sector skills councils and industry to work together on the challenges of producing interdisciplinary graduates. Creative Skillset http://www.creativeskillset.org/ e-skills UK Apprenticeships http://www.e-skills.com/apprenticeships Enternships https://www.enternships.com e-Placements Scotland http://www.e-placementscotland.com Critically, we must encourage more young, highly talented and highlynumerate women into TV research and development. The industry has to work harder with universities and schools to increase its attractiveness to girls and young women. We note and support the National Centre for University and Business’s Talent 2030 project, aimed at increasing the number of girls studying physics and women going into engineering and technology businesses.

Innovating in television technology is a global game. It requires highquality university research, joined-up government policy, intense industry commitment and collaboration and well-structured education. If the UK does not have these in place, then companies – particularly global businesses – will fund their innovation elsewhere. Small entrepreneurial companies will not have platforms that enable them to service the UK home market and then export their IP and expertise. Our recommendations – based on the workstream chapters – are specific and wide-ranging and we look forward to further debate on how they can be implemented.

13

Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Who’s Who Steering Group: Dr David Docherty Chairman, Digital TV Group and CEO, National Centre for Universities and Business Laurie Patten Strategy Director – Television and Radio Broadcast and Media Arqiva Ralph Rivera Director, Future Media BBC Sophie Turner-Laing Managing Director, Content BSkyB Howard Watson Managing Director Architecture and Global IT Platforms BT Richard Lindsay-Davies Chief Executive Officer Digital TV Group Matthew Garrood Digital Planning & Innovation Director Everything Everywhere Emma Scott Managing Director Freesat Ilse Howling Managing Director Freeview Professor Patrick Loughrey Warden Goldsmiths College (University of London) Ben McOwen Wilson Content Partnerships Director YouTube Team Google Graham North Commercial Director, Humax Stephen Hearnden Director of Technology TechUK Katherine Wen Simon Director of TV Platforms ITV John Simmons Media Platform Architect Microsoft Rob King Vice President of Consumer Electronics Samsung

Dr Mike Short Vice President, Public Affairs Telefonica Europe (O2)

Dominic Vallely Strategy Director Seren Partners

Professor Sir Keith Burnett Vice-Chancellor University of Sheffield

Mark Gurney Head of Insight Consumer Marketing Sony Europe

Professor Dave Richardson Deputy Director Optoelectronics Research Centre (University of Southampton) Richard Halton Chief Executive Officer YouView Taskforce Administrator: Bridie Asprey Executive Assistant Digital TV Group

Consumer Trends: David Harding Head of Communications Digital TV Group Vibeke Hansen Technology Consultant Arqiva Laurie Patten Strategy Director – Television and Radio Arqiva Carmen Aitken Head of Research, Future Media BBC Nick Brown Chief Executive Officer Boss Level Paolo Panizzo Insight Director BSkyB James Hamilton Senior Planner for Audience Research and Insight Channel 4 Matt Hill Head of Planning and Insight Channel 5 Roger Darlington Chair DCMS Consumer Expert Group

Gianni Maestri Head of Digital Entertainment Analytics and Insight Virgin Media Fani Sazaklidou Creative Director YouView

Evolution of Devices and Applications: George Robertson Principal IP Engineer Digital TV Group Jem Davies VP of Technology Media Processing Division ARM Fellow

Jem Davies VP of Technology Media Processing Division ARM Fellow Brandon Butterworth Chief Scientist BBC R&D Chris Johns Chief Engineer Broadcast Strategy BSkyB Nick Brown Chief Executive Officer Boss Level / TIGA Roderick Snell Consultant Rodrigue Troulliet VP Technology & Operations EMEA Disney

Jonathan Marshall Head of Innovation and New Product Development Arqiva

Prinyar Boon Director Eng and Support Broadcast Systems Dolby

Paul Caporn Senior Technical Architect TV and Mobile Platforms BBC

Steve MacPherson Chief Technology Officer Framestore

Matt Wilson Solutions Architect Channel 4 Television Matt Garrood Director of Digital Planning & Innovation Everything Everywhere Stuart Savage Director EU Innovation Digital TV R&D LG Electronics Maria Ingold Chief Executive Officer mireality (VOD technical consultancy)

Giles Cottle Head of Strategy Freesat

Simon Parnall Vice President Technology NDS (now part of Cisco)

Siew Yoon Tan Technical Regulation Specialist Ofcom (Observer)

Derek McAuley Professor of Digital Economy The University of Nottingham Andy Holmes Independent

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Computing for the Creative Industries: Simon Gauntlett Technology Director Digital TV Group

Chris Milsted HPC Systems Architect IBM Paul Walland Manager IT Innovation Centre Maria Hannon LCC Arts Nick Cannon Director of Technology, Film Moving Picture Company Alex Micallef EMEA Industry Business Development NVidia Darren Woolfson Group Director of Technology Pinewood

Tim Wright VP Technology Sony Pictures Roy Trosh Group Technical Director The Mill Roland Brown Broadcast and Film VFX Consultant &&& Technology Ltd.

Data Management: Peter Sellar Programme Manager Digital TV Group Fiona Clarke-Hackston Chief Executive Officer British Screen Advisory Council Akihiro Tsuchiya Managing Director Streamhub Radu Sora Head of Development Streamhub Professor Jonathan Freeman BSc MPhil PhD CPsychol MMRS Managing Director i2 media research ltd. Richard Kirk Head of Business Development Content Discovery Red Bee Media Volkmar Prescher Head of International Data Solutions Rovi Charles Dawes Product Management Director Rovi Matthew Garbutt Senior Manager, Content Rovi

Future Networks and Infrastructure: Peter Sellar Programme Manager Digital TV Group Andrew Dumbreck Consultant Andrew Dumbreck Media Ltd Dr Peter D. Couch Head of Strategic Planning Digital Platforms, Arqiva Simon Mason Head of New Technology Arqiva Garazi Goia Acting Director, BBC Distribution BBC Nick Wells Section Leader Distribution Core Technologies BBC Graham Mills TSO, End-to-End Process BT Nick Gregory Business Development Director BSkyB Jane Humphreys Head of Spectrum DCMS Ian O’Neill Head of TV DCMS Kate Macefield Head of Broadcast Digital UK Khalid Hayat Controller of Policy and Regulatory Affairs ITV Anirban Roy Head of Regulatory Affairs Group Strategy Arqiva Kim Chua Senior Strategy Manager Channel 4

Simon Rogers R&D Director Quantel Ben Roeder Chief Technology Officer Soho Net

15

Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Sponsors and Supporters The DTG is the industry association for digital television in the UK, providing the foundation for Freeview, Freesat and YouView and supporting the development of Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, Connect-TV and VuTV. In collaboration with industry the DTG has helped ensure a great consumer TV experience by developing and publishing its technical specification, the D-Book, which has been deployed in over 100m terrestrial televisions, set-top-boxes and recorders since the introduction of digital TV in 1998.

BT is the major provider of telecommunications networks and services in the UK. But we are also a major global communications company, serving customers in more than 170 countries.

Central to digital TV in the UK for nearly two decades, the DTG is currently embracing the convergence of content and networks across industries and focussing on the efficient delivery of video to all screens - mobile, tablet and TV, in all formats - standard, high and 4k definitions. It’s supporting the next generation of digital TV and related technologies though its work in the following areas: • Broadcast AV • Connected AV • Mobile AV • Spectrum • Ultra HD. www.dtg.org.uk

We provide services to large corporate and public sector customers with operations across the world in a wide range of sectors such as banking and financial services, consumer packaged goods, logistics, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. We have embraced fierce competition in our home markets and become an innovative and dynamic company competing in the converged markets of computing, IT and communications. BT’s strategy is to drive broadband-based consumer services, become the ‘Brand for Business’ for UK SMEs, the wholesaler of choice and the best network provider. We aim to be a global leader through BT Global Services. And all this whilst being a responsible and sustainable business leader. BT revealed its BT Sport channels in 2013 – BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN – which are offered free with BT Broadband. They include 38 live and exclusive football matches from the Barclays Premier League, including 18 ‘first pick’ matches, and up to 69 live rugby matches from the Aviva Premiership where BT will be the sole and exclusive broadcaster. And we’ve added to our line-up the exclusive UK TV rights for European Champions’ League football as of 2015.

BT believes innovation is critical to the health and future of the UK economy. Like many other companies BT operates in a global market place and innovation helps keep us ahead of our competitors. Our open innovation model gives us access to thinking from outside BT, from small, start-up companies to some of the best universities around the world. We have teams working with customers, partners and universities in the US, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. They help us to maintain our view of global developments in new technologies, business propositions and market trends. BT is pleased to support the FITT Taskforce. The consumption of media and television content has changed dramatically over the last 10 years and the rollout of fibre based broadband products will accelerate the pace of change still further. The Taskforce plays an important role in understanding these shifts and ensuring the UK media industry can leverage these developments and stay as a global leader in producing great content.

i2 media research is a specialist insight and innovation digital media research consultancy. We are comprised of a small interdisciplinary team of experts in how humans and technology can work together – for the benefit of consumers and business.

For more on i2 media research, please visit: www.i2mediaresearch.com To get in touch, please email: [email protected]

Founded by Professor Jonathan Freeman in 2002 as a spin off from Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London, i2 media is now in its 13th successful year of business. i2 media has successfully completed more than 140 commissions, focused on both sides of (and across) the digital divide: from late adopters, to people with very specific access and usability needs, to the earliest adopters of the latest technology and service innovations. i2 media research has conducted commissioned research projects for commercial companies, industry bodies, Government, regulators, the European Commission and the third sector. i2 media research is recognised as an authoritative provider of independent, unbiased and tailored insights and solutions based on its ethically and methodologically rigorous research. i2 media research specialises in applying its methodological skills – spanning in-depth

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in-situ research (qualitative, observational and ethnographic), quantitative research, lab and field based behavioural experiments, foresight research, desk research and statistical analysis – to provide robust evidence based creative solutions to the challenging business and research objectives of our clients. i2 media research has a deep and diverse knowledge base gained from multiple research projects focused on user experience and monetisation of products and services across: digital TV and 2nd screen apps, digital radio, computer & video games, internet services, internet quality of experience and traffic management, smart devices and apps, smart meters for home energy management, augmented / virtual / synthetic reality, and connected retail. For over a decade we have supported European and UK innovation, bridging the applied academic and commercial worlds, to deliver... + the independence, rigour, ethics and depth of an academic approach, and + the simple, practical, actionable outputs needed by the commercial world ... the best of both worlds!

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Consumer Trends

The main set dominates TV viewing

If identifying existing trends is not easy, then spotting emerging trends is even harder - being as it is an inherently dynamic process involving guess work and luck. The consumer trends chapter will bring to life this dynamic process to life, attempt to explain some existing trends and point to what we think might be the future.

A new paradigm for audio-visual consumption We’re told that we now live in an “age of disruption”2 as more and more of our physical world and our lives move online and on screen3; challenging incumbents and unbalancing traditional hierarchies and business models. As more media becomes digital, new entrants will continue to interrupt the status quo by capturing the value that was previously held by incumbents and chasing ownership of the consumer. Media consumption and consumers themselves have also become part of a new and much bigger digital phenomenon - massive data production, collection and manipulation4. We found ourselves entering this new paradigm as we started this report and can expect that it will be fully realised and have ‘gone mainstream’ by 2025. More and more physical things will have become digital, including the relationships between objects; people and other people; people and objects; people and time; and, people and places. Television (more specifically, the home) presents an interesting case study as it provides the opportunity to explore all five of these physical to digital transformations, but that is not the focus of this chapter. This chapter will explore existing and emerging consumer trends in an attempt to establish this new paradigm of audiovisual consumption; the business models and personas will aim to provide some illustrations of what the next stage of this digitisation could bring and the services that will evolve as a result.

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1 2 3 4

The rise and rise of linear viewing

“Twenty years ago [...] the message from broadcast executives was: never overestimate the intelligence of the audience. Now it is: never underestimate the intelligence of the audience.”

“

The Dynamic Process of Consumer Trends

Paul Lee, President, ABC Entertainment Group speaking at RTS Cambridge 20131

Existing Trends It’s very hard to predict which trends will be enduring but the best place to start is to look at current trends and explore where they are heading. Ownership of tablets, smartphones, PCs and laptops is at an all-time high and for the most part, increasing. The accelerated adoption of these devices, coupled with their connectivity, means that there are more screens whose utility is being accelerated by the increasing portability of these devices. This increased utility is enabled by:  Faster and more reliable connections.  Smaller, more powerful devices.  Better battery life. The net result is that there are more ways of consuming audio-visual content than ever before. We will explore the impact of this change in this chapter, but first it is worth reminding ourselves of what we already know.

http://www.rts.org.uk/rts-cambridge-convention-2013-international-keynote-%E2%80%93-paul-lee [accessed Feb 06 2014] http://www.cityam.com/article/1389140601/don-t-let-vegas-tech-giants-fool-you-we-re-age-disruption [accessed Jan 10 2014] Often called the ‘Internet of Things’ Often called ‘Big Data.’

The options available to TV viewers over the last few decades have transformed due to developments including: T he rise and rise of online content. T he rise and fall of video recorders and their replacement by PVRs. T he widespread availability and affordability of DVDs and their evolution into online video services. However, despite these developments and the increased choices that are available to them, TV viewers have voted with their remote controls and have increased their consumption of “lean back” linear TV. As Ofcom noted in its 2013 Communications Market Report, “the average number of hours of television watched by individuals in the UK has risen over the past eight years from 3 hours 42 minutes a day in 2004 (3.7 hours) to 4 hours per day in 2012 (4.01 hours).” There are of course good reasons for this, not least the explosion in choice of high quality linear content through the widespread take up of multi-channel TV. However, despite the increased availability, affordability and ease of use of the devices and services described in the rest of this report, the desire of TV viewers to hand responsibility for their evening’s entertainment to a trusted guide (brand, friend or other) is not expected to disappear in the lifetime of this report.

Research published in February 2014 by the marketing body for commercial TV, Thinkbox, reinforces the above by revealing that 98.5% of TV was watched on a TV set in 2013. Non main-set TV screens, including tablets, smartphones and laptops accounted for the remaining 1.5%, up from 1.2% in 2012. Thinkbox’s report goes on to argue that if all households had the ability to digitally record TV programmes then they would expect the level of “playback and recorded TV to settle at around 15-20% of total linear viewing”, with on-demand TV increasing as a portion of the time shifted total5. The importance of social viewing of content on the main set TV is further reinforced by data that shows that the average screen size is growing; 69% of TVs sold in Q1 2013 were 26-inch or bigger and sales of ‘jumbo’ TVs (43-inch or more) accounted for 15.8% of sales in 2013, a 4.3% increase on 2012. Just 10.3% of TVs sold in Q1 2013 were 19-inch or less, compared to 40.3% of the total in 20046. Whilst connected devices are increasingly being used on the move, and to supplement TV content, the main set remains attractive to consumers. The main set is often the biggest screen in the home which makes it perfect for sharing and typically offers superior sound and picture quality to other screens in the home7. The trend towards buying bigger TV screens clearly illustrates the importance that consumers place on the quality of experience when viewing content. Larger screens are complemented by parallel improvements in sound quality and higher resolutions which suggest that watching TV on the main set is likely to remain popular8.

implications for how new services are marketed. Another economic reality for many is the increase in the cost of housing and the consequential rise of commuting, even extreme commuting to find affordable housing. A 2013 report from recruitment firm Randstad9 revealed that the average commute in Britain was 42 minutes and between 2008 to 2013 the number of ‘extreme commuters’ (defined as travelling more than 90 minutes each way) increased by 50% from 6% to 9% of the workforce. The principal reason for commuting was said to be to “reach an area where you can afford to buy a house that meets your standards”10. Dr Jamie Sexton argued in 2009 that expanded travelling times (not just for commuting but for leisure too) paved the way for the iPod and other portable media. The importance of portable media grew in response to these factors and an individual’s desire to often isolate their person from a public space without disrupting it11. The success of Apple’s iPod helped to normalise the personal consumption of content digitally, and following this streaming services have started to redefine entertainment business models, away from owning a copy of a recording towards acquiring a licence to listen or view something. Typically this is cheaper than buying the physical product. The earlier Randstad report would appear to support this hypothesis by revealing that the most popular activity whilst commuting was to listen to music on the radio (31.6%) or from a personal music collection (25%). There appears to be a whole market for complimentary personal and portable entertainment quite distinct from consumption that occurs in the home.

Emerging Trends The economic reality

1. More screens

Against this wider background of economic uncertainty, Ofcom recorded that “household spend on communication services fell in real terms from £122.42 in 2007 to £113.51 in 2012” and “household spend on television fell by £0.50 since 2011, to £28.41.” This suggests that consumers are becoming increasingly discriminating over their communication spend, which has

Tablet ownership in Western Europe is predicted to quadruple in the next five years - from 12% in 2012 to 55% in 201712 - which is approximately the current level of UK smartphone ownership (51%13). We can expect that both will be much higher by 2025 - certainly enough to constitute both devices having gone ‘mainstream’.

