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Advantages for content providers:
1. The most secure platform from which to broadcast globally.
FIRST GLOBAL BROADCAST NETWORK TO OFFER:
2. Provides the ability to create and develop numerous channels
- Complete revenue share packages.
3. Cost effective with multiple revenue sources
- +1 to all channels.
4. Ideal for specialised channels and niche content 5. Revenue opportunities from subscription, pay-per-view and targeted advertising 6. Optimised for live event broadcast (using IP streaming)
- +24 to all channels. - HD channels or HD VoD. - Specialised channels (increase subscription). - PPV special events. - A video on demand library.
7. Revenue opportunities from VOD libraries
- Hardware, software and peripheral devices.
8. Simplified remote content management
- Technical support free of charge for G-Studio.
At last, your tv, your way BROADCAST
The market place • There are approximately 25.5 million occupied homes in the UK today.
UK BROADBAND MARKET
• Approximately 8 million UK satellite viewers. • Approximately 3.4 million UK cable viewers.
UK broadband statistics are flying high with 99.8% of UK households now able to connect to broadband.
• Approximately 9 million UK freeview viewers. • Which equates to 80% of the UK that is digital ready with 20% = 5.1 million non digital viewers.
An incredible 14.3 million of the estimated 25.5 million occupied homes are actually connected and this figure is rising rapidly.
Cable TV and satellite providers are driving the rise in internet connections and with a price war looming, it is clear the real potential lies in the development of IPTV services.
• However in the majority of these homes only one TV is digital ready. • It is estimated that the UK constituted almost 50% of all European sales of HD TVs last year, but it is widely remarked that the UK is behind the rest of Europe in providing HD content. • There are approximately 4.5 million HD TVs in UK homes. • It is estimated that 1 million HD TVs will be sold in the UK in the next 12 months. • It is estimated that by 2010 there will be over 10 million HD TVs in UK homes.
Download speeds can be anywhere between 500K and 8Mg but are set to increase with the launch of new 24Mg exchanges around the UK. Great Britain will soon have one of the fastest internet backbones in existence today! Broadband keeps getting faster and the consumer benefits all the way.
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• It is estimated that by 2020 80% of UK homes will have a HD TV and that 90% of content will be in HD.
Companies - the marriage IPTV specialist, Global Digital Broadcast (gdbTV™), has signed a deal with leading UK provider of advanced high-definition and digital technologies, VEHDA, to release and install 500,000 IP set-top boxes within the UK consumer market by the end of 2008. These boxes will be installed by the PlayTV UK and VEHDA engineers. The partnership utilises the resources of both VEHDA and sister company, PlayTV UK. These include over 200 installation and service engineers, strategically located around the UK, and a 800 strong force of sales and customer service staff. Over 200, new, VEHDA / PlayTV UK-branded vans are also being deployed to transport the boxes. The high-definition VEHDA set-top boxes are configured with gdbTV™ middleware and preprogrammed with over 700 channels from 84 countries, allowing UK consumers to watch local TV regardless of their geographical location.
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Initial channels will include; GDB's own niche, local and international channels; PlayTV UK movies, PlayTV UK entertainment and PlayTV UK sport; popular generic content and terrestrial free-to-view. The partnership between GDB, VEHDA and PlayTV UK, means the consumer will now have a wider selection of competitivelypriced programming options.” “Our marriage to VEHDA and PlayTV UK finalises our route to market, allowing GDB to continue with its engineering and software platform development whilst knowing that consumer interests are being handled by a team of experienced sales and customer service professionals.” The roll-out of the VEHDA boxes starts in October 2007 and Global Digital Broadcast will continue to sell its AVEC box outside of the UK.
Who is Global Digital Broadcast? Global Digital Broadcast (gdbTV™), based in the UK, operates an IPTV delivery network with a large client base of content providers and channel owners. Specialising in channel creation and delivery to a network aimed at the IPTV set-top box market, gdbTV™ has a clear and defined understanding of how to deliver in a competitive market with a ground breaking background in localised broadcasting. Long before the incorporation of gdbTV™, co-founder Jim Deans was one of the first people in the UK to hold a restricted service licence (RSL), enabling him to set up some of the most successful RSL channels to operate in the country. Due to the restrictive cost of setting up and broadcasting both over terrestrial and via satellite, gdbTV™ identified the new broadcasting medium of IPTV, allowing any small to medium sized organisation to operate its own commercial television channel.
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Global Digital Broadcast operates one of the world's largest networks of independent content owners and community channels for IPTV. Now in the process of building more television channels to deliver over IP, gdbTV™ has formed associations with a number of major international operators, hardware and set-top box manufacturers and digital rights management (DRM) providers.
