ABSTRACT
Carriers contemplating entering the TV over broadband market have some thinking to do about what their differentiators might be. TV in its broadcast variety is a mature service, and is already delivered over terrestrial, satellite, and cable networks. Moreover, each of these transmission modes are highly efficient for one-to-many distribution, and can carry much greater bandwidth than DSL, allowing hundreds of simultaneous channels to be delivered. Many vertically-integrated organizations like the UK’s BBC have historically internalized the complete value chain. The tendency, however, is towards disaggregation and separation. A broadcast medium, such as satellite direct-to-home, traditional terrestrial radio, or cable company coax, offers the opportunity for multiple parallel TV programming. There is, however, no way to tailor fine-grained content directly to individual consumer requirements. Channels are averaged, even lowest-common-denominator products, and this detracts from the value consumers place upon them.