5 http://www.thinkbox.tv/98.5-of-tv-was-watched-on-a-tv-set-in-2013 [accessed 18 Feb 2014] 6 Ofcom: “The Communications Market Report 2013” 1 August 2013 7  Parks Associates and iMediaShare:. “Moving from Second Screen to First Screen”, (date unknown. ) http://www.parksassociates.com/bento/shop/whitepapers/files/Parks%20Assoc%20 Moving%20from%20Second%20Screen%20to%20First%20Screen%20White%20Paper.pdf [accessed 20 Feb 2014] 8 Not to mention the multitude of important social and economic benefits delivered through a freely available and universal digital terrestrial television service on a TV in the home. 9 Randstad News Room, 16 May 2013. http://www.randstad.co.uk/about-randstad/news/savvy-super-commuters-spend-time-wisely/ [accessed 20 Feb 2014] 10 Ibid 11 Sexton, J. (2009) Untitled. In: Creeber, G. and Martin, R. eds. (2009) Digital Cultures.1st ed. New York: Open University Press, p.92-97 12 Forrester “The European Tablet Landscape” February 2013 13 Ofcom. “The Communications Market Report” 01 August 2013

19

Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Just as smartphones drove a boom in digital music sales14, with increasing storage capacity, processing power and/ or better Wi-Fi and mobile broadband we could anticipate a similar boom for television content. We are entering a new era of content discovery and consumption that offers greater choice, both in terms of access and in terms of price; turning audiences into consumers. Just like the tipping point of digital music when it entered the mainstream via the mp3 player, we can expect the trinity of content, technology and services to align for television soon too. The collision of internet and audio-visual media has resulted in an explosion of choice for consumers, combining the unlimited options and capacity of the internet with the curation and intimacy of personal devices. It remains unclear at the time of writing, to what extent connected devices such as tablets, will become a screen for viewing in and of themselves, or if they will become a companion screen to the main TV set. The groups feeling is that their use will be entirely dictated by circumstance, so they might act as a companion to the main television set in the home for activities like social media15 but act as the primary screen for content consumption on the go. The increased take up of tablets will almost certainly support any further increase in linear viewing. The ability to easily access social media enhances the experience of watching a programme by allowing that experience to be shared with others. As such, an increasing number of programmes will become ‘appointment TV’16. This will encompass not only genres such as sport and current affairs but also first showings in genres like talent shows, drama and comedy. The use of multiple screens and the ability to access social media wherever you are also encourages linear viewing. To put it crudely, if you don’t want to know “whodunnit” then you either watch a programme live or remove yourself from all social media until you do.

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2. Faster and more reliable connections The importance of Wi-Fi As stated by Ofcom, “Wi-Fi is already playing a significant role in helping meet some of the increase in use of mobile data services indoors.”17 A report by the European Commission appears to support this by saying, “The volume of traffic that is already being off-loaded, chiefly to Wi-Fi in the home, already exceeds that of the mobile network, and can be expected to grow even faster as well.”18 In the same report, an estimate of 2016 data traffic suggests that the cellular/Wi-Fi traffic split will be 22.21% to 77.79% respectively.19 The recent Communications Chamber report from January 201420 goes further to say that Wi-Fi offload is at its most significant when providing indoor coverage, but also has potential to play an important role outside; particularly in areas with high traffic. It is expected that Wi-Fi’s utility and availability will only increase during the lifetime of this report.

Mobile The newest mobile communication standard to be commercially available in the UK is 4G (fourth generation) but the most popular standard remains 3G and many people also still rely on 2G21. The next generation of mobile communication standard (5G, currently projected to arrive circa 2020) is expected to provide mobile broadband speeds equivalent to those of fixed line broadband connections today, measured in gigabits. By 2025, 5G will be commercially available and offer consumers speeds of up to 1GB per second23 (1000 times faster than 4G). With speeds like this, and for those with the money and inclination to use 5G, it’s theoretically possible to do anything by today’s standards including downloading an entire HD movie in one second! Much more of our lives and media could potentially move to the cloud as a result.

2G vs. 3G vs. 4G22 Technology

Max Download Speed

Key Benefits

1G

-

Analogue.

2G

0.2Mbit/s

Digital networks allowing SMS and basic WAP sites.

2G EDGE

0.3Mbit/s

Improved speeds.

3G

0.3Mbit/s

Fast. Always on access to mobile web.

3G HSPA

7.2Mbit/s

Basic feature in all of today’s smartphones.

3G HSPA+

21Mbit/s

Faster. Available on higher-end smartphone.

4G LTE

100Mbit/s

Faster access speeds and lower latency.

3G vs. 4G Technology

Download a game (20MB)

Streaming Music

Streaming SD Video

Streaming HD Video

Uploading an Image

3G*

3 minutes

10 second buffer*

20 second buffer*

1-5 minute buffer*

25 seconds

4G**

25 seconds

1 second buffer

1 second buffer

30 second buffer

1 second

*http://www.nokia.com/gb-en/4g [accessed 23 Jan 2014] **Subject to possible disruption during playback 14 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9918670/Digital-beats-How-the-smartphone-powered-a-digital-music-boom.html [accessed Sep 11 2013] 15 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/advertising/platforms/mobile/10277356/The-rise-of-the-second-screen.html [accessed 20 Feb 2014] 16 Must watch at the time of scheduled broadcast. 17 Ofcom. “The future use of spectrum sharing for mobile and wireless data services” 09 August 2013 18 European Commission. “Study on impact of traffic off-loading and related technological trends on the demand for wireless broadband spectrum.” 2013 19 Ibid. Figure 2: Observed or predicted mobile data off-load. 20 Kenny, R., Foster, R., and, Suter, T. (January 2014) The value of Digital Terrestrial Television in an era of increasing demand for spectrum 21 Ofcom. “The availability of communications services in the UK” 16 May 2013 22 http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Blog/3G-and-4G-Technology-Compared-Next-Generation-Mobile-Technology/ba-p/4774880 [accessed Jan 23 2014] 23 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2545831/South-Korea-launch-5G-service-fast-users-download-entire-film-just-ONE-SECOND.html [accessed Jan 28 2014]

3. Smaller, more powerful devices

4. Better battery life

Smaller and more powerful devices will be commonplace, especially as smartphone ownership reaches more of the population and other devices become connected. It’s quite possible that you’ll be using them for more than communication - running a bath, controlling your thermostat and quite probably your TV too24 25. Having potentially overcome the two problems of poor battery life and unreliable/slow connectivity, the only limit is likely to be processing power of connected devices. Wireless charging spots for all our gadgets may be as ubiquitous in 2025 as Wi-Fi hotspots are today.

A survey of smartphone users in 2012 found that battery performance was the single biggest complaint and the ‘least satisfying’ aspect of the smartphone experience28. This dissatisfaction is more acute for 4G mobile phone subscribers as their devices take more time and energy to look for network signals; but this is expected to decline over time as coverage of 3G and 4G become comparable. However, it is expected that 4G subscribers will use their devices more extensively or energy-intensively for activities such as texting, calling, surfing and streaming TV or TV-like content.

Our devices will be much more in tune with our natural rhythms - both physical and behavioural; using our bodies’ movements to charge batteries and learn our behaviour and using our location to offer contextual advertising and applications. Your device could be a proxy for your person - knowing exactly who you’re with, where you are (and where you’ve been), what is around you and maybe even what you’re doing and saying. It will not only replace some of your physical things, such as your wallet, but potentially some of your physical activities too, such as opening your front door.

Battery life has an obvious impact on a consumer’s ability to perform a variety of functions. It’s influenced by a complex interaction between the demand for processing power and duration of any given activity (or more likely, activities), making consumption uniquely personal. On the whole, we should expect that battery life will improve29 for everyone and the advent of wireless charging will bring with it new and interesting applications.

5. More ways of consuming audio-visual content Digital is the great information leveller; making data easy to send and receive across and between a whole new range and variety of devices. It has disrupted entire industries through its seemingly limitless capacity to squeeze more and more traditionally discrete devices into one device; meaning we can now adopt new applications overnight, very cheaply. It is the essence of the economic theory of dematerialisation - doing more with less. For example, if money went digital tomorrow, it’s very likely you will start to use your smartphone instead of your wallet. R Buckminster Fuller called this phenomena ‘ephemeralisation’ and defined it as the ability to do “more and more with less and less until eventually you can do everything with nothing”. Fuller believed ephemeralisation would lead to a rise in living standards despite finite resources. Take the smartphone (Figure 1, see page 22) revolution; it’s gone mainstream (with 51% of UK adults having adopted one30) and furnished its owners with an address book, calculator, GPS, e-reader, camera, video camera, mp3 player, stopwatch, radio… the list goes on, and is growing31.

We can expect that there will be much more peripheral activity around the TV screen in the shape of Google Chromecast26 and other similar developments, as consumers want to link the processing power and possibilities of their connected devices to the main screen in their homes27. It remains to be seen if this demand will cross from the techsavvy early adopters to the mainstream and whether the TV will act a hub for the connected home. Question marks hover over whether the smartphone or tablet will replace the set-top-box as we know it.

24 http://www.t3.com/features/future-smartphones [accessed Jan 28 2014] 25 http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mobile-phones-10-years-from-now/383698-11.html [accessed Jan 28 2014] 26 https://www.google.com/intl/en-GB/chrome/devices/chromecast/ [accessed Jan 28 2014] 27 Mobile phones and tablets typically have a shorter replacement cycle, perhaps every two years as dictated by contracts, than televisions and often, set-top-boxes, too. 28 J.D. Power and Associates Reports. “Smartphone Battery Life has Become a Significant Drain on Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty” https://pictures.dealer.com/ jdpower/166f0d180a0d02b7014443191870cdac.pdf [accessed Jan 27 2014] 29 Possible improvements include different materials like silicon or graphene batteries; better efficiency; faster charging; wireless charging, and; longer life. http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/09/theamazing-battery-technology-thatll-power-the-smartphones-of-the-future/ [accessed 20 Feb 2014] 30 Ofcom. “The Communications Market Report 2013” 01 August 2013 31 http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428579/a-surprisingly-long-list-of-everything-smartphones-replaced/ [Accessed Jan 31, 2014]

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

The Future

Figure 1: How over 40 gadgets converge into a tiny device in your pocket

Exploring the matrix in detail, we can see that the polarity of live and not live has produced the biggest spectrum of possible new business models, ranging from videoon-demand replacing linear TV to the schedule remaining supreme as a way to discover, navigate and select content.

Just as we are now used to seeing digitised text and audio, digital video is now also mainstream. The emerging digitisation of our personal lives, relationships and behaviour is the next logical step. The five changes outlined previously have the potential to revolutionise the TV industry. The challenge and uncertainty lie in the time it will take for them to reach fruition. The speed of this will depend on many things but one of the biggest factors is likely to be the consumers’ willingness to pay for content and the business models that emerge in response to these changes. Figure 2 outlines different scenarios that help us to tease out any future behaviour, business models and services. The four scenarios are painted using two axes: ‘live’ viewing versus ‘not live’ and consumption at ‘home’ versus ‘anywhere’. The fundamental tensions between these axes lead to four contrasting quadrants, each of which illustrates a different scenario for the future.

(Image courtesy of: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2013/04/convergence/ [accessed 10 January 2013])

Conclusion The smartphone, tablet and laptop are all entrenched artefacts of consumer life but the one thing they haven’t replaced is your TV, or more accurately, the experience of watching your TV. As we described earlier, main set televisions and linear TV remain strong and enduring, still accounting for 98.5% of all TV viewing. However, digital technology means that we can consume content on a multitude of screens and the emerging trends described above increasingly combine to mean we can consume content anywhere we like. This consumption however appears to be additive and not substitutive for main set TV consumption. According to Gartner, there are now 1.4bn PCs in use worldwide, whilst mobile phones sell more than 1.4bn units every single year. It feels like it will be a matter of time before the tablet or smartphone replaces the PC as our ‘personal’ computer32. The smartphone has provided us with a natural way to communicate with those (other) smart objects33. When connected to a network, this allows new ways of interacting with our televisions, for example using your smartphone’s GPS to provide locationbased advertising or delivering content

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from your pocket to your main screen as you enter your home. This technology might even help you locate your lost remote control or dynamically change the price tag on your TV in store to reflect the current market rate. This takes the study of consumer behaviour from the cohorts, life stages and other groups’ right down to the individual. Behaviour is reduced to that of a single person and one or more objects; giving rich, complex and real-time information. Through the use of live and historical data on people, companies will learn what we do and where we’ve been and, by extension, what we enjoy. Dennis Crowley, CEO of the locationbased social app Foursquare thinks of consumers like a giant ‘X’ - an X that shrinks as technology gets better, meaning you can locate them more precisely. Eventually, he thinks this X could become your exact location on a sofa, or even your hand - all of which means consumer behaviour will be recorded and applied more naturally and more personally34. The full complexity of this new consumer paradigm dictates that the biggest challenge to ‘going mainstream’ will be to deliver a clear and demonstrable

32 DeGusta, M., MIT Technology Review “Are Smart Phones Spreading Faster than Any Technology in Human History?” 09 May 2012 33 http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/05/internet-of-things/all/ [Accessed Jan 27 2014] 34 http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/05/internet-of-things/all/ [Accessed Jan 27 2014] 35 http://www.kpcb.com/insights/2013-internet-trends [Accessed Jan 27 2014]

benefit - to as many people as possible - with a reasonable assurance that this data is secure and can be controlled by consumers.

Importantly the experience of the TV (again, in the traditional sense) has not been replaced and we don’t expect that it will be. People will always want to come together and enjoy stories and build narratives; both on a household or cinema scale and on a bigger, national or similarly identity orientated scale.

Much of these new behaviours will depend on the cost, maturity and availability of the relevant networks plus the capability and power of devices and their associated battery life; as outlined in the Evolution of Devices and Applications chapter. Finally, the Consumer Trends workstream developed personas that focused on the 5-10% of early adopters in the technology market, on the basis that the vast majority of consumers in 2025 will be consuming TV content in a very similar

The personas informed the Future Networks chapter. Some themes that emerged were the fundamental redefinition of the screen away from a ‘box’ to something that you wear, are immersed in or is projected onto the wall(s) of your home; new and sometimes more personal means of discovering content will become increasingly popular; the processing power of your smartphone has the potential to replace you set-topbox or to become a proxy for a person and their preferences, and; the connected home will revolutionise the role of the television, from a means of consuming content to a screen that is intelligent, providing real-time information about your environment, even rewarding your behaviour with TV content.

Figure 2: Business Models Matrix

Not Live

According to KPCB’s Internet Trends (2013), technology cycles tend to last about 10 years - with the next 10 years being ‘wearable/everything computing’ as we leave the mobile internet cycle; itself preceded by the desktop internet cycle35. So, by 2025 we expect to have fully realised the wearable/everything computing cycle and be in a better position to properly understand its impact. The consumption of audio-visual content has spread far beyond the TV (in a traditional sense) and now encompasses the delivery of audio-visual content to any screen.

The distinction between in-home and out of home leads to differences in behaviour, ranging from the status quo of main sets dominating TV viewing in groups, to smaller more portable devices dominating viewing, and consumption occurring on a much more personal level.

way to today and were therefore of little interest to us in terms of new technologies and behaviours. The personas were developed in two parts, the first one looking ahead to 2017 to bring today’s technology to a logical conclusion, leaving us with more freedom to develop radical personas for 2025.

VOD replaces TV decline of the channel (but not brand)

“Users” (Online only licence-fee)

Behaviour Services Business Models

+ smaller audiences + longer engagement + storage capacity + “Bingeing” & release of whole series simultaneously Small, portable streaming devices (connected device)+ better battery life

+ branded short form content + adverts and additional content

+ Wi-Fi only tablets

New TV measurement across ‘X’ days and devices + better data + OTT subscription + Connected devices streaming to TV

Home

Main set dominates + social viewing

(Broadcast & Online licence-fee) + PPV

Connected devices dominate + personal experience

Anywhere

VOD complements TV + event e.g. sport subscriptions + Contextual ads via connected sets

+ contextual ads IP delivered linear TV Overnight viewing remains standard

“Audience” (Broadcast only licence-fee)

Schedule remains important

Live

Content follows you around Social viewing via connected people

Live refers to all content as it is broadcast, +1 or PVR and watched on the same day.

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Personas

2017

These personas focus on the outlying consumers – perhaps the 5-10% of early adopters; giving a flavour of new technologies and behaviours. This group recognises that linear TV is overwhelmingly the most popular means of consuming television and expects that it will continue to be so, with the vast majority of consumers, during the lifetime of this reports focus; now until 2025.

Paul 53 Male

Elizabeth Age 57 Female

Paul pays for a premium sports package with his Azure satellite and is interested in new technologies if it improves his viewing experience – he was the first in his peer group to own a 4k TV when the price dropped below £1,000.

Elizabeth uses TrueView the next-generation manufacturer led innovation for the free-to-air platform in the UK which features 100 tuners and 50TB of storage. In addition it delivers media content to every screen in Elizabeth’s home with the option for content to follow her around from room-to-room.

His thirst for sporting content means he is constantly consuming content – whether he is at home, or outside the home; he connects to a nationwide network of Wi-Fi hotspots provided free of charge and run by his TV platform. His phone has the Azure app which, through audio watermarking understands if Paul is watching the game live on TV. If he is not, he will receive each goal for his favourite football team as its happens.

The 2017 personas are a staging post towards the 2025 personas. They imagine a future that is in some way the logical extension of current technologies. The 2025 personas are more speculative.

2017

2025

Stan Age 18 Male

Bill Age 26 Male

Stan uses his TV to watch free-to-air through his PLAY set-top-box that also streams games and lets him purchase or rent films which can be streamed.

Bill uses his Cinema Face Virtual Retina Display (VRD) to consume all of his media – which he can connect to wirelessly.

Stan can connect his mobile phone to the PLAY set-top-box over Wi-Fi and use it as a gaming controller or TV remote. Purchased content can be downloaded and watched offline using registered devices.

The VRD works by beaming lifelike images directly on to his retina, so no screen is involved; making it a natural and comfortable replacement for other screens. It can also detect which way he is looking and where his head is pointing; unlocking special features in games and from films that accommodate this 360° perspective.

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Jill Age 36 Female

Tom Age 44 Male

Jill uses the TV to keep the kids quiet whilst she prepares breakfast and dinner for them.

Tom uses EYEROOM the social and immersive 360° viewing technology.

In the evening her and her husband catch up on the box set ‘de jour’ using their FLICKS OTT subscription – connecting to the internet using Wi-Fi, their phones and a streaming device plugged in to their non-connected TV.

EYEROOM takes your content from the screen and creates a ‘surround-video’ experience. The main screen remains the primary focus but the consumer(s) is immersed into the world of the content via peripheral vision.

Jill’s FLICKS subscription can also offer her content categorised by being one of 6 ‘human emotional needs’ – unwind, comfort, experience, escape, indulge or connect.

Setting up EYEROOM didn’t require much more than buying the projector – everything else in his living room stayed the same.

