The big problem with online video and television programming
isn’t now a lack of availability or choice, but more about the pricing
of such services.
Internet television offerings have
surged over the past year, but the
pricing scheme, can turn out quite costly if viewers are paying $2 to
$3 per episode of a show, and therefore turn off a lot of potential
customers.
Not to mention the fact that, as we have seen
with Google, purchased videos may not be yours to keep
forever.
Now, aiming to keep its pricing strategy more in line with
traditional television, SyncTV
is a new TV download service running in private beta.
Premium Channels On Per Channel Subscription
It will offer
users access to premium television channels on a per-channel
subscription basis rather than the per-episode or per-season methods
currently in use among popular video services such as iTunes and Amazon Unbox.
Don’t mistake it for an unchanged, online version of
television
though, because beyond the pricing, the features of SyncTV are more
along the lines of the TiVo/DVR revolution of recent years.
SyncTV President John Gildred
stated in an interview:
“This is going to allow you to download any episode of any
show on
that channel any time you want,”“And you will have a whole catalog of all the shows
under that channel for a really small price of just a couple of dollars
per month.”
No Pricing Set, But We’re Hopeful
No exact price has been specified, but wouldn’t it be great
to have access to any episode of any show on your favorite channel
(such as Showtime) at any time by paying $2 a month, instead of $2 for
each video.
It is even an advantage over current premium channel offers
from cable/satellite providers, which require viewers to subscribe to a
bundle of channels at a much higher monthly price… often $10
per month
and above.
Open Standards & Open Source
What seems most promising about SyncTV already is the fact
that the
company is focusing on open standards and an open platform. The purpose
of this is to invite any consumer electronics company to create a
product that in turn will be able to be tightly integrated into the
SyncTV interface.
Gildred expressed a positive attitude about the
expansion of SyncTV from its current limitation to a
Windows/Mac/Linux-compatible desktop client into a service that allows
videos to be viewed directly on television sets as well as shared among
the computers and media devices of a user, although it could be late
2008 before we begin seeing products with integration.
Pioneer Electronics
If indeed SyncTV does take off and spread, the most likely
scenario is that future gear from Pioneer
Electronics
will be the first to use the platform, as SyncTV was directly launched
as a spin-off of research development there, which has been taking
place over the last two years.
Gildred continued:
“We are absolutely passionate about giving consumers
the
highest-quality, best-value and most flexible TV download service
available anywhere. We really hope that our users will agree that we
have achieved that,”“This beta
period will allow us
to fine-tune the system and get feedback on how we can improve the user
experience. We are going to be listening carefully to what our users
are saying so we can give them the service they want and
need.”
Conclusions
This is just the beginning for SyncTV,
and if users accept the subscription models in the works (various
prices for various channels) then SyncTV definitely has the chance to
become a household name.
Imagine buying a TV with a ‘SyncTV-compatible’
logo, turning it on, and having instant access to every program on
every channel you subscribe to (without an external set-top
box).
That
may soon be reality, but first try out the private beta.
Michael Garrett is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com
