NAB: DRM, Security Obstacles to Seamless, Multiscreen Video Services

Though DRM is no longer the pariah to telcos looking to acquire content for landline TV services, DRM and security are seen as a major obstacle en route to so-called seamless video offering that would let you switch from a home TV to a mobile device and to a PC while continuing to watch your video.

The state of the issue was discussed by speakers at NAB today.

Further complicating such promised services and multiscreen TV strategies is the way in which content owners do, and don’t, license their content to eager telcos. They typically require delivery media-specific deals that don’t always feature rates or fees based on the consumer experience through disparate devices.

And the situation is far from one-sided as broadcasters find the licensing of content time-consuming themselves in the rush to keep pace with consumer demands and the clear need to monetize any and everything new and enhanced.

“I think there’s an opportunity for a security clearinghouse that would use some a single digital security system,” said Bill Richardson, executive producer for Metro Networks, (http://www.metronetworks.com) a Westwood One company. The parent company owns a wide array of broadcasting systems and related assets.

But Richardson and other will be among the first to concede that this approach to content and network security is likely a pipe dream at best.

The stakes are considerably higher for AT&T Inc., which from the outside has espoused it’s three-screen strategy [TV, PC, mobile device] with its U-verse video-driven bundle. The telco TV power in part wants customers to someday enjoy the same content as they move from place to place but using different devices.

“Demand certainly exists across multiple platforms,” said Lee Chow, director of IP video management for AT&T, in reference to online video sites such as Hulu and Apple TV that enable downloads of vast amounts of short- and long-tail content. “What seems to be missing is an integrated consumer experience across all mediums.”

Perhaps complicating the delivery of seamless services for those planning to offer them at some future date is increasing interest in combining information with services in an effort to add value for consumers.

“We’re dealing with rights issues, cataloging content and more,” said Richardson. “We’d like to make that a background issue instead of a foreground issue. And we want to bundle information with content by providing tour dates along with the ability to buy tickets and deliver this to three screens.”

While Chow aid AT&T has housed all relevant information, from use of multiple AT&T services, in a single central repository, challenges still remain in putting it to work for the next level of consumer services. “We need to have and ensure a consolidated user experience.”

On the content licensing front, frustration with asset owners that want to charge the same price for content used on smaller than TV screens is building. “They should be charging prices that are commensurate with the actual user experience on each device,” lamented on Telco exec who requested anonymity.

Chow said they have yet to encounter a situation where a content owners cut a single content carriage deal spanning the TV, PC and wireless devices.

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