She chooses content based on recommendations from friends – and sometimes strangers. She uses the TV-specific social network “Virtual Hand-Picked Selection” (VHS) that offers TV content similar to the old musical mix tape format, with selections of content chosen by others. VHS selections are encouraged to be short and complimentary but some can require a lot more commitment; maybe a few days of viewing. Viewers can then rate selections and share their comments with others.

Laura Age 48 Female

Frank Age 61 Male

Laura has a new 24-month cable subscription to TuneR which has a next-gen set-top-box with 10 tuners; allowing her to record 10 shows simultaneously, beam live content from the box to her tablet or smartphone or a combination of the two.

Frank subscribes to an IP only pay-as-you-go service from UK Sports. It is the World’s first ‘mobile-first’ TV platform, doing away with a set-top-box – delivering all of its content over a 5G multicast before switching seamlessly to Wi-Fi in the home. He pays £100 a month for his phone/TV contract and streams content to his main set when he’s home – which can be controlled via the TV or his mobile’s touch screen.

It’s perfect for her busy household with teenage children, who can watch what they want – where they want. The next-gen box comes with catch-up capability and a sophisticated recommendation algorithm that learns what the family like and tailors their advertising and suggestions accordingly.

Whilst the price is not prohibitive, he is in a minority of consumers who take a completely personal approach to their content consumption. He values it on his very long commute (because he can’t afford to live in the city). Bill watches content using OTT services almost exclusively and for all intents and purposes they have replaced his broadcast experience; he pays for an online only television licence.

2025

Frank owns a short throw projector that replaces his ‘traditional’ rectangle TV with a cinema style TV wall – he is able to stream content over Wi-Fi. He is part of a unique syndicate of beta users which can purchase content according to a dynamic pricing, responding to demand; much like the stock market. If an event is more in demand it becomes more expensive before reaching a limit, normally £9.99 – this encourages his search, selection and commitment earlier.

Maggie Age 78 Female

Anisha Age 86 Female

Maggie lives in a pioneering HealthyHome that uses technology to promote her independence.

Anisha lives in a pioneering CAIRHOME that uses technology to promote her independence, help her communicate with her children and monitor her health.

She watches upwards of 5 hours of TV every day – always from the schedule. Her entire house is connected and the TV can be used to control certain aspects – reached through a special button/ menu on the remote control.

Her entire house is connected and the TV can be used to control certain aspects – reached through a special button/menu on the remote control. She can also use the TV to talk to her doctor and children. Her healthcare is gamified – so that she earns rewards for positive choices and behaviour. She can track her progress on the TV. Anisha needs to perform a certain amount of activity each day before she earns rewards.

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Evolution of Devices and Applications

Removable media Formats such as SD card have seen their capacity doubling every year for a decade now. Should this continue, and there is no reason to expect that it won’t, in 2025 we will have small form factor removable media devices in the 2PB (Petabyte, 1015 bytes) range.

Disk storage

In this, the final report of the Evolution of Devices and Applications workstream advisory group, we will draw together our findings and recommendations arrived at over the entire course of the taskforce. In assessing how devices and applications will evolve, we looked for a model of how the raw resources of technology are increasing with time. There are several laws to choose from that seek to describe the growth of resources in data processing and storage, but the original is of course Moore’s Law. The law is named after Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore, whose 1965 paper observed the growth of transistor density and highlighted a trend that has continued for more than half a century. Moore’s Law Moore’s Law is the observation that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. One often hears 18 months quoted as the period for chip performance doubling, due to other factors besides transistor density. Moore’s Law, and other similar ‘laws’, have consistently predicted technology growth.

Processing power It seems that the growth of computing power has been outstripping Moore’s Law, increasing faster than predicted. Current processors are operating, depending on cost and complexity, somewhere in the range of 10,000 to 200,000 MIPs (millions of instructions per second). Since the 1990s we have seen a doubling of processing power about every 12 months: if we extrapolate this, then processors will increase in computing power by a factor of 1,000 over the next decade. This level of processing power is approaching that of a large mammal’s brain, although we cannot assume that this will herald the arrival of true artificial intelligence. One thing is certain, however: in 2025, low cost devices will contain a processing ability well in excess of today’s desktop computers. One can expect a performance gain of between 250 and 1,000 fold.

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This is one area where one is likely to see a step-change, with solid state storage replacing magnetic disks. However, the trend is that magnetic storage will intersect with solid state in 2025, at a value of 2PB. We can draw two conclusions here: Petabyte storage will be commonplace in 2025. Solid state storage (with capacity doubling every year) is catching up with magnetic disk (where capacity is doubling roughly every 20 months).

Figure 1: Moore’s Law predicts the exponential growth of computing (Courtesy of Ray Kurzweil)

Fixed line internet access Similar trends have been found in fixed line internet access speeds (twisted pair, cable, fibre). The model predicts that in 2025 fixed line internet technologies will be capable of transferring 2.5Gbits/s. However, we feel that consumers are very unlikely to be connected at such extremely high speeds. As the Future Networks advisory group points out elsewhere in this report, BT and Virgin Media are installing fibre optic networks providing ‘superfast broadband’ at speeds in the 30-100Mbit/s range. The government’s stated intention is to extend the availability of superfast broadband to 95% of homes by 2017. These figures are based upon the deployment of ‘fibre to the cabinet’ (FTTC) technology, where the fibre optic connection is terminated in a street corner cabinet, and the last leg of the connection (perhaps tens or hundreds of metres) is made using the traditional twisted pair. To push speeds higher, and towards the prediction of gigabit level connectivity, then ‘fibre to the home’ (FTTH) would have to be deployed.

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

The future & Moore’s law Some people are predicting an end to Moore’s Law, somewhere between 2020-2025, and for a variety of reasons. Bob Colwell, now the director of the Microsystems Technology Office at the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and one time Intel engineer, claims that when silicon chip manufacture hits the 5nm scale Moore’s Law will come to an end due to the economics of industrial R&D1. He means that although it may be possible to go smaller, the cost of development will be prohibitive even for a player of Intel’s size. Theoretically, X-ray lithography and Deep X-ray lithography could allow the fabrication of 1nm scale semiconductors. However, many people predict that physical effects will render current semiconductor technology unpredictable and possibly unusable at this scale. In science the Angstrom is a unit of length (10-10m) often used as an approximation for the atomic radius of many elements. When you note that 1nm is equal to 10 Angstroms, you realise that transistors at this scale will be composed of merely tens of atoms. At this point we have crossed the boundary from macroscopic physics into an area known as the mesoscopic regime, where the effects of quantum mechanics will begin to have an effect and ‘classical’ devices at this scale will struggle with loss of state. Macroscopic objects will obey the laws of classical mechanics; mesoscopic objects are affected by fluctuations around the average, and are subject to quantum mechanics. It is clear that the UK must be active in exploring this regime, how quantum technologies can help break the 5nm barrier, and how methods of nanoscale technology and quantum computing may bring further miniaturisation and performance improvements.

There is already a move in this direction: The UK government is investing £270M in a multi-stakeholder Quantum Technologies Programme aimed at realising the potentially transformative impact of Quantum Technologies across business, government and society. This national programme is being delivered by The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) in partnership with other stakeholders.2 Part of this initiative is the formation of a network of UK ‘quantum hubs’ to be funded by the EPSRC to the tune of £155m3. These hubs are expected to have a high level of engagement with industry, with IPR generation and technology transfer stated as high priorities.

Future for magnetic storage? While there is a trend towards solid state data storage, magnetic storage hard disk drive (HDD) technology still offers higher capacities and read/write endurance (if not mechanical endurance) at lower cost. Physical effects, such as tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and Spin Torque Transfer (STT), are now being exploited to develop a new type of magnetic storage, called Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM). Furthermore, the universities of Exeter, Manchester, York and Queen’s in Belfast are planning to work with Seagate (who manufacture around 30% of the read/ write heads used globally) on assessing the quantum mechanics of magnetic storage. They believe that a study of the dynamics of quantum states will lead to a further miniaturisation of magnetic HDD technology.

Multiple mobile access networks It is clear that Wi-Fi speeds (where connectivity is ultimately wired back to the service provider) and mobile access speeds will greatly increase. This is not a question for this group, however, we are in agreement that devices will become much more adaptive when it comes to wireless data. We believe that devices will increasingly be able to switch from one network type to another, with this switching being hidden from the user.

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1 http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57600373-92/end-of-moores-law-its-not-just-about-physics/ 2 http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Calls/2014/QTCallDocument.pdf 3 http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2014/feb/quantum-hub.cfm

Applications & linear The group feels that ‘linear TV’ (the notion of a live channel of content with a particular identity that is known to, and trusted by, the public) will continue to be a dominant mode of TV consumption; there will still be a desire to watch high quality live content. TV channels in the UK excel at first-run content that people want to see and which they will set aside time to watch when it is transmitted. Even when the content is not live, sharing a cultural experience with others by tuning in to the same content, at the same time, is a powerful phenomenon. Catch-up TV, where the programme or event is watched some hours or days after initial transmission, allows more people to share the viewing experience. Beyond catch-up, we expect that there will be an increase in the viewing of on-demand content, at the expense of live and time-shifted content. Viewing this content may require an application to be running on the viewing device, with rights management that meets the requirements of the content provider, and this is no trivial task. An application framework that works across devices from various manufacturers, and perhaps even across different device classes, is required to ensure that a large proportion of the viewing public can be reached. Of course, there will be a place for search in TV applications, and perhaps even applications that allow searching of vast archives. But, for viewers who have become accustomed to the linear TV model of the last 40 years, intelligent mechanisms should be used to provide guidance and suggestions.

The Evolution of Devices and Applications Advisory Group makes the following recommendations for broadcast, digital media and the creative industries: Education The best way to stimulate innovation in the UK is to reach people in their early teens and introduce them to the technologies of television, digital media and the creative industries. Talented people are vital to the success of any enterprise, and enterprises will not appear in the first place if young minds have not been exposed to the possibilities of technological innovation. If one looks at broadcasting, most engineers above a certain age were trained within the BBC, ITV and Independent Local Radio. Things have changed, with nearly all of the centres that provided this training now gone. We support the establishment of the MediaCityUK University Technical College (UTC) in Salford. This is a collocation with five BBC departments, parts of ITV, the University of Salford and many creative, digital and new media companies. A UTC trains children from the age of 14; some have suggested that this is too young. There has also been some criticism that the specialised nature of the colleges encourages fragmentation of education provision; however, at 17 or 18 years old it is often too late to get children interested in technology. We agree that youngsters should be exposed to the possibilities that are out there before making GCSE and A-level subject choices that limit their future options. The expectation is that the “UTC will provide outstanding opportunities for young people from the Greater Manchester area to become highly successful creative industries entrepreneurs, helping to drive the UK’s future economic prosperity.”4 We recommend that this model is replicated across the UK, in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the South: the establishment of these colleges could provide the seed for, or add to the growth of, local clusters for the industry. A very sobering message is contained within the recent NCUB (National Centre for Universities and Business) report entitled “Target 2030.”5 The paper focuses on increasing the number of female graduates working in manufacturing, technology, engineering and computing (MTEC). Fewer than one

4 Sir Rod Aldridge OBE, Chairman, The Aldridge Foundation 5 http://www.ncub.co.uk/reports/target-2030.html 6 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1109/11090203 7 http://www.ncub.co.uk/reports/the-brighton-fuse.html

in ten (9.5%) science and engineering professionals in the UK labour force are female. “The graduate recruiters, entrepreneurs and management teams of 2030 are at university today, and the people they will be recruiting were born a few years ago and will soon be entering the school system. Assuming we launch the Target 2030 project for academic year 2014, we will only have sixteen years to achieve the targets.” One important policy implication is that to influence the paths taken by young people, of either gender, we will have to work fast: things will have to begin to change right now. The paper highlights that simply increasing the number of young women studying science and engineering will not solve the problem; 50% of science and engineering graduates ‘leak’ into other disciplines and MTEC companies do not appear to be appealing career destinations for female graduates. It is clear that the industry has work to do to attract women into engineering. In the television industry the number of women engineers is low and those working in product R&D seem to be invisible. If you visit an industry standards body or consortium (e.g. MPEG, DVB, HbbTV, OIPF, DTG) it is rare to find a woman sitting at the table. Also, industry should work with academia to ensure that the production of numerate and technically literate graduates also brings graduates with the specific skills and talents needed. We support the establishment of an innovative new undergraduate degree at UCL: the Bachelor in Arts and Sciences (BASc)6. The group feels that such interdisciplinary courses are necessary to provide both the skills and mindset needed in the industry. We also feel individuals need both creative and technical awareness to succeed in visual technology industries. Our findings resonate with those of the ‘Brighton Fuse’, a two year research project about a cluster of creative digital and IT companies in Brighton and Hove7. In their report they say: “The clear implication of these findings is that we should move away from thinking that the arts and humanities are a luxury subsidised by the economic growth generated by natural sciences and engineering. The arts and humanities are part of the engine of the UK economy, not an optional aesthetic detail on the upholstery.”

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

The report explains that a ‘fused’ business, where artistic and design skills are combined with technological expertise, can grow at a much faster rate than a traditionally structured business. We also wish to cite the excellent work of the BBC Academy. Their website states that, “We aim to share as much of our training as possible with the wider UK broadcasting industry for free.”8

Industry & skills Our strong view is that internships and work experience in the industry are good ways of helping individuals to get the skills needed to innovate. It’s not all about training for the future - some placement and internship students bring new ideas and create or complete work that benefits the company and which would otherwise not be done. Interns and placement students are not a ‘drain’ on a company, in fact, they add value. Many organisations, outside the big companies, are providing internships and placements. We would like to commend the following four initiatives that empower the creative industries to develop skills and talent: C  reative Skillset: http://www.creativeskillset.org/ e -skills UK Apprenticeships: http://www.e-skills.com/ apprenticeships/ E nternships: https://www.enternships.com/ e -Placements Scotland: http://www.e-placementscotland.com/

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8 http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/page/about

Platforms

Applications

Devices

One example of how a powerful player can help industry at large is the BBC’s development of the TV Abstraction Layer, or TAL. The interactive application space on TVs and set top boxes is acutely fragmented, with literally hundreds of variations of HTML, JavaScript and other web technologies (in particular the APIs used to control video presentation). This means that service providers have to author hundreds of variations of any application if they wish it to run on all devices. Using the TAL you only need to implement the application once.

Looking at how applications currently operate, we identified several bottlenecks in ease of use and flexibility. Addressing the following points will make any application easier and more enjoyable to use, as well as making it more competitive:

In looking at the evolution of devices and applications from 2014 until 2025 the workstream members have found it very difficult to foresee ways of encouraging innovation of devices in the UK.

The BBC TAL initiative provides a common platform for television applications, with device to device variations abstracted and hidden from the application. The TAL is open source, meaning that developers (and, indeed, manufacturers) can contribute, providing support for new standards as they are implemented in the market. However, TAL is not a magic bullet. The TV application eco-system consists of a world of walled gardens, one per manufacturer. Application authors must still engage directly with each manufacturer to get their application on screen. We recommend that the industry considers what it can do to address this hurdle, perhaps providing a shared marketplace. In addition, the development process of loading applications on to devices and debugging them varies by manufacturer. Provision of standardised mechanisms for developers to engage with these devices should be explored. The TAL, and other similar platforms, can provide small enterprises with a significant reduction in the effort needed to reach many, many devices. We recommend continued growth of the TAL to support the evolution of standards, in particular enabling multiple innovative solutions for the same problem to co-exist, with a single standard programming interface exposed to applications.

Federated search for content. Natural language searching. A taxonomy for content that is more natural and intuitive rather than the perhaps rigid genres and format descriptions that we have today. Copyright exchange – the Copyright Hub is already starting to look at this area9. On this last point we recommend a mechanism where applications can gain access to third party content. For example, a pay-per-view TV application from broadcaster X is able to access and show pay-per-view content from broadcaster Y: a type of instant syndication, performed through a central rights brokerage. Broadcaster X may show that content, assuming that the content rights and contracts are suitably respected. Broadcaster Y receives a micropayment, or revenue split, for this from broadcaster X or perhaps directly from the viewer. This, along with federated search, will help service providers (especially those in ‘traditional’ broadcast) to monetise the content they have sitting in their archives. In general we feel that innovation will be better served if industry looks at the early adopters of new technology, for example, catch-up TV. We have heard many statistics and anecdotes that play down the significance of over-the-top (OTT) TV services and time-shifted viewing. These include comments that only 5% of viewing hours are delivered via OTT and that only 1% of people exclusively watch time-shifted content10. This may be true but habits are changing and the expectations of the viewing public are increasing. Since we are looking ahead to 2025, it is prudent to look at leading-edge users of technology.

We now have a global market for devices and their design: development and manufacturing of mobile phones, smart phones, tablets, games consoles, and personal computers is happening outside the UK. It is very difficult to see how to alter this situation: can we think of a way of developing a market leading brand (like Apple, for example) based here in the UK? How could the UK government even seed such a venture? That may sound somewhat defeatist, but the reality is that these brands are based elsewhere, with manufacturing taking place in the Far East. There certainly are some amazing UK brands further back down the supply chain such as ARM (who need no introduction) and Wolfson (who have supplied audio ICs and components for millions of devices including the iPhone). Yet, the integration of all these components into a compelling product is not happening in the UK. Furthermore, development of operating systems for these devices is also happening elsewhere. In the case of a system such as Google’s Android we can see that the OS steals the show, sometimes overshadowing the brand of the phone or the tablet’s manufacturer. The problems/opportunities as we see them are: Phones and smart phones launched in the UK are global market devices. TVs launched in the UK are fundamentally global devices; with software changes to meet UK broadcast and service provider requirements (e.g. Freesat, Sky, Freeview, etc). Tablets, games consoles and personal computers in the UK market are global devices.

9 http://www.copyrighthub.co.uk/ 10 Source: TELESCOPE: A look at the nation’s changing viewing habits from TV Licensing.

The only place where we see ‘bespoke’ UK devices is the set top box and PVR market. In this market devices are conceived for the UK and are based upon a specific service or platform proposition (e.g. Freeview, YouView, Freesat, Sky, etc). There is a great deal of UK software and hardware development in this space. The reason for this, of course, is the desire to provide a particular user experience (e.g. free HD TV, simple PVR operation, catch-up TV) on an individual platform; this leads to a technical specification unique to that service provider and unique to the UK.

Possible solutions We have noted that the UK television market, at all points in the value chain, is extremely mature: more so than nearly any other country. The UK TV industry understands TV uniquely well, and we feel that the UK has been too reticent in this regard. UK companies should be encouraged and aided in sending a message to other markets. In some ways, the UK TV industry is a victim of its own success. The UK has a history of launching new digital TV services very early on: DTT launched in the UK on 15 November 1998, soon after digital satellite television (from BSkyB) launched on 1 October 1998. UK DTT had a standard for interactivity and ‘digital teletext’ from launch, and in May 2006 the Crystal Palace transmitter began transmitting HDTV using the new DVB-T2 standard. All of the UK TV platforms (including Freesat, Freeview, YouView, Sky and Virgin Media) have sought to embrace ‘hybrid television’. This is where the broadcast is augmented with ‘catchup TV’ and/or VOD delivered via domestic broadband connections, using IP. This has led to a vibrant and competitive UK TV platform market place. However, we feel that the lessons that the UK has learned, as early adopters of new technology, could have been shared more widely. There is strong involvement of the public service broadcasters in these platforms: Freesat is owned equally and jointly by ITV and the BBC; an equal

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

share of Freeview is held by Channel 4, ITV and the BBC; YouView is owned in equal shares by all the public service broadcasters. One issue is that what was once a uniform standard for access to public service television (the Freeview DTT platform) has become a series of TV platforms that, technically, stand apart from each other. There is no single, uniform, standard for hybrid TV in the UK that is freely available to all manufacturers. Another issue is that, given previous collaboration on TV standards such as EBU and DVB, we feel that the UK should have engaged more with the, now EBU driven, HbbTV initiative. HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) is a standard for hybrid TV published by ETSI and also available directly from the HbbTV website11. Innovation in applications would be aided by the establishment of centres providing a space where entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could meet with industry experts. The development of TV applications would benefit greatly from access to a collection of TV platforms, along with various IP and broadcast tools, in order to test applications in a simulated network environment. Lots of small UK companies have great ideas, but cannot afford access to the European and world standards bodies and industry consortia (e.g. ISO, DLNA, ETSI, etc). Providing access to these standards and to the meetings that draft these standards, would help keep small UK companies at the leading edge of the global TV market. The issue of innovation in devices could be addressed through a technology advocacy programme, where innovators can share newly developed technologies, find applications (and therefore potential sources of revenue) through connecting with other inventors and entrepreneurs and where Intellectual Property (IPR) issues can be transparently managed.

Big Data and convergence The advisory group has concluded, after the reflections of this work, that the long awaited convergence in technology will not be TV and the internet, or broadcast and mobile, but actually the meeting of Big Data and consumer electronics that can make use of the products of Big Data. In the USA 18% of cars are now connected to the internet. This will continue to spread and grow. There are so many opportunities for Big Data here, if position, speed, mechanical health data can be collected at a central point and correlated with other data. The data collected from the Internet of Things (IOT) will allow Big Data applications across 3 areas:

Commercial/official use Cars: Parking management Traffic management Fuel management Policing Fuel distribution (retail)

It is now possible to collect data from a range of sensors (e.g. smoke alarms, proximity sensors, etc.) and use this. Any functions such as sounders and alarms could also be used as part of a security system. The future value of IOT technologies is huge and predicted by Metcalfe’s Law. Metcalfe’s Law: the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected nodes in the network. As more and more sensors, transducers, and all manner of system elements become addressable via IP, and interconnected, the quality and statistical value of the data collected will increase. At the same time networks increase in their ability to utilise the products of Big Data analytics.

Connected life

Innovation & open data

As we have said, the convergence we are going to see is the meeting of Big Data analytics, and the optimisations and new applications that will bring, with IP connected mass market consumer devices that can utilise the products of Big Data.

Finally, we agree with the think tank Policy Exchange that public institutions in the UK should adhere to an open data strategy. Policy exchange highlights the possible plight of an entrepreneur trying to build a business based upon a data stream from, for example, a local authority. Should that data stream be interrupted, turned off, or altered, then the business model will have to change or may even collapse12.

The third element here is consumer appetite for a new product or service. The following diagram illustrates this, and the intersection of these three elements is where there is the biggest scope for innovation:

We are pleased to note the announcement in the March 2014 budget of the new Alan Turing Institute which will be set up to research Big Data13.

Media

C  ar security & SOS function

S treaming of targeted content

H  ome:

T argeted advertising (e.g. new car if yours is old or failing)

A  larms & security L ighting & heating control H  ealth

Innovation sweet spot

M  oving media around the home from device to device

Big Data

Devices

Analytics mine for correlations & value.

Big Data source. Analytics enable new applications.

Innovation

Internet of Things (IOT) will bring new applications and make devices multi-purpose

New business.

As devices become connected the component parts will be addressable via IP. For example, a smoke alarm: Smoke alarm Proximity sensor

Smoke sensor

Sounder

Consumer Appetite For new applications & services.

“Metcalfe’s Law: the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected nodes in the network.

“

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11 http://www.hbbtv.org/pages/about_hbbtv/specification.php

12 http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/media-centre/blogs/category/item/why-we-need-a-more-strategic-approach-to-open-data 13 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26651179

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Computing for the Creative Industries The UK creative industry is not only one of the most high-profile and valuable sectors to the UK economy; it is also subject to the rapidly changing landscape of media consumption. The increasing creative demands along with the technological advances within consumer consumption devices presents huge challenges for the industry. To meet the ever increasing expectations of the industry, faster and more powerful computing and networking facilities are needed.

Digital Cinema utilizes a sampling grid commonly known as 2k (2048 x 1080) or 4k (4096 x 2160). These were standardised by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and originally provisioned to use a frame rate of 24fps or 48fps for 2k images or 24fps for 4k images. Since 3D became a popular addition, the system which initially used the capability of 48fps to send the information for each eye timed sequentially in the digital cinema delivery package (DCP), was updated for The Hobbit to deliver 48fps per eye. Each technology advance more than doubles the data storage requirement. Digital cinema uses a store and forward system meaning realtime delivery is not necessary and therefore bandwidth for transmission does not need to double. However, the file transfer time will be significantly increased. This relates to cinema distribution but in production and post-production, the storage and transfer time will sky rocket, especially when digital cinema is standardised to 60fps per eye for 3D or 120fps for 2D. Audio formatting is also evolving from channel based audio to object based coding – independently positioning objects anywhere within the sound field. Whilst this doesn’t significantly increase the final delivery data, the computational complexity in production is increased. High-end production and post-production, especially visual effects, can generate up to 40 terabytes per day. Once stored in the common file formats used in the industry, it can then take several days to

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Fortunately, graphic processing units are evolving quickly to meet these needs and providing the creative community with tools to push the boundaries.

transfer across networks. The IT industry needs to address the specialist needs of the production and post-production industries. If the UK is to remain at the forefront of content creation it needs to provide the resources, which are capable of easy expansion, to embrace the ever increasing data and network requirements. With the increased use of motion capture and CGI effects, there is an increasing desire to see pre-visualisations and first run effects on set. This requires the computing capability and the skills to be available during the shooting of content to ensure the captured images will be effective. Digital television is currently going through a process of agreeing standards for Ultra-High Definition (UHD). This is likely to include larger sample grids moving from 1920 x 1080 to 3840 x 2160 or 7680 x 4320, increasing frame rates from 25 Hz or interlaced 50 Hz to 50 Hz

progressive or 100 Hz and increasing the dynamic range requiring a move from 8-bit to 10 or 12-bit per pixel. The mobile industry is also converging with media creation and distribution, with recent devices capable of 4k video capture and display. Although capturing and processing this content is possible today, the main challenge for television is to accommodate ‘live’ outside broadcast. A standard sport broadcast programme makes heavy use of slow-motion replays and on screen graphics to analyse the game. Therefore, not only the live end-to-end chain needs to handle much higher data-rates for UHD, the tools for fast storage, manipulation and playback need to be available, typically supporting an outside broadcast environment. Gaming has similar challenges; where technologies like ray-tracing help create the effect of visual realism at the cost of significant computational complexity.

The other challenges for gaming across multiple platforms are payment and discoverability. Games are no longer restricted to dedicated platforms or PCs: they can now be found on social media platforms, mobile, tablet and TV devices, as well as simple websites using a variety of different operating systems and standards. The fastest growing sector of games is “Free to Play” apps, but with over one million apps in the iTunes store and almost the same number on the Android platforms, getting discovered is extremely difficult. It is therefore recommended that a cross-platform promotion network be considered to promote UK developed applications. A cross-industry working group, including TIGA, should be formed to discuss how this could be achieved. Within the Apple ecosystem, the mechanism for secure micro-payments is extremely well implemented and has made a success of the business model of “Free to Play” games with monetisation via micro-transactions. Although there are many web billing systems, there is no equivalent trusted one-touch billing system for TV apps, in part due to the fragmentation of technical standards in the connected TV market. We therefore recommend that government consider supporting the creation of guidelines to ensure that a secure and trusted billing

platform is created across all UK TV platforms accessible by a simple web API. The biggest computing challenge for the production and post-production community is handling the huge peaks and troughs of demand for computationally intensive rendering. This requires a data centre with sufficient energy, processing capability, connectivity and storage to meet demand but one that can also benefit from being a shared resource across the UK creative industries. Similar successful initiatives have been created in Canada to support the growing creative community there. The Canadian productive and economic method of working needs to be implemented in the UK to keep the industry competitive and world-leading in this age of rapidly advancing digital production. Moving forward, it is recommended that a “creative cloud” is provided in the UK to meet current and future creative demands. There is an opportunity for this UK resource to be world class, innovative and further develop energy efficient processors and servers. Also, new ways need to be found to exploit existing infrastructure and resources such as the UK academic networks and high performance computing capability.

London to handle uncompressed video assets. Any data centre would need to be close to an abundant source of energy and utilise natural cooling where possible to minimise running costs. Optimising processors to handle audio, video and graphics would significantly improve the efficiencies of the computing equipment. Secure storage would provide a vital disaster recovery service for the industry. It is recommended that industry work with the Technology Strategy Board and the Connected Digital Economy Catapult, to create a resource to demonstrate UK leadership in this area, whilst supporting the needs of the creative industry. We call on the government to create incentives to facilitate the introduction of the UK Creative Cloud and continue to promote the sector in the UK.

A UK creative cloud would need to securely manage access and scheduling, to deliver a flexible and efficient payas-you-go service to the UK creative community. A minimum 10 Gbps connection would be required into central

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Television Spatial resolution In 1929, the BBC broadcast television programmes began using the first Baird 30-line system. On 3 November 1936, the BBC began alternating their transmissions from Alexandra Palace between the Baird 240-line system and the Marconi 405line system, which later became the main UK television service and continued to be broadcast until 1985. In 1964 a new 625-line system was developed and this introduced colour with PAL in 1967. In 1982, the Comité Consultatif International pour la Radio (CCIR) which later became the ITU-R, published BT.601 which defined the formats for digital video. It introduced the formal resolution of 720 horizontal pixels by 576 vertical pixels (640 by 480 for the NTSC countries) all sampled at 13.5 MHz. This resolution is currently referred to as Standard Definition (SD). In 1990, ITU-R published a new standard, BT.709, for High Definition (HD). This introduced the idea of a common image format, which included resolutions of 1280 pixels by 720 lines and 1920 pixels by 1080 lines. The 1080 line variant included both interlace and progressive scan options. More recently, in 2012, ITU-R published BT.2020 which includes two resolutions: 3840 pixels by 2160 lines and 7680 pixels by 4320 lines. These resolutions are known as Ultra High Definition; UHD1 and UHD2. They are often confusingly referred to as 4k and 8k due to the approximate number of horizontal pixels.

Scientific studies have shown that the human visual acuity is limited to “one minute of Arc”, which means the resolution of images that can actually be distinguished depends on this, the size of the screen and the viewing distance. The average UK home viewing distance is 2.7m and average screen sizes are currently around 40 inches. BBC White Paper 921 tested this theory and illustrated the resolution required against screen sizes for the average viewing distance.

Temporal resolution Early Baird transmissions were scanned at around 12.5 pictures per second. The Marconi 405-line system introduced interlacing where the two complimentary fields are shown 50 times per second creating fill frames 25 times per second. This field and frame rate was continued in Europe through PAL and into digital standard definition. The high definition standards introduced a progressive image at 50 times per second at the lower 1280 by 720 resolution. The debate in quality between 720p50 and 1080i25 was argued but resulted in the vast majority of HD content using the 1080i25 standard. 25 Hz progressing scan is also used in HD for genres like drama and natural history as it gives the best resolution for slow moving content. Temporal resolution is key to portrayal of motion. Higher frame rates are needed to provide a smooth motion for moving objects. The juddering effect is more apparent with larger displays, higher spatial resolution and faster moving objects.

Colour and bit-depth ITU-R Rec 601 and ITU-R Rec 709 include both 8-bit and 10-bit representation. The latter is often used in the studio and production environment to give a greater granularity. ITU-R 2020 introduced 12-bit video levels.

Data Rates

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Video format

Uncompressed data rate

SD (720x576) I 25Hz 8-bit 4:2:2

165 Mb/s

HD (1280x720) p 50Hz 8-bit 4:2:2

737 Mb/s

HD (1920x1080) I 25Hz 8-bit 4:2:2

829 Mb/s

HD (1920x1080) I 25Hz 10-bit 4:2:2

1 Gb/s

UHD1 (3840x2160) p 50Hz 10-bit 4:2:2

8.3 Gb/s

UHD2 (7680x4230) p 50Hz 10-bit 4:2:2

33 Gb/s

1 http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp-pdf-files/WHP092.pdf

Temporal resolution Historically, cinema has used 24 frames per second for film capture and projection. Due to the low frame rate, careful rules and constraints ensure that films suffer from motion judder.

Chrominance is usually half the resolution of the luminance, referred to as 4:2:2.

Stereoscopic 3D Stereoscopic 3D is achieved by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. These twodimensional images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3D depth. In television, a popular compromise is to anamorphically squeeze the images so that they can fit into a standard video frame. This way, they can pass through the broadcast system transparently, as if they were a simple HD image, which can then be re-combined by a display into a 3D image. This is referred to as ‘frame compatible 3D’. There are alternative technical standards for ‘service compatible 3D’: where a 2D image can be enhanced with 3D information by sending a depth map or difference image for the alternate eye image. This mechanism is used in 3D Bluray releases using Multiview Coding (MVC) which delivers a compatible H.264 AVC HD stream along with 3D enhancement information.

Cinema Spatial resolution Historically, film has had a significant number of formats and aspect ratios. The most popular have been 35mm and 70mm with aspect ratios including 1.33:1, 1.66:1, 1.85:1 (‘flat’) and 2.39:1 (‘scope’). DCI D-Cinema formats are largely referred to as 2k and 4k and consist of containers; 2048x1080 and 4096x2160. The active image within the container is dependant on the aspect ratio used, for example, for 2k, 2.39:1 is 2048x858 and 1.85:1 is 1998x1080.

High frame rate has been proposed a number of times and there are various formats supported in the DCI D-Cinema specifications: 60, 72, 96 and 120 frame/s for 2D at 2k.  48 and 60 frame/s for 3D at 2k.  48 and 60 frame/s for 2D at 4k.

Stereoscopic 3D 3D is achieved by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. These two-dimensional images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3D depth. The current D-Cinema standards define images of 2048x1080 at 48 frame/s (24 frame/s per eye).

Audio Current D-Cinema audio supports 24 bits per sample, either 48kHz or 96 kHz sampled, and up to 16 channels. New developments include object coding enhancements to allow a smoother transition to be rendered in the specific cinema space, for example, Dolby Atmos.

Colour and bit-depth DCI D-Cinema defines 12 bits per colour component with 10-bit only permitted for 2k at 48 frames per second (HFR). DCI P3 defines the colour gamut available.

Bitrate 250 Mb/s maximum image bit rate using JPEG 2000 compression. HFR increased to 500 Mb/s.

Audio Dolby Surround was introduced in 1982 to bring stereo to home video recording formats. Pro-logic was introduced in 1987 which mixed four channels of sound into an ordinary stereo soundtrack. Nicam stereo was first broadcast by the BBC in 1986. From the launch of digital TV, stereo was standard. Dolby Digital was introduced into the home with LaserDisc in 1995. This discrete channel encoding was then adopted for surround sound broadcasts. NHK are experimenting with the Super High Vision system which uses 22.2 channels of discrete audio. An alternative to coding each channel separately is to code the audio objects separately. This allows for the sound field to be appropriately re-created based on the number of speakers available in the room. Object coded audio has the additional benefit of being able to easily customise the environment. For example, the commentary could be enhanced while the background music is suppressed. Alternatively, the football supporter could choose which part of the stadium they wanted to ‘sit in’, allowing the home team to be the predominate voice with the choice of biased or unbiased commentary.

“Historically, cinema has used 24 frames per second for film capture and projection. Due to the low frame rate, careful rules and constraints ensure that films suffer from motion judder.

“

Background Information

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Gaming Most modern games use 3D modelling and render graphics from a number of triangular polygons. The amount of these polygons is minimised to keep the rendering time down and texture is then added. Refresh rates are critical for gaming and it is not uncommon for HD resolutions at 60 frames per second to be required as a minimum. Ray tracing is a technique to create photo-realistic graphics by tracing the path of light through pixels in an image plane and simulating what happens when it encounters virtual objects. However, due to the computational complexity, it is currently more likely to be used for content rendered ahead of time. However, real-time rendering would make more compelling games.

Platforms There are many different platforms used for gaming. These include dedicated gaming consoles and high-end PCs, web based games which require simply a web browser and mobile device games.

Install size Install size for a game varies significantly, depending on the platform it is aimed at. Webpages can be up to a few hundred MB (but this needs a fast connection), it is approximately 500 MB for iPhone, and typically 10-15 GB for a PC game.

Connectivity Latency is critical in gaming due to the input response time. For web based games, bandwidth is required for the initial download but not for the game play. Often a live connection is required to prevent piracy.

Payments The massive success of app stores such as Apple’s App Store has been attributed to numerous factors. Without getting into a discussion of these factors, most commentators would agree that the ability for developers to engage in ‘onetouch billing’ is key. Apple’s insistence that, at the point of registration of their products, consumers also register their credit card has resulted in the creation of a secure and trusted billing relationship between Apple and the consumer (and by extension between the developer and the consumer), which breaks down barriers to traditional online buying and indeed encourages impulse buying. This is a beneficial two-way relationship; customer desire would seem to be evidenced by the very success of the stores and the fact that revenues and the numbers of stores continue to grow exponentially. The market capitalisation of Apple and successful developers indicates their profitability. As part of this implementation, the role and requirement for micro-payments must also be considered. Micro-payments comprise the basis of what is coming to be the dominant business model in both the app ecosystem (and by extension the gaming sub-set), namely Free to Play (F2P). In essence, F2P is giving a game or app away for free and then monetising via micro-transactions, for example, buying a new ‘gun’ in a game for 59p. Traditional billing systems typically struggle with transactions this small as the transaction costs dwarf the actual purchase value. Any viable one-touch billing solution must take into account these requirements as well. To date, there is no trusted one-touch billing system for TV apps. This is partly due to the immaturity of the TV app market but there are other factors such as Sky’s dominance in the commercial arena, the BBC’s public-funded (noncommercial) nature and TV manufacturers ‘walled garden’ approaches to app market development, as well as the simple fact that to-date most Smart TVs are not connected to the internet by their owners (although it can be argued that this is a chicken and egg situation and will resolve itself once there is a reason for owners to connect).

This would require:

Discoverability With the rise of F2P, an already existing app store problem has been exacerbated, namely the conundrum for developers of how to get their app found by consumers. Even Apple App Store aficionados will concede that finding a particular or high quality app amongst a plethora of similarly named and poorly rated apps is practically impossible, and indeed all app stores are blighted by this problem. To date, there are only two proven methods for an unknown developer to break into the market; being featured as an ‘App of the Day’ or gaining some other highpublicity break e.g. a BBC/FT/TechCrunch article, or engaging in some targeted and, by extension costly, marketing spend. This means that the market is heavily weighted in favour of the incumbents (who can afford the marketing spend) and a look at any associated charts, for example, Facebook (http://www.appdata.com/), will show this.

T he development of said platform. Web billing systems are relatively commonplace these days and the recent number of UK start-ups offering smart billing solutions (for example, https://gocardless.com/ ) shows that low barriers to entry i.e. relatively cheap (£100K - £500K) development costs are possible. In addition, the fact that the solution proposed would only need to encompass UK billing options limits technological complexity. P otentially mandating that all Smart TV platforms in the UK (Sky, Samsung TV apps, etc) must provide access to, and billing via said platform (although not at the exclusion of current methods). In addition, the following would be beneficial: 1. The integration of the billing platform with existing suppliers billing platforms i.e. the option when paying to ‘Pay by Sky’, ‘Pay by Samsung’, etc.

Provision of a cross-promotion network similar to something like Applifier (http://www.applifier.com/ ). At TIGA the board have discussed at length about how to provide this to our members (UK game developers) as we feel that it would provide them with a competitive global advantage. The author will concede that there are difficulties associated with any implementation, the most obvious being that it can rely on the largesse of the larger developers. However, to-date the biggest hurdle has simply been the cost of setting up such a network. Estimates range around the (£100k £200K) margin but sadly this is simply not available to TIGA.

2. The creation of a platform agnostic app store. Again, solutions like this already exist in the UK, for example http:// store.indiecity.com/, indeed the game author himself has been involved in the creation of a number of these (although not Indie City). Other benefits: 3. By building a platform-agnostic app store we remove the imposition of the ‘30% tax’ that stores such as Apple impose on developers (namely the cut that Apple take). The provision of the service at cost would keep developers revenues within the UK. 4. Greater protection and peace of mind for consumers. To give one example, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) recently undertook an investigation into consumer buying, particularly around children’s apps, and whether they breached consumer regulations. Whilst the OFT has subsequently indicated to TIGA that they are very happy with UK developers efforts in this space and conceded that a majority of the problems rest with how platforms such as Apple implement their billing, an additional UK trusted platform would obviously help to avoid any future problems. Finding a particular or high quality app amongst a plethora of similarly named and poorly rated apps is practically impossible, and indeed all app stores are blighted by this problem.

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

ISAN ISAN is a numbering system for the identification of AV content developed with ISO. It was published in 2002 as ISO 15706. It is a 24-bit hexadecimal number or a 96-bit binary number. The ISAN, a 96-bit number is comprised of three segments: a root, an episode or part, and a version. A root is assigned to a core work. Subsequent film parts or television episodes that relate to the root work can have the same root, but different episode or part components. If a core work does not have associated parts or episodes, then the episode segment is filled with zeros. Works (and their episodes or parts) that have been modified in some way (for example, different audio or subtitle tracks) can have different versions. ISANIA has also developed a recommended practice for encoding the ISAN in a twodimensional barcode.

Connectivity

Data Management

JANET Janet is a high speed computer network providing collaborative services for UK research and education. It is also linked to Geant: the pan-European data network for research and education.

TV Content

A Super Hi-Vision trial at the 2012 Olympics used these academic networks to pass high quality images and sound across the Atlantic and to Japan.

DVB URI and CRIDs for content identification A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) which, “in addition to identifying a resource, [provides] a means of locating the resource by describing its primary access mechanism (e.g. its network ‘location’).” “Uniform Resource Names” (URNs) are intended to serve as persistent, locationindependent resource identifiers. DVB defines a specific Uniform Resource Locator (URL) format which provides a general addressing mechanism intended to access broadcast services from interactive applications or services: dvb://. [][.[.[$]][]][] dvb://’’[.[$]][][]

This is used extensively in DVB Service Information to provide linkages across the broadcast services and components. Content Reference Identifiers (CRIDs) were standardised by the TV Anytime Forum to unambiguously reference content regardless of their location (such as broadcast time, date and channel). These CRIDs are used extensively in the Freeview and Freesat platforms to enable features of Digital TV Recorders (DTRs) such as accurate recording (when the programme moves time due to schedule changes), series linking (to identify several programmes as part of a series), split events (where a programme is split into two parts such as a film broken by a new bulletin) and alternate instances (programmes repeated on other channels at other times to allow recorders to intelligently manage recording schedule conflicts). A content identifier descriptor can indicate the type of CRID that is carried. TVAnytime defines two types of CRID: A  group CRID – to group together an arbitrary selection of content (for example, a series).

An ISAN uniquely distinguishes one audiovisual work from all other audiovisual works. An ISAN is a centrally registered and permanently assigned reference number. The work it references is identified by a metadata set. ISAN-IA in Geneva and its appointed registration agencies work together to prevent duplicate assignments of ISANs with the same metadata set. This descriptive information includes the title, director, type, duration and dozens of other fields related to the work. This metadata applies to all types of works, including versions of feature films, documentaries, television programmes, videos, games, trailers, advertisements, and live broadcasts. Additionally, these ISAN codes are the unique identification of specific versions or other content related to an audiovisual work and will be used in production and distribution systems, broadcasting applications and electronic program guides. Titles can change when a work is distributed beyond its country (or countries) of origin and the title is translated into other languages. As each ISAN is a unique number that is permanently assigned to an audiovisual work, it can identify that work across national boundaries and language barriers. As a unique identifier, the ISAN and its related metadata set are useful in a wide range of computerised applications, particularly those which involve databases or the exchange of information about audiovisual works and related versions.

EIDR EIDR is a global B2B registry for unique identification of movie and TV content. It provides international collaboration among content owners, distributors and operators, retailers and other key stakeholders. It tracks all commercial content down to the product and SKU level including edits, clips, composites and encodings. It is built on the International Digital Object Identifier (DOI) standard and is interoperable with existing IDs. It is an industry-driven ID solution for the digital supply chain.

Case study – Canada AA consortium of the major animation, VFX and games studios in Vancouver created the Vancouver Studio Group with the aim of creating a shared data centre to make Vancouver a more competitive destination by reducing infrastructure costs through combined economies of scale. It took two years from the discussions starting to the service going live in early 2012. The service ended up being delivered through a private company using available university campus capacity, leveraging the local high speed academic network and with support from the city of Vancouver, the province of British Columbia and BC Film (the equivalent of the UK Film Council). Scalar StudioCloud2 was founded on the recognition that digital media companies have specific and unique IT requirements. The short-term and often unpredictable project workload has traditionally meant that studios have either had to spend time, resources, and money managing redundant infrastructure, or alternatively simply turn certain projects down. StudioCloud solves this problem by offering access to cutting-edge technology on a predictable, per-use cost model. Currently the primary offering of StudioCloud is servers-on-demand. Studios can access thousands of servers in our data centre, and connect via a secure, dedicated switch. Studios sign up for a contracted minimum number of servers for a 12, 18, or 36 month term. If studios ever find themselves with idle servers, they have the option to sublease them to other studios in the cloud, using our unique exchange feature. Studios connect into the cloud via an ultra-high speed network. Scalar StudioCloud was designed to meet guidelines set out by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and facilities are monitored and managed daily.

A  programme CRID – to identify a specific piece of content (for example, a programme).

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2 http://www.scalar.ca/studio-cloud/ Scalar StudioCloud is a community cloud designed for the digital media industry. Launched in Vancouver in February 2012, StudioCloud has now expanded to the Toronto market.

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Data Management

The diagram below illustrates the direction we see the advertising market going over time. As illustrated in the diagram, there are still two distinct methods that will be used for data collection; the Adsense version employed by vertical platforms and “HTML” for want of a better name - where the growth in horizontal data collection will be taking place. The latter is obviously more reliant on open source data, allowing trend analysis and the future collection of Big Data. While this may not be quite as effective when it comes to targeting, it will still have a significant amount to offer.

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The Data Management Advisory Group and Steering Group previously acknowledged that the use of open standards for tracking content will continue to be important to allow the data analysis industry and related advertising developments to continue. This clearly continues to be the case and the FITT Taskforce still strongly supports the ongoing work by the Linked Content Coalition and its Principles of Identification. In addition, we continue to support the recommendations of the Copyright Licencing Steering Group1 (now reconstituted as the Copyright Hub Partners Board) in encouraging the interoperability between the EIDR and ISAN international identification systems and look to seeing more broadcasters adopting these systems in the future.

1 http://www.clsg.info/uploads/Streamlining_Copyright_for_the_Digital_Age_September_2013.pdf

Currently, TV advertising makes up the largest segment of advertising by value. In 2013 TV was responsible for 40% of advertising spend and it is not expected to drop significantly in the near future, maybe to only 39% by 2016. However, digital advertising is growing; £4bn was spent in 2010 in the UK and it is expected to grow to £7bn in 2014. This is a significant increase, and this growth is expected to continue as methods of targeting make this a more effective method of advertising. In addition, from a broadcast perspective there is also more ability to target, such as the technology now being deployed by BSkyB for AdSmart. This use of targeted digital advertising requires changes in areas of the audio visual industry. There are three sections of the industry that collect data: hardware, from manufacturers such as Apple and LG; gateway providers such as Google and Yahoo and platforms such as BBC and Facebook. Another way to look at the collection is through either vertically integrated systems whereby the consumer is within an environment that is controlled by a provider, and allows them to collect data; and the horizontal, whereby what people are doing can be viewed more publicly and use of content may be tracked. Examples that can be seen to cover both aspects are Facebook

The broadcast industry is still exploring this area to allow targeting and this domain is one in which the internet is definitely leading. In comparison to the internet, with the exception of AdSmart, the precision with which different consumers can be targeted in a broadcast environment is relatively low. However, as broadcast services increasingly enhance their offering with on demand services they are beginning to have the opportunity to develop this potential resource further through data analysis. An example of an operator doing this is Channel 4, who has now signed up some 10 million viewers through 4OD, allow it to gather valuable viewer data.

Data standards and value Open data standards “BARB 2.0”

“HTML...”

• Current model, enhanced with more metadata

• Wiki- Mozilla-

• Remains key currency of advertising

Mass targeting

Previous Recommendation

The Future of Advertising

• Dominated by top broadcasters

• Advertising/ targeting Potentially targeting: • Content, UGC and Adverts • Max room for SME innovation

“Platform led”

“Adsense”

• Used for content search and discovery, and for social media comments about programmes

• Primarily focused on targeted advertising – steals value from TV value chain

• No universal infrastructure

• Secondary focus on targeting content

• Led by Verticals (Sky, Virgin...)

• Dominated by internet giants using their own standards: • Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple

Targeted

The availability and use of this data has created challenges. How is industry supposed to make use of this data? If we understand how we might use it, can we analyse it effectively to get the required results? Additionally, what protections are required to reassure consumers that their data is appropriately used and stored? To what extent should this be consumers’ personal responsibility when sharing data? To what extent is the topic an area of policy that requires more regulation? At what level should regulation be set? Following the interim update on November 2013, the Data Management Advisory Group has focused on two specific areas around skills, and privacy and regulation. This work has also

been undertaken to further clarify and understand the direction of travel in the advertising industry. Key trends indicate a move from a mass synchronous method to a targeted asynchronous system, whereby the value of impressions is increased due to their expected impact. However, as mentioned later, the development of data science is growing in many industries, and as such many of the issues and possible solutions could also be applied elsewhere.

In order to achieve this, what can content providers and the games industries do? Already this is being addressed with regards to content, it is being offered in different formats for multi-platform consumption. Also traditional broadcast needs to innovate in the way it collects data. This could enhance the current information gathered around viewing numbers to include such information as how the content integrates into social media. In addition, attention to the screen, reactions to content, the amount of advertising actually watched and other aspects of habits could be gathered. However, this could ultimately lead to the possibility of people finding TV watching

Personalised asynchronous [viewing on personal IP connected Devices]

This has incentivised platforms and companies to develop numerous ways of collecting data. For vertical platforms, such as Facebook, Apple, Sky, etc. there is the ability to collect large amounts of personal data on people’s habits and through their use of their services. In many cases consumers agree to the use of their data by approving, often unread, terms and conditions. With horizontal platforms, such as the BBC, or third parties tracking content usage, the ability to attribute this data to people is far more difficult. However, collection still allows analysis that develops an understanding of trends and behaviours; this can often be supported by following social media around the content.

Synchronous [shared viewing on living room TV]

Data is becoming more and more important. Consumers are becoming more and more connected. This is producing colossal amounts of data and certain aspects of this data have substantial potential value to the people analysing and exploiting it, and to the economy in general.

or Twitter. Within these platforms the provider has the ability to collect a large amount of data regarding a user’s habits and behaviours which can be used in order to understand how best to target an advert to them. At the same time, external third parties, while not having access to a user’s specific personal data, can begin to gauge what is popular, and possibly the kinds of people who are making it so by analysing what is trending or what is liked or commented upon. Either way this provides useful data to allow targeted advertising, but one will allow specific personal targeting (vertical) while the other (horizontal) leads to understanding how to target specific groups. Equally, these vertical platforms have an advantage as they do not share their personal data. However, the trending information is in itself still valuable.

As the industry moves towards this, what will data actually provide? Firstly, it would provide greater targeted advertising which would be more relevant to viewers and can be more sensitive to the time of delivery, and specific to the content. Secondly, it creates a more effective and more valuable communication channel that has a greater impact on the targeted viewers. However, if data is to be gathered, there needs to be something that viewers get in return.

This can come in a number of different ways; firstly it can allow services such as recommendations to be more relevant to viewers, saving them time if looking for content. This again is useful for the provider as it can be used to better target advertising. Secondly, other rewards could be provided such as loyalty schemes whereby the provision of information is rewarded with the provision of higher premium content.

Proprietary data standards Value drifting this direction

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

them, not the other way around. The risks to privacy from this do need to be understood, not just from an information sharing perspective but also considering risks surrounding hacking of connected devices by third parties. The innovations required to achieve this would ideally be coordinated. This would allow for maximum impact and would also enable cross-industry collaboration to develop these methods. The advantage of a collaborative approach would be retaining consumers’ trust. By and large broadcasters enjoy a very high level of trust from their viewers. This should be maintained and could be used to an advantage. However, in order to preserve consumers’ trust clarity as to how and what data is collected, why it is collected and who will use it is required. Communicating this information clearly can be hard, lengthy and complex. Terms and conditions can often be overwhelming with many users never reading them. However, with the reach, impact and trust large broadcasters currently enjoy, such clarity should be pursued.

Privacy and regulation As mentioned previously, there are a number of aspects surrounding privacy and regulation that need to be addressed. From an industry perspective, the ability to collect, track, analyse and exploit data freely would be useful. It would create many chances to target advertising, along with opening up far more opportunities to trade data as a commodity. These opportunities exist today, but are limited by regulation. The laws around data privacy are complex, often open to interpretation and in many circumstances not understood and cited as reasons for not allowing access to data. This complexity and lack of understanding goes two ways though as, within more vertical markets such as when using apps on smart phones or signing up to services on products, people very rarely read the full terms and conditions, and may be unaware of what data they are actually sharing. In addition, with the ability to track people’s location, many apps only provide full functionality with this tracking activated (and this is not just for mapping applications).

These two issues around privacy and regulation could, in the long term, cause problems. Firstly, lack of understanding may place smaller, independent data tracking services at a disadvantage compared with other integrated data analysis companies providing linked services. Their ability to collect data could be inhibited due to other parties’ lack of understanding of regulations, causing them not to share anything and cite data privacy as the reason. Secondly, as people are currently unaware of the extent of the data tracking they are signing up to there is always a risk that, as the level of intrusion comes to light, there may be a backlash. This might result in consumers becoming more guarded with their data. The diagram below illustrates scenarios for how regulation and consumer behaviour might impact the availability of personal data in future. Currently, within the UK, we are sitting somewhere low down in the top right quadrant. However, lack of understanding probably leads to some organisations acting more as if we are in the top left quadrant. Complexity in privacy laws allows more of the work in the bottom right quadrant to take place.

Mapping the future: data privacy

The ideal scenario puts consumers and industry in the Open Access quadrant and, with trust, and the ability to provide consumers positive upsides to sharing their data, this opens up the potential for new revenue streams for industry through more sophisticated ads and services. However, there could be negative consequences of unauthorised data mining.

Negative Change of Trust and Regulation Willing to share data

“Available but Unhelpful”

“Open Access”

“Available but Unhelpful”

“Open Access”

• Personal data shared freely by consumers

• Maximum amount of data can be gathered about consumers

• Personal data shared freely by consumers

• Maximum amount of data can be gathered about consumers

• Regulation prevents internal/external data sharing without explicit consent

• Data can be combined from multiple sources – Mobile, TV, Smart home, Auto

• Regulation prevents internal/external data sharing without explicit consent

• Data can be combined from multiple sources – Mobile, TV, Smart home, Auto

• Consumer trust is high, data supply is secure

• Sophisticated and integrated services that save consumer time, money and increase choice. Trust can be lost easily

• Consumer trust is high, data supply is secure

• Sophisticated and integrated services that save consumer time, money and increase choice. Trust can be lost easily

“Data Mining”

• Consumers are limited to what data they can share

• Consumers either by default or choice share little data

• Regulation limits creative exploitation of that data

• Businesses have less data to mine and lose economies and insights of large scale

• Consumer loses benefits of Big Data and Internet of Things • New business models are constrained. Innovation is stifled. Revenues minimised.

• Consumer trust is low and people may be generally suspicious of connected/smart devices • Revenues at risk

Unwilling to share data

Tightly regulated

“Privacy Paramount”

• Constrained but reliable business models. Revenues stable.

• High revenue potential through targeted ads and services

“Privacy Paramount”

“Data Mining”

• Consumers are limited to what data they can share

• Consumers either by default or choice share little data

• Regulation limits creative exploitation of that data

• Businesses have less data to mine and lose economies and insights of large scale

• Consumer loses benefits of Big Data and Internet of Things • New business models are constrained. Innovation is stifled. Revenues minimised.

Loosely regulated

• High revenue potential through targeted ads and services

Loosely regulated

• Constrained but reliable business models. Revenues stable.

Tightly regulated

The diagram below points to the likely direction of travel in people’s behaviour if reduced trust and lack of knowledge lead to greater anxiety in the future.

Another aspect of the ability to access data is that it can be used for the benefit of society as a whole. This is already being looked at in the health industry, where new data is now beginning to be collected. While there are many questions being asked around how this data may be used and there is some disquiet within the media around how this data may be shared, it must be seen as an opportunity to gain understanding of society that could benefit everyone in health provision. Other aspects of social benefits will also be possible, but although people may see these positive aspects of data collection and this may encourage them to be more open, conversely, if this data is not guarded correctly or is exploited in other ways outside of peoples initial expectations, this will erode trust and could make people less likely to allow

Willing to share data

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access to such data. The recent NSA revelations show what sort of backlash can be caused when governments access and use data without people’s agreement.

• Consumer trust is low and people may be generally suspicious of connected/smart devices • Revenues at risk

Unwilling to share data

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Firstly, there is an exercise to promote these roles in the UK. People are probably unaware of the opportunities in the creative industries for using deep analytical skills. If careers advice were to include data analysis in other industries outside of the traditional financial risk management or pharmaceutical clinical trial analysis more people may be encouraged to train in these skills. Additionally, the multi-disciplinary skills required for a data scientist role are hard to acquire as they include numerical skills alongside a behavioural understanding. Further to this, the UK education system tends to specialise in certain areas and finding subjects covering, what can be perceived as very differing spheres, can be difficult. It is hard to quickly change the education curriculum to enable skills to develop within short periods of time, especially at secondary level. However, as can be seen by the fact that the UK is the first G20 country to make computer science compulsory in the national curriculum this year, changes can be made. Also with the right advice, A-Levels can be taken in the subjects allowing universities to develop appropriate courses. Again, universities are going to be unable to create bespoke courses at short notice to produce graduates or post graduates to fill ever changing data scientist role profiles, but with input and assistance from within the industries the current problem can be addressed over time.

The role of a data scientist requires a number of skills. The traditional data analysis skills that have been employed in the past have to be mixed with more advanced mathematical skills to create complex algorithms to analyse the enormous volumes of data now being generated.

Skills As we have discussed, data is becoming ubiquitous, and is relevant to a swathe of industries in the UK. FITT is primarily looking towards the audio visual industry but within the entertainment sector the games industry also generates a rich seam of exploitable data. Extending the understanding of data has implications for improving health services, social care and many other areas. Through approaching a number of organisations, the workstream has sought to establish whether the resources are available in the workforce to understand all of this data. Strong anecdotal evidence points to a lack of data scientists being available, especially to the creative industries. Data analysts have been around in insurance, marketing and politics for many years, but within the creative industries this is a new and fast-emerging role. The role of a data scientist requires a number of skills. The traditional data analysis skills that have been employed in the past have to be mixed with more advanced mathematical skills to create

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complex algorithms to analyse the enormous volumes of data now being generated. In addition, they also need to understand, from the large amounts of data, what is not useful. The social science skills that come from understanding behavioural psychology are also incredibly important. In addition, the emerging need to analyse dynamic data in real time requires a specific skill set. The available pool of people to carry out such analytics is small compared with demand and so the general message from the industry is that many of these people are drawn to positions in the City, which can meet the high salary expectations that come with a skills shortage. This in turn may create a shortage in other industries. Such shortage was quoted in the McKinsey report: ‘Big Data analytics, and the future of marketing sales’. It must also be understood that because the majority of companies/platforms which carry out this data analysis such as Google, Twitter, Apple etc. are not UK based, a SWOT analysis would have to capture these as a threat. Therefore some level of government support to counteract this may be required.

There is an understanding that there is an untapped resource of talent overseas, especially in Asia. However, currently the role of data scientist is not deemed to be a skills gap. This means many of the obstacles of bringing talent from overseas are present. If data scientists could be added to the shortage occupation list this could help in addressing the current shortfall. This does not address the long term issues though and the ideal solution for the UK would be to find processes and schemes to help develop and nurture the talents required to fill these roles within the UK. It has to be acknowledged that this is a new, emerging and continually developing area within the creative industries, which relates in its broadest form to a shortage in other social or health industries. The requirements for data scientists are changing, and will continue to do so in the future. Universities are aware of the need for these new graduate skills, however, with the rate of change of skill required, it is hard to for education to accommodate and keep up, but some things can be done to change this.

Recommendations The National Centre for University and Business (NCUB) to create a steering group bringing together the creative industries, with maths, computer science and statistics departments of member universities in order to ensure higher education is producing the data scientists of the future to develop this leading sector in the UK. Industry and government develop models that provide open and clear information regarding data gathering that will garner public trust and support. Developing and ensuring this trust will encourage consumers to provide such data, with the understanding that security and privacy is assured, while their experience will be enhanced and society can benefit. In order to maximise these benefits of data, regulation needs to allow such collection, while ensuring privacy and personal information is protected along with ensuring consumer understanding of their rights.

Setting up formal links between industry and higher education to address this issue is vital and would benefit both commercial organisations and universities alike. However, if the knowledge and requirements from industry were fed into higher education institutions in a collaborative way, the UK economy would benefit from the results through increased competitiveness. The National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) is an organisation set up to provide a framework to allow such collaboration. As such, and through approaching the CEO and Chair of FITT, an offer to create a steering board to bring together members of the creative industries and universities with aspirations to provide the data scientists of the future, has been made. The possibilities of opening up this board to other areas, including health and social care are also under discussion, with the intention of the UK becoming a leader in producing the data scientists of the future.

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Future Networks and Infrastructure

Over the next ten years the amount of content and data being delivered to consumers on mobile devices is expected to increase substantially and TV content will become more ubiquitous inside and outside the home.

Broadcasting via DTT, cable and satellite to large screens in the home is still the primary method for live television viewing in the UK; and we expect this to continue to be so for the next decade. Historically, the UK has often led the large-scale adoption of new TV technologies. With the right strategy employed through to 2025, the UK can again be at the forefront of the next wave – which utilises existing broadcast networks more intensively combined with mobile and broadband technologies used in innovative new ways. With the fibre broadband network already capable of delivering multicast TV to over half of UK homes today, and its planned expansion to over 95% of the population by 2020, a fourth TV broadcast network should emerge over time - possibly by 2025. This will depend on consumers’ willingness to acquire connected TVs and pay the associated broadband costs to use the broadband-delivered services on offer. However, with the enormous growth in wireless (e.g. mobile devices using Wi-Fi and cellular networks) the methods of consumption and behaviours are changing. We don’t expect these devices to replace large screen viewing, but they will complement TV viewing on the main set, as companion screens at home and delivering services when away from home.

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Over the next ten years the amount of content and data being delivered to consumers on mobile devices is expected to increase substantially and TV content will become more ubiquitous inside and outside the home, in the office and while travelling on all modes of transport. As they have continuously done over the past decades, the networks and infrastructure in the UK must develop to support these changes and evolving requirements over the next ten years and beyond, even if new business models are needed.

Even within these timescales some assumptions can be made: Consumers will still be watching large static screens at home to view TV, including live, event driven content and on demand content. The methods and technology to deliver TV content will have developed, with more choice in the way this is done, to reach screens at home and to mobile devices within and outside the home. Many more people will be ‘connected’ constantly, with the expectation of continuous access to their chosen content as they move between their TVs at home, their smartphones and other devices at home, work or outand-about. Increasing demands for more spectrum to meet data growth will lead to innovative new ways to share access to spectrum such as Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA). The Future Networks advisory group and the associated sub groups have been investigating how to support the TV consumers of the future and how to deliver on their expectations. For network operators, there is a need for mobile networks to deliver more and more data to and from their customers within the limited spectrum available.

Wi-Fi offloading is increasing, with the current 2.4 GHz band expected to be near saturation by 2015 and DTT continues to be a fundamental part of the UK TV landscape, again with limited spectrum available. However, a major strength of the UK Free-to-Air TV market is its competitive nature. This has encouraged considerable innovation over the years, including: the creation of the UK DTT platform, providing larger numbers of channels across the UK on terrestrial TV; the development of HD TV services, largely led by satellite; and the recent developments in IP delivered services and hybrid TV. Already around the corner is the delivery of Ultra High Definition (UHD) services, enhancing the viewing experience even more with higher resolution, greater colour depth, and many other enhancements. These all require far more capacity and new improved compression technologies to be delivered to the viewer and consumers’ expectations are that they will be able to enjoy HD and UHD versions of their chosen TV content on a range of different devices and locations. As outlined later in this chapter, the creation of an action plan to deliver the next generation of TV looking initially at: opportunities for UHF re-planning; longer term investigations into the most spectrally efficient ways of delivering DTT; and the adoption of all the technologies available (satellite, cable,

broadband, DTT, Wi-Fi) to continue to deliver public service content universally, will help to achieve this. A further aspect that the action plan must cover is the required regulatory framework to support such developments; ensuring fair access to key content across all broadcast and mobile platforms and giving consumers real choice in an open, competitive market. The technologies required to deliver TV to mobile devices in both the short and longer term must be a priority. The UK can and should be at the forefront of these developments and their early roll-out to the market and to consumers using both fixed and mobile devices. However, in order to understand how to achieve this we need to take a look at the main methods of content delivery we have been investigating; Wi-Fi, broadband, mobile, and the well-established methods of broadcast over DTT, cable and satellite. We will initially look at these individually, but in order to understand how to deliver to multiple platforms in multiple ways we need to bring these different technologies together. Put simply, no single network technology will deliver everything, or meet all of the challenges ahead, whilst ensuring the consumer has access to a wide range of both free and paid for content.

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Broadband

Regulation of Broadband Services

Broadband Market Structure

The broadband market has been regulated by Ofcom to intensify competition whilst also enabling substantial private investment in new infrastructure. This private investment has been supported by public sector funding for both universal basic broadband and by increasing the reach of superfast broadband; a regime that has benefited consumers and related industry sectors that can leverage the UK’s advanced network infrastructure. Three interventions illustrate how the regulatory regime has contributed to the success of broadband in the UK:

The UK broadband market is evolving rapidly with 83% of UK homes now taking a broadband service. It plays an increasingly important part in consumers’ consumption and enjoyment of non-linear TV content. This can be viewed from three different perspectives: Retailers: Broadband providers have consolidated rapidly and most consumers now buy broadband from one of four large operators (BT, Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk) or a third-party’s re-branded variant e.g. Tesco broadband. Intense competition is driving lower prices, faster speeds and better quality of service. Openreach operates an open wholesale platform to support broadband from numerous providers. Propositions: Consumers new to broadband and those switching suppliers increasingly take a bundle of services (broadband, phone calls, pay-tv and/or mobile), known as ‘triple-play’ or ‘quadplay’. These bundles can offer better value and the convenience of dealing with one provider. The pay-tv part of these propositions is delivered over one or two of four different TV platforms, (cable, satellite, terrestrial and broadband) depending on the broadband provider. Devices and Content: Broadband is no longer seen as a service consumed primarily through a PC. Tablets, smartphones and to a lesser extent, connected TVs are the main drivers of growth in content consumption over broadband. Catch-up services (for example, BBC iPlayer), on-demand (for example, Netflix), YouTube-type content, and to some extent live TV are taking an increasing share of TV viewing, using IP delivery over broadband. The resulting market structure means that broadband, phone calls and pay-tv are increasingly becoming connected markets from a delivery technology perspective. Any changes to the underlying TV platforms; the channels they offer and any restrictions to their choice of content will affect their relative attractiveness to consumers. This could have a wider impact on competition between providers of fixed and mobile phone and broadband services. UK consumers’ interests will be best served where they can enjoy a vibrant set of service bundles, competitively priced from a choice of retailers over their preferred broadcast and mobile networks. A competitive home market would also underpin the UK’s wider success in related global industries such as content production.

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Local Loop Unbundling: The creation of Openreach; the BT subsidiary that operates its local network, has underpinned an open and competitive broadband market. All broadband providers have ‘equivalent’ access to BT’s local network. They can install their own equipment in BT exchanges or use BT’s network and equipment on transparent wholesale terms. Fibre Roll-Out: Creating conditions that enable BT, Virgin Media and potentially others to invest in upgrading their networks (using fibre optic technology to increase broadband capacity and raise speeds into the 30-100Mbit/s range), has allowed the UK to be amongst the leaders of European countries in the reach and take-up of superfast broadband. Over £3bn of private sector funding has been committed, with superfast broadband available to over 70% of UK homes during 2014. Initial take-up averages around 20% of homes passed. Extending Reach: The Government’s decision to provide £530m of funding, with investments from local authorities and network operators, is enabling the build-out of superfast broadband to 90% of UK homes with a minimum of 2 Mbit/s to the remaining 10%. Its stated intention is to further extend the availability of superfast broadband to 95% of homes by 2017. This regulatory environment and the associated investment in UK broadband will provide the infrastructure needed to support innovative new services and make them available to the majority of UK consumers. It will provide opportunities for broadcasters and content providers to develop and enhance their offerings across all TV distribution platforms. The latest generation of TVs and set-top boxes on satellite, cable and terrestrial networks have broadband interfaces that support an integrated selection of on-demand, catch-up and some live services; providing more consumer choice, convenience and scope for future innovation.

From a broadcaster’s perspective, the availability of superfast broadband to deliver high-quality TV services is positive but alone is not sufficient to enable them to become a credible alternative to satellite and terrestrial broadcast networks in the near future. Broadband services usually require consumers to commit to a minimum monthly payment, including line rental, of £20 or more. Even if there were access to a full range of content, take-up is therefore unlikely to rise above 85-90% by the end of the decade. However, as the uptake of on demand services such as iPlayer, ITV player, 4OD, Demand 5, Now TV and Sky Go continues to grow along with the increasing use of live streaming services, accessed not just through PCs but more and more through large screen TVs, tablets and smartphones, and the health and social benefits of being connected develop over time, broadband take-up will increase further in the longer term. This will enhance its viability as a potential additional broadcast method across the UK. However, it may not have been universally adopted by 2025.

Broadband Technology Broadband is provided to most UK homes using advanced electronics to carry data downstream and upstream over the same copper pair originally designed for basic phone calls. Ever higher broadband speeds have been met in part through improvements in broadband technology. However, the laws of physics place an upper bound on what can be achieved over copper pairs from the local exchange, primarily because high-frequency electrical signals are greatly attenuated over long lengths of copper cable. Within the UK, broadband uses ADSL (up to 8Mbit/s downstream and 448kbps upstream) and ADSL2+ (up to 24Mbit/s downstream and up to 1 Mbit/s upstream) based in local exchanges. Broadband provided over traditional cable TV networks using cable modems also encounters significant capacity constraints, particularly during periods of peak usage, for example, Sunday evenings. To deliver superfast broadband with speeds of 40-80Mbit/s downstream and up to 15-20Mbit/s upstream, copper pairs from the local exchange to the nearest street-side cabinet have to be replaced with fibre optic technology. The existing copper pair is used for the connection from the street-side cabinet to the home but because this is a much shorter distance the bit rate can be that much higher. With typical distances from the cabinet to the home being around 400m this allows the 40-80Mbit/s to be achieved. However, in rural, and some urban areas, the distance from the cabinet to the home can be significantly longer, and this in turn limits the speeds available in those areas. There is a further technical solution currently being trialled, known as G.fast, which takes fibre optic technology out to the final distribution point, often a pole serving a dozen or so homes. Fibre optics to street-side distribution points also enable cable TV networks to offer much faster broadband speeds and greater capacity to meet peaks in demand. To increase broadband speeds much further, fibre would need to be connected directly to the home (FTTH). This requires substantial civil engineering work such as digging up streets and driveways and is much more costly. It would offer speeds of 300Mbit/s or more, but it is unclear whether there would be consumer demand for the additional speed given its considerably higher cost for residential densities that are typical in the UK. Fibre can currently be provided as part of new home builds but the timescales to deliver

such connectivity to older properties is more likely to be in the 20 – 30 year period than the ten year period we are investigating. BT is investing more than £3bn to deploy fibre broadband. Its open access fibre network already passes more than 18 million UK homes and businesses. UK fibre broadband is currently available to 73% of the population when all networks are taken into account. Investments in telecoms infrastructure typically have long pay-back periods. Ten years or longer is not unusual for local access investments. The economics of broadband networks, whether provided over telecoms or cable TV infrastructure, mean that it’s not profitable to provide superfast broadband to rural or suburban areas with low population density or low take-up rates. However, there are other technologies available to deliver faster broadband services in these areas, at a lower cost than fixed networks, such as terrestrial radio link or satellite. With public funding to ‘fill the gap’ between full investment costs and the subsequent customer revenues, especially for the proportion of homes - less than 5%- that are commercially uneconomic to provide fixed network solutions, this could, in time, provide universal broadband connectivity.

Encoding Technology The technical feasibility of delivering TV services over broadband depends not only on the available line speed (broadband bit-rate) but also, as with all broadcast networks, on the capabilities of the encoders/decoders that compress TV pictures and sound into a digital signal ready to broadcast. Today’s technology enables a standard definition TV service to be delivered on demand using less than 2 Mbit/s of broadband capacity. To carry a live TV broadcast around 3 Mbit/s is required for standard definition (SD) and around 9 Mbit/s for high definition (HD) TV. Most broadband customers can therefore receive SD TV live and ondemand over their broadband service, but many would need superfast broadband to receive live HD or multiple SD services, alongside capacity for internet access. Technical developments are improving the efficiency of TV encoding for distribution over broadband and other broadcast networks. The latest broadcast standard, known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), is expected to be widely available in consumer products by 2016. It enables an improvement of 50% or more in the

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bit-rate required for SD or HD. This could provide more TV services over a given broadcast bandwidth or broadband bit-rate. As an alternative this could also allow Ultra High Definition (UHD) services to be provided more efficiently - for broadband a superfast bit-rate of around 30 Mbit/s would be required - together with a new generation of set-top boxes. To deliver TV reliably over broadband, and equally over other wireless networks to a variety of differing devices, adaptive coding technology and other techniques enable the consumer to get the best possible viewing experience that can be supported by their broadband network at the time. As broadband is intrinsically a two-way network, the server and the display device can negotiate the optimum bit-rate and picture quality that can be supported over the available bandwidth. Where any data packets are lost, the display device can request retransmission of those packets so that there are no visible impairments to the TV picture.

Local and Regional Services over Broadband Local TV services are being rolled out to many communities across the UK. Broadband TV can play a valuable part in making these services available to virtually all homes in the community. There are parts of the UK where the terrestrial TV network provides services from an adjacent region. For example, some homes on the English side of the Bristol Channel receive TV services from a Welsh transmitter. Broadband TV could, when integrated into the TV guide, offer the preferred regional programming if it’s not available from the terrestrial network serving that location.

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi is important to allow an acceptable TV viewing experience on mobile devices both within and, increasingly, outside the home. The recent Wik-Aegis report for the European Commission used The Cloud Wi-Fi network in the UK as a case study and noted that: “The Cloud places a strong emphasis on providing high capacity for video streaming…since the mobile networks are not considered capable of delivering video with sufficient quality.”1 Wi-Fi also plays a key role in distributing high definition audio-visual content around the home. That same Wik-Aegis report describes a company that “is marketing a product which it claims it capable of distributing up to eight simultaneous high definition video streams around the home.” It is also important to consider the very rapid growth and widespread adoption of Wi-Fi enabled devices, which is outpacing the growth of cellular devices. The Wi-Fi industry is shipping over one billion chipsets annually, increasing to a projected 2 billion within a few years. Wi-Fi is embedded in almost all laptops, tablets and smartphones manufactured in the world today. As part of the increased take-up of tablets it is important to note their ability to provide a new screen for viewing audio-visual content both inside, as a complement to the main TV set, and outside the home. The majority of tablets that are sold are Wi-Fi only and in their 2013 Communications Market Report Ofcom note that only “20% of tablet owners have a mobile subscription enabling 3G connectivity.”2 The consequence of this is that Wi-Fi is a fundamental technology that is used to provide TV content to mobile devices. With the continuing rise in mobile data usage and demand, most operators are focused on modernising and updating their network infrastructure. In order to meet the rising demand, there are essentially three ways in which the capacity can be increased: new

technology and standards (including better compression) that increase the spectral efficiency; the use of more bandwidth and; the efficient re-use of the spectrum, including the introduction of additional infrastructure. It should be noted that spectral efficiency with all wireless technologies is very close to the theoretical maximum as laid out in Shannon’s theory. Therefore the argument for more spectrum is getting stronger. The Wik-Aegis report noted that only 29% of mobile data is carried over cellular networks, stating that “the volume of traffic that is already being off-loaded, chiefly to Wi-Fi in the home, already exceeds that of the mobile network, and can be expected to grow even faster.”3

TV and video content has become the major source of growth in data use on mobile devices. These trends are resulting in explosive growth in demand for data over mobile networks.

Consumers and enterprises use Wi-Fi for low power wireless broadband access at the edge of wired networks. Service providers are increasingly deploying Wi-Fi networks. Furthermore, Wi-Fi technology is likely to be part of the machine-tomachine architecture of the “Internet of Things” that is expected to reach 50 billion connected devices by 2020. Meanwhile, the industry is responding to this growth by developing better protocols. A variety of traffic optimising technologies is available today and these are evolving at a staggering rate. Smartphone browser applications use data-saving technologies and video streaming applications save bandwidth by various means, such as monitoring the angle and distance of the viewer’s face to lower the bitrate of the video stream without the user noticing. There is certainly a requirement for additional capacity to be made available for Wi-Fi, otherwise the infrastructure will be unable to meet the growing demand. However, this in conjunction with developing new more efficient ways of using the spectrum, will ensure a reliable delivery technology of AV content to mobile devices for the coming decade.

Mobile Cellular Mobile Market Trends Smartphones and tablets now have the capabilities to enable users to consume a full range of TV and media content, and in future we may expect they’ll want to do so without limitations relating to cost, service quality and choice of content. There are substantial barriers to fully meet that vision but the UK has an opportunity now to put in place a forward-looking strategy to meet those expectations. The four mobile network operators in the UK each have third generation networks providing wide coverage. These operators are now rolling-out fourth generation networks using LTE technology to provide faster data services. Their 4G networks provide data speeds typically five times faster than users experience on 3G. Alongside these network investments, mobile devices, especially smartphones and tablets, are developing rapidly with larger and higher resolution screens, more powerful processors, many new apps and richer content. Broadcasters themselves are offering increasingly sophisticated apps, for use on smartphones and tablets, providing access to live, on-demand or catchup services. Other content providers such as Netflix are offering on-demand services and YouTube’s popular content

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1 European Commission. Study on impact of traffic off-loading and related technological trends on the demand for wireless broadband spectrum. 2013 2 Ofcom. The Communications Market Report 2013. 01 August 2013 (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr13/2013_UK_CMR.pdf) 3 European Commission. Study on impact of traffic off-loading and related technological trends on the demand for wireless broadband spectrum. 2013

proposition is evolving too. SkyGo and BBC iPlayer are two distinctive examples of UK services from pay-tv and public service broadcasters that are on mobile devices. The breadth of content and the range of features from broadcasters provide an increasingly attractive complement to linear TV viewing. Increasing numbers of mobile network customers are opting for contracts that include a subsidised handset and large bundles of calls, texts and mobile data. Within some of these bundles an unlimited number of calls and texts are included and sometimes the amount of mobile data is unlimited too. As stated previously, a high proportion of smartphone and tablet usage is within the home or at other locations where Wi-Fi is available. Users usually connect through Wi-Fi where they can, to reduce network charges and to benefit from a faster network connection. TV and video content has become the major source of growth in data use on mobile devices. These trends are resulting in explosive growth in demand for data over mobile networks. Accelerated investment in capacity will be needed to satisfy this demand, in conjunction with the previously mentioned Wi-Fi development. Earlier trials of mobile TV, although technically successful in delivering content that users enjoyed, did not result in

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ongoing commercial services. However, since then the capabilities of handsets, the range of available content and the business models needed to support investment in mobile networks for media content have moved on, and together they may provide opportunities for a new approach to complement existing TV services.

Regulation of Mobile Services The combined effects of market competition, regulatory intervention and greater usage, especially of mobile data, put added financial pressure on operators throughout Europe. This is likely to result in greater sharing of network capacity and infrastructure investments or further consolidation across the industry.

Mobile Technology There are two distinct phases in the development of mobile technology considered here: O  ver the next 2-3 years we will see the build-out of 4G networks. The full scale and impact of the current high rates of growth in data traffic, primarily driven by TV and video content, will become more visible as the take up of this technology grows. B  y the end of the decade, the next generation of mobile standards (5G) are likely to be decided. Some of the decisions made in selecting the best technology for previous generations of the mobile standards will need to be carefully reconsidered, as the scale and nature of the way end-users consume services has changed. The LTE technology used in 4G networks is primarily aimed at two-way transactions – messaging and browsing internet content. The rich media content users are now consuming in ever larger quantities is predominantly one-way traffic after the content has been selected. Many users are looking at the same content, although

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not at the same time unless it’s a live broadcast. The Pareto effect means that a small sub-set of all available content accounts for a very large proportion of total traffic, opening up different ways to deliver that content more efficiently and providing a reliable service at times of peak demand. As the cost of storage in mobile devices comes down during the second half of the decade, the feasibility of up to 1TB of device storage would mean that all of the popular TV and video content could be multi-cast and stored locally ready to provide an on-demand experience for the user without using any incremental network capacity. The 4G standard incorporates a broadcast mode, known as eMBMS that could be used to multi-cast live TV or a carousel of the most popular content to users. eMBMS is not as efficient in its use of spectrum as existing broadcast standards and their future enhancements. It’s also structured only to support users of one network so broadcast or carousel content would need to be duplicated four times, once on each UK network. However, this is an important innovation that could be used to deliver video content more efficiently and help reduce the growth rate of demand for mobile data in advance of any more efficient methods that may be developed as part of 5G innovations. An attribute of current mobile networks, linked to the two-way nature of mobile services, is that many more base-stations are used to provide both good coverage and greater capacity through re-use of frequencies. Additional capacity can be provided either by allocating additional spectrum or by providing more basestations with lower power and smaller footprints. This contrasts with the network design for terrestrial TV where fewer than 100 main transmitters cover most of the UK, with in-fill repeaters used to provide additional coverage such as in difficult terrain. This contrast will be discussed later when looking to the ten year horizon.

Broadcast

Broadcast Regulation

TV market structure

As with all major infrastructure based industries there is a need for regulation. This is also true with DTT, not least due to the requirements placed on PSBs around content, regionality, accessibility and universality. The PSBs have these same requirements no matter which broadcast platform they are on. The regionality requirements are delivered in different ways on different platforms – on DTT, where required, regionalised transmission infrastructure delivers different regional signals to different parts of the UK. In contrast, on satellite all regional variations must be broadcast nationally, which means nationwide transponder capacity is required for all regions, but can also mean regional services are made available in areas they are not from DTT. Equally, with the far lower distribution costs on satellite than on DTT this is economically acceptable. There are, of course, good reasons for these requirements and no-one can argue with the benefits that can clearly be seen in the UK:

The strength of the UK TV market lies in the choice of available platforms. This has driven innovation which is to the benefit of consumers. In past years that has settled down to provide two Free-to-Air platforms – Freeview and Freesat – and two pay platforms – Sky and Virgin Media and, while it has been around for a while, in recent years the growth of IP TV services has been introduced into that mix. Over the next decade it is likely that structure will continue with increasing numbers of HD TV services and emerging Ultra High Definition (UHD) services. To provide the best outcome for consumers it is necessary for all platforms to offer consumers a broad range of content choice. On DTT this is evident in the suite of PSB channels found on the three PSB multiplexes and the range of commercial channels that are offered by the three commercial multiplexes. Meanwhile satellite carries both freeto-air and an additional large number of premium channels funded through subscription or pay-per-view to the Sky platform. The range of content on DTT illustrates how the platform is an ecosystem that relies on all of the constituent elements. This is also true when looking at the economic model of the platform. The costs of running the DTT network are shared between the six multiplexes, and without all six the costs of running that network would impact the funding available for programming. With full access to content and rights across existing broadcast platforms and to new entrants over broadband and mobile platforms, consumers will have a choice of competitive services.

A thriving and innovative content sector (which also underpins the UK film industry), with content being provided by PSBs, commercial broadcasters and independent producers. Competing FTA commercial and public sector broadcasters. A healthy mixed economy of terrestrial, satellite and cable networks in addition to the newly emerging IP TV. Consumers having the choice of a variety of pay TV offerings while being assured that they will receive a different, but equally compelling, universal Free-to-Air proposition. In part this has been down to the ability of the industry to make long term investments in the knowledge that the regulatory environment is stable. If regulation is to change in the future, this long term certainty at a strategic level must be maintained. This would enable commercial investments and market forces to shape the future developments of TV platforms in a way that will benefit the consumer. An element of public funding will continue to be a requirement to provide universal public service broadcasting, but allowing long term investment for development through a level of commercial certainty will also allow the industry to flourish.

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“Within ten years we expect not only the first and second round of local TV services to have been launched, but also, if the concept is proven, further local TV licences to be awarded.

“

Broadcast Spectrum Spectrum is the essential ingredient to allow terrestrial and satellite broadcasting and it is a highly regulated resource. Over the next ten years the domestic and international decisions that are taken on spectrum will determine whether the vibrant, competitive TV sector in the UK will be allowed to continue. With this in mind, continued, deeper involvement (and possibly more widespread industry engagement) in international spectrum coordination and supporting developments should be encouraged. Related to this is the renewal of the BBC charter. The current charter runs until 31 December 2016 and the terms of the next BBC charter will shape the entire UK television sector. In addition, there are decisions that will be made at the World Radio Communications Conference 2015 (WRC-15) that will have a far reaching effect on the future of DTT. Specifically, this is around the allocation of the 700MHz band (694 – 790 MHz) as co-primary for mobile which, if the various technical conditions are ratified at WRC-15, would mean there would be a strong possibility of there being a re-plan of the UHF spectrum. Such a change could present challenges for the DTT industry, specifically around managing to continue to provide the current level of channels and content within the remaining spectrum, and also with a number of current DTT aerial installations in use in the UK not supporting these frequencies. However, were there to also be changes to the allocation of the 470 – 694 MHZ band (for co-primary status for mobile services alongside broadcasting) the message that this would send could point to the future displacement of DTT from this band in favour of mobile services. If this was to occur, DTT in its current form would become unsustainable without significant

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innovation, allowing the current range of services to exist in less bandwidth. This could have an adverse impact on consumers. It should be noted that, as stated by Ed Vaizey in May 2013, the vision within DCMS is that of a continuing DTT platform within the timescales that we are investigating up to 2025. Additionally, Ofcom have been clear that they “will… seek to ensure that the DTT platform can access the 600MHz band assuming change of use at 700 MHz takes place”, in order to secure “the ongoing delivery of benefits provided by DTT.”4 Related to this HM Treasury was very clear last summer that “The Government will continue to look ahead to ensure the UK’s digital infrastructure is prepared for the future of the digital economy, through new investment in spectrum clearance, ensuring commercially owned spectrum is efficiently used by moving some existing spectrum users to create space for new ones.”5 One of the strengths of the way that DTT uses spectrum is its ability to share that spectrum with others. This has given Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) the potential to coexist alongside DTT for many years and recently enabled local TV services to launch. For PMSE in particular for the wireless microphones that interleaves with DTT in its spectrum, there is a risk that, were less spectrum available for DTT and services were therefore more closely packed, there would be less space available for PMSE use. This could, however, be militated against to a certain degree were analogue systems replaced with digital ones along with using some of the new bands being proposed. Additional services are expected to be introduced in this spectrum over the next decade using new Dynamic

4 UHF Strategy Statement (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/uhf-strategy/statement/UHF_statement.pdf) 5 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/209279/PU1524_IUK_new_template.pdf

Spectrum Access techniques. Within the DTT spectrum this is expected to take the form of devices using TV White Space, with a trial currently running within the UK through Ofcom to look at how these may be utilised in the future, while ensuring minimal disruption to terrestrial TV viewers. However, these innovative ways of using scarce spectrum, such as Dynamic Spectrum Access technologies, most certainly point to how co-existence will develop in the future. The impact of the introduction of mobile services in the 800MHz band has so far been less than expected and, while additional mitigation techniques may be required were the same to happen with the 700MHz band, again, this shows how technologies may co-exist. Satellite spectrum does not currently have the same constraints upon it as DTT. Currently the satellites delivering content for the UK TV market have 4GHz of spectrum delivering hundreds of SD and HD services. However, if 4k and future UHD services are to be broadcast in the future, more capacity may still be required were it to continue to deliver the range of content it currently does. The capacity required to deliver a UHD service is substantially greater than that required for an HD service. However, by using the encoding technology such as the previously mentioned HEVC standard, it may be possible to carry two UHD services on a single transponder that would currently carry five HD services. In order to achieve this there is still spare capacity available and the possibility of expanding into an additional 1GHz of capacity in the Ka band, however, such an expansion would require considerable investment.

Broadcast Technology

Local and regional TV services

Ongoing technology changes have been a characteristic of the TV industry and with the completion of Digital Switchover all the TV platforms, terrestrial, satellite, cable and IP are now fully digital. The pace of technical change is expected to continue into the future and will be driven by the increasing demands of consumers. High definition television services are available on all television platforms and are increasingly becoming more central to broadcasters’ channel offerings and consumers’ content consumption. Similarly, all televisions and set-top boxes in the UK that have been approved as DVB-T2 compliant since April 2011 are also IP enabled, allowing them, in principle, to be connected to broadband and, subject to rights availability, enables content providers to complement the core broadcast services with additional IP services.

Local TV services as previously mentioned, and the national streams that run alongside them, have begun to be rolled out across the country and while this is a piece of public policy that was initially driven by government, it has now been embraced by industry and local communities. Within ten years we expect not only the first and second round of local TV services to have been launched, but also, if the concept is proven, further local TV licences to be awarded.

Currently, on both DTT and satellite, there is a mixed economy of SD and HD broadcasts, using DVB-T and T2 and DVB-S and S2 technologies respectively. The two satellite platforms - Sky and Freesat, however, no longer supply SD-only products. Despite this there will continue to be a large number of DVB-S transponders in use for the foreseeable future, due to available capacity and the need to continue to support legacy receivers. On DTT, the number of DVB-T2 multiplexes is increasing from one to three, however, there are still five DVB-T multiplexes providing up to 99% coverage. The increase in the amount of HD content provides an opportunity to encourage consumers to adopt DVB-T2 technology, something that may become important if a spectrum re-plan were to take place. In this event, in order to ensure that the DTT platform remains competitive, choices will have to be made to ensure the wide range of content currently available continues to be so. This includes whether a switch to DVB-T2 should coincide with such changes. Costs and benefits of such a move will need to be understood along with the possible disruption to viewers. In making such a change, these points will need to be considered by DTT operators and policy makers. However, the opportunities that come out of a platform that is fully capable of being IP connected must also be considered, including the social and health information provision opportunities that could be exploited.

2025 and beyond When looking ahead to 2025 there are some major themes and questions that become apparent: What will be the developments in technology we can already foresee? Consumers will expect content and data around the home and on the move with a choice of access to both free and pay content and platforms. If full access and rights agreements are in place, the amount of data and content being delivered will continue to increase as will the amount viewed on mobile or handheld devices. Spectrum is a finite resource with rising demand. In order to manage this, more efficient ways of using the spectrum must be implemented. Taking technology developments, the UK has been a leader in the rollout of digital TV and HD but these changes still take time. With UHD, further developments are required to make this commercially viable for broadcast on any platform. However, HEVC encoding, as previously stated, is expected to be widely supported in set-top boxes and TVs that enter the market in the next three to four years, making 4k and future UHD broadcasts a possibility on the satellite platform within these timescales. Superfast broadband is expected to be available to 95% of homes by 2017, with a substantial take-up by the end of the decade. Depending on the take-up of connected TVs and their use by consumers to access IP content, this may allow broadband to become the fourth commercially viable TV platform using multicast technology, and could support the delivery of UHD content, either live or on-demand. Were a DVB-T2 switchover to have taken place, and with the timescales

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Looking at mobile, the next generation of cellular technology, known as 5G will be rolled out after 2020. The full extent of change expected is still to be defined but higher data rates are undoubtedly going to be achieved. Major changes in how delivery of content over 5G networks will be achieved can be expected. As has already been stated, a broadcast method of delivery, eMBMS, is already available on the current 4G networks. If a more spectrally efficient method were to be developed this could significantly change the way we receive and watch content on mobile devices. Already the cost of memory is falling while the storage capacity increases. This availability of larger memory chips would allow the most popular on-demand content to be delivered to devices prior to consumption. Of course network capacity would be required to do this, but as we shall discuss later, this may well be a part of the solution to meet the overall growth in demand. Another aspect of mobile delivery is Wi-Fi. If more 5GHz spectrum were to be released, then within three years 802.11ac will help deliver higher bandwidth capacity to Wi-Fi enabled devices and encourage the adoption of this 5 GHz licence-free band. Standardised beamforming would bring increased spectrum efficiency to Wi-Fi, and Multi user MiMo would enable more efficient usage of the airtime in hotspots and other deployments that have predominantly single antenna devices.

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Wi-Fi will be well equipped to play a full and valuable role in satisfying consumer requirements and demand through: An increased licence exempt spectrum allocation at 5GHz. The technological developments of Passpoint to ensure seamless changeover between networks. Carrier Grade certification to provide QoS and DSA (rather than DFS). Smart algorithms in devices to allocate and select spectrum more efficiently (and proprietary solutions before some of them are available. This of course points to a possible need to redefine the meaning of “licence exempt” spectrum, and may require changes such as permitting devices access to certain spectrum based not only on their technical characteristics but also on aspects such as whether they are carrier grade broadcast devices. Equally, the use of newer technologies for spectrum allocation in Wi-Fi, such as Dynamic Spectrum Allocation which is currently under investigation for TV White Space may also, over time, make Wi-Fi an even more efficient spectrum user. These help to answer some of the above points, but still there is the issue about greater and greater volumes of content and data being delivered, particularly to mobile devices, within the available spectrum.

“Looking at mobile, the next generation of cellular technology, known as 5G will be rolled out after 2020. The full extent of change expected is still to be defined but higher data rates are undoubtedly going to be achieved.

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for legacy products to reach end of life, it is reasonable to expect HEVC encoding to be used for broadcasting on the DTT platform too, opening up opportunities for more HD, a greater number of services or the introduction of some UHD services here too.

With Wi-Fi and mobile re-using the spectrum it’s important to enable this finite resource to be used in the most efficient manner. Mobile cell sizes will need to become smaller, similar to the Wi-Fi cells size, and so the future will undoubtedly see the fast growth of small cells. As per the new cellular standards and as broadly agreed by industry, Wi-Fi and cellular technologies will increasingly complement each other and their networks will evolve to become interconnected; users won’t have to worry about which technology their device uses or how to gain access. Their devices will make these choices automatically, while the networks feed applications with relevant data. The delivery of on-demand and linear video content to mobile devices is expected to continue to be the most significant driver of mobile data traffic growth for the rest of this decade. To meet forecast demand in the most efficient way, from a spectrum-usage and a cost perspective, live TV and the most popular on-demand TV/video content can be delivered using multi-cast techniques. In the most efficient scenario, users of all four mobile network operators would have access to a single set of services, transmitted live or via a data carousel.

However, this would require more advanced versions of eMBMS or DVB-T2 technology to deliver services in a network operator agnostic way. If these broadcast/ multi-cast techniques were adopted for mobile networks, only a proportion of existing base-stations would need to be equipped, sufficient to provide the required coverage to mobile devices due to the fact that the power used for broadcasting can be higher than that used for standard cellular communications, requiring smaller cells. This approach is known as a Low-Power, Low-Tower (LPLT) network that could co-exist with the current DTT High Power High Tower network. This could be delivered in the various mobile bands that are currently available and that may be made available in the coming years. The use of LPLT networks to deliver media content to mobile devices could enable spectrum currently unused in parts of the UK to be allocated for this purpose. The ideal spectrum for LPLT purposes would be in bands already in use for mobile services elsewhere in the world, as suitable mobile handsets are in production and available.

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Conclusions

The adoption of such technologies for mobile delivery and for static home delivery begins to provide numerous options for the future. With multiple TV platforms, and full access to content and rights, consumers will have even more choice of what content to watch, both live and on-demand, and how they receive it. However, this also leaves options on how to ensure other aspects of PSB requirements are met. This mixed economy in the UK should enable the best technologies to meet specific needs in each location.

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Broadband, DTT, satellite and cable will all be capable of delivering linear TV services to the home in the next ten years. However, for services to be made over broadband free at the point of consumption would require a suitable commercial model and potentially funding arrangements to be in place for those homes not already taking a broadband service. Broadband TV already has a role in delivering linear content to homes and this role is expected to grow over the next decade, including potentially in the delivery of some local TV services. LPLT may also allow the use of additional spectrum previously unused in some locations. These could all enhance the DTT, satellite and cable networks currently in use. The intelligent use of mobile spectrum as stated above, developments in Wi-Fi and the increasing number of Wi-Fi only mobile devices will act as a way to moderate data demand on cellular networks, and will all work together to manage the finite spectrum resource.

“Broadband TV already has a role in delivering linear content to homes and this role is expected to grow over the next decade.

“

This use of lower power delivery (i.e. similar power levels to those used by mobile transmitters) may also have other uses, such as the delivery of TV in some coastal areas, subject to an assessment of the cost relative to other available options. This could have the benefit of opening up additional frequencies for the use of DTT that are currently unavailable due to international restrictions because of high power high tower transmitters in nearby countries using them.

How to deliver TV in the future using all of these technologies is the main question, and development of an ongoing action plan to use the most efficient delivery mechanisms to ensure universally available content will go a long way to achieve this. In the short to medium term this needs to look at improving availability and take-up of superfast broadband, spectrum re-planning in the UHF band in the event of 700MHz clearance, including protection of broadcast services in the 470-694 MHz band, to ensure DTT can deliver services in the most efficient manner, and costs and benefits analysis of any DVB-T2 switchover. To be ready to meet the longer term market needs, further evaluation is now needed to understand how Low Power Low Tower transmission could reinforce the current High Power High Tower network; to deliver TV and media content much more efficiently to over mobile networks and to make more intensive use spectrum allocated to DTT broadcasting. This evaluation would look at using available technologies where appropriate; encompassing DTT, broadband, satellite, mobile, Wi-Fi and cable to ensure core services are available nationally. Technologies currently being used for TV White space should continue to be explored and dynamic spectrum access should become a fundamental feature of future wireless communication. This has the capability to be used in many areas of the spectrum, not just in the UHF bands, and has already been discussed such technologies will enhance Wi-Fi use and will become an intrinsic part of the delivery of the internet of things.

For the DTT platform, in order for the industry to consider how these changes may take place and any longer term developments, long term stability and certainty of access to spectrum is required to allow consideration of possible investments. However, with innovation ensuring spectral efficiency, and continued developments for hybrid delivery, there should be every expectation of a continuing strong, freeto-air DTT platform long into the decade past the 2025 horizon of this report. Methods of delivering content to mobile devices using multicast and broadcast techniques will raise efficiency and these need to be encouraged and further investigated. Currently available technologies such as eMBMS go a long way to achieve this, and the step change expected in 5G at the end of the decade should provide opportunities for further innovations to enhance efficiency. Some of these options are radical, but the finite spectrum available means that we must find practical ways to use this resource. Some major changes and developments in infrastructure may be required but equally they may lead to real benefits to TV viewers. There are choices to be made and questions that must still be answered, and making such choices the impact and cost to TV viewers must be a primary consideration. Additionally, there is an opportunity, before capacity crunches really begin to bite, whereby pilots and further investigation could be carried out.

This should include: Engage industry, government and the regulators in the ‘Next Generation of TV Planning Programme’ under the guidance of the ‘TV Leaders Assembly’. This would create an evolving plan for the next decade and beyond to ensure a varied and competitive TV platform landscape, both Pay and Free. It would cover broadband take-up and spectrum in the near term, and, in the longer term, solutions encompassing all applicable technologies and infrastructure, to ensure universally available public service content and efficient use of spectrum. Additionally, in order for some of these developments to occur government needs to provide certainty around future policy and investment in the following ways: That the government’s policy, licensing and regulatory decisions for the TV industry ensure fair and effective competition between cable, satellite, terrestrial and broadband TV providers. Domestic and international policy should ensure the UK is well placed to take advantage of changes and create an environment to ensure that economically sound investments can be made by the industry in the innovation and development of all platforms for the good of the UK and TV consumers. Public service content should be available to all consumers across all age and socio-economic groups free at the point of consumption by using the most appropriate technologies, including a choice of cable, satellite, broadband, mobile and DTT. To ensure that sufficient licenced and licence-exempt spectrum is available to DTT, DSAT, Mobile and Wi-Fi for the future developments required to support delivery of TV content to all fixed and mobile devices.

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Summary of Recommendations 1 2 3 4

F ocus our energies on the innovation ‘sweet spot’ of the New Convergence - where Big Data meets devices on the internet of things (IOT) and matches consumer appetite. This should include a cross-industry government review of licencing and export potential. We strongly welcome the government’s establishment of the Alan Turing Institute which will focus on the collection and analysis of Big Data. We call on the TV industry to engage actively with the new institute. The DTG to convene a cross-industry working party group with industry measurement bodies, such as the Broadcasters Audience Research Board, and Open Data think tanks, such as the Open Data Institute, to respond to the challenges of Big Data in television. This should include a review of selfregulation. Industry and academia to form a Technology Advocacy Programme where innovators can share newly developed technologies and find applications (and therefore potential sources of revenue) through connecting with other inventors and entrepreneurs. Very often innovation comes when a technology from one sphere crosses over into another. Such a programme could bring together people from all parts of the industry value chain to ensure crosspollination of ideas. T he EPSRC should fund research to advance the science of integrated circuits, pushing silicon beyond the current 10 nanometre processing boundary. And although an old technology, magnetic storage should not be ignored. For many applications the read/write resilience of magnetic media is very important and universities should continue to focus research in this area. T he Taskforce welcomes the investments in ‘Quantum Hubs’ (funded by the TSB and EPSRC) which address the challenges of developing quantum science through technology to application. And it calls upon the TV industry to work with the hubs to find innovative solutions to the New Convergence.

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7 8

 omputing platforms and operating systems should be the focus of C government and industry initiatives and funding. Initiatives in this area should include work with European partners and there must be greater coordination of UK efforts in standardisation. Industry work with the Technology Strategy Board, E-Infrastructure Leadership Council and the Connected Digital Economy Catapult to create a resource to demonstrate UK leadership in this area, whilst supporting the needs of the creative industry. We call upon the government to create incentives to facilitate the introduction of the UK Creative Cloud and to continue to promote the sector in the UK. With a likely implementation cost of £5-10 million, we call on the government to provide seed funding, and for industry to match this with contributions in kind and in cash.

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An industry working-party group consider the development of a cross-platform promotion network to promote UK-developed applications.

Engage industry, government and the regulators in the ‘Next Generation of TV Planning Programme’ under the guidance of the ‘TV Leaders Assembly’. This would create an evolving plan for the next decade and beyond to ensure a varied and competitive TV platform landscape, both Pay and Free. It would cover broadband take-up and spectrum in the near term, and, in the longer term, solutions encompassing all applicable technologies and infrastructure to ensure universally available public service content and efficient use of spectrum. That the government’s policy, licensing and regulatory decisions for the TV industry ensure fair and effective competition between cable, satellite, terrestrial and broadband TV providers. Domestic and international policy should ensure the UK is well placed to take advantage of changes and create an environment to ensure that economically sound investments can be made by the industry in the innovation and development of all platforms, for the good of the UK and TV consumers. Public service content should be available to all consumers across all age and socio-economic groups free at the point of consumption by using the most appropriate technologies, including a choice of cable, satellite, broadband, mobile and DTT. Ensure that sufficient licenced and licence-exempt spectrum is available to DTT, DSAT, Mobile and Wi-Fi for the future developments required to support delivery of TV content to all, fixed and mobile. T he National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) to work with the sector skills councils to conduct a deep dive into the delivery of data scientists for the content industries.  CUB, universities, sector skills councils and industry to work together on the N challenges of producing interdisciplinary graduates.

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Future of Innovation in Television Technology Taskforce

Glossary

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Term/Abbreviation

Definition/Explanation

4G

4G is the fourth generation mobile telecommunications technology, preceded by 3G. Two 4G candidate systems are commercially deployed - the Mobile WiMAX solution (first used in S. Korea in 2006) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) first used in Scandinavia in 2009. The UK uses LTE.

4k

Term for video content defined by Digital Cinema as 4096x2160 but occasionally marketed as 3840 x 2160 TV content

8k

Term for video content with a resolution of 7680 x 4320

Application/App

An application is software designed to help the user to perform a particular task. Typical examples are EPG/user interface, content sharing, storage, media players and database applications.

Application Programming Interface (API)

An application programming interface (API) is an interface implemented by a software component to enable interaction with other software, much in the same way that a user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers.

Bitrate

The number of bits per second that can be transmitted along a digital network.

C++

General purpose computer programming language

CE

Consumer Electronics

Connected TV/CTV

A system where services are delivered via both Traditional Broadcast and over IP. Both delivery channels may be used simultaneously to deliver a complete service – for example, a Traditional Broadcast service may link to further related content and applications that are delivered via IP.

DFS

Dynamic Frequency Selection, a method of frequency allocation in Wi-Fi networks to avoid interference.

Digital Switchover (DSO)

Digital switchover is the name given to the process by which analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom was replaced with digital terrestrial television. In some countries this is referred to as the “analogue switch off”.

DSat

Digital Satellite

DSA

Dynamic Spectrum Access, a method of allowing available spectrum to be allocated for use in different geographical areas and timeframes.

DTT

Digital terrestrial television

DTV

Digital television

DVB

The Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB) is an industry-led consortium designing open interoperable technical standards for the global delivery of digital media and broadcast services.

Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)

Provides users with continuously updated scheduling information for current and up-coming programming

Frame rate

Frame rate is the rate at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images.

Free to air (FTA)

A service which is free of charge at the point of consumption.

HbbTV

Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV. Consortium aimed at harmonising the broadcast and broadband delivery of entertainment through connected devices.

HTML

HyperText Markup Language. A language for defining web pages.

IP

Internet Protocol has the task of delivering protocol datagrams (packets) from the source host to the destination host solely based on their addresses.

LTE

Long Term Evolution, is a standard for wireless communication of high speed for mobile phones and data terminals. Also known as 4G

Metadata

Data associated with content (audio or video asset)

MHEG

MHEG-5, or ISO/IEC 13522-5, is part of a set of international standards relating to the presentation of multimedia information, standardised by the Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group (MHEG). It is most commonly used as a language to describe interactive television services.

MPEG

Moving Pictures Experts Group.  This group has produced a series of universal standards for compression of digital video for digital TV, DVDs and PVRs. 

Multicast

Multicast addressing is a network technology for the IP delivery of information to a group of destinations simultaneously.

Over the top (OTT)

Unicast delivery over a network which is not managed (i.e. across the internet)

Passpoint ™

A method for accessing networks via hotspots by WiFi

Pay Per View (PPV)

A service in which a customer pays to receive one or more specific content items.

PSB

Public Service Broadcaster

QoS

Quality of Service

Unicast

Delivery of content over IP to a single destination. A new unicast connection is established for each viewing session

VoD

Video on demand, accessing content over IP networks when requested

Objective The Taskforce will determine how the UK’s track record of innovation in television technology can be leveraged to deliver sustainable economic growth.

89 Albert Embankment London SE1 7TP www.dtg.org.uk/FITTtaskforce +44 (0)20 7840 6500 [email protected]