Who is - VEHDA
VEHDA is the leading manufacturer of advanced High definition
processors and
IPTV, and digital technologies in the UK. VEHDA
supplies and installs across the
UK and continental Europe, providing the ultimate in picture and sound quality and offering high-quality innovation. VEHDA has a solid track record with its ISIS SU 20, a premium HD processor that took the home cinema market by storm. Now building on its success VEHDA employs a state of the art manufacturing plant in China with a proven track record of quality assurance delivering reliable products.
“VEHDA puts the HD into HDTV.�
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Who is - PlayTV UK PlayTV UK is a British broadcaster of IPTV,
PlayTV UK strives to continue improving
delivering the very best content available,
upon its team of professionals, delivering a
via your broadband connection and IP set-
top class service and always looking at what
top box, to any room in your home; viewed
we can do to make things even better for our
predominantly on your TV, as well as PC.
customers.
PlayTV UK has access to an extensive
PlayTV UK intends to provide a secure and
customer database and employs over 800
safe viewing platform for the whole family
telesales staff, located in 5 offices across the
to enjoy safely. PlayTV UK's sister company,
South East of England. PlayTV UK's sister
PlayRadio UK - an internet radio station
company currently looks after over 600,000
(www.playradiouk. com) - currently has over
customers.
a million listeners worldwide. PlayRadio UK may also be found on i-tunes.
The aims of PlayTV UK are to give the viewer a far greater choice than available on freeto-view, satellite or cable; to deliver fantastic value for money; to support a platform that gives greater flexibility, so its customers can watch what they want, when they want; and to give the viewer the control over the content they want to watch.
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At last, your tv, your way.
The benefits of PlayTV UK • PlayTV UK is more flexible than terrestrial, satellite, or cable. • PlayTV UK offers more choice than satellite, cable or free-to-view. • PlayTV UK can deliver better value for money than satellite or cable. • TV delivered in a completely new way; watch what you want, when you want. • Age appropriate online classifications apply and are implemented with PIN security, in order to protect your family from unsuitable content. • Free-to-view channels and IPTV in HD resolution. • Download HD films and programmes - and watch them in HD. • Complete control of content. • Internet-based services, like surfing the web and email, to consumers TVs. • PlayTV UK offers more channels from more content providers. • Offers hundreds of online interactive gaming options. • PlayTV UK is the only platform for local and niche TV.
Right now, PlayTV UK is the only alternative to satellite or cable. BROADCAST
PlayTV UK is the future of TV.
Content security gdbTV™/PlayTV UK deploy Microsoft Digital providers
such as IP address, MAC address, time and
wishing to protect their content with Microsoft
date information and, if required, user specific
DRM are able to protect their content at the
information. This is invisible to the consumer
time of encoding. The decryption of this DRM
but enables the scanning of data should it
is then handled by the box, enabling all the
be required to prove the legitimacy of the
usual rules of protection to be carried out as
viewing rights. The watermarking survives
they would be for download to a PC.
all recording and defacing tactics including
Rights
Management.
Content
This stamps user session data to the video
filming of the TV screen by a camcorder. gdbTV™/PlayTV UK also
facilitate the
use of Verimatrix watermarking and file encryption.
gdbTV™/PlayTV UK also employ a conditional access model that utilises the user account,
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Much as Microsoft DRM protects Windows
MAC address of the set-top box and file
Media content, Verimatrix enables any content
replication. This eliminates account duplication
using the MPEG
transport stream to be
and MAC cloning. Basically the user has their
encrypted using the usual rules of protection.
account and set top box details verified against
This Verimatrix encryption enables the
a Thawte secured record, allowing them access
watermarking of content at the client end.
to the content they have subscribed to. If the
As content is played, through the box to the
user and box details aren't confirmed, or there
television set, a watermark is added to random
is already an open session to the content, the
pixels within the stream.
verification fails.
Introducing IPTV set-top box technology Signalling the end of the satellite era and heralding the new age of IPTV.
Features: IPTV functionality, free-to-view digital tuner,
The VEHDA HD+80 IPTV set-top box has
80GB hard drive, 5.1 Dolby Digital, HD up-
arrived; ready to transform the way we
conversion, HDMI connection.
receive TV. This hybrid set-top is designed to seamlessly handle the obvious transition from
Connectivity includes:
digital terrestrial to IPTV and, allowing the
RF in, RF out, 2 x scart, 2 x USB, SP/DIF, Coax,
user a one-stop solution for their home, the box
LAN, HDMI out,
allows you to watch free-to-view and PlayTV UK -delivered TV stations, on your terrestrial
The STB decodes:
television set.
SD & HD, up to 1080, AAC+, Mpeg, MP3, Dolby Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1
The VEHDA solution is the product of many years of research, setting new standards for IPTV delivery and incorporating, in one box, full IPTV capabilities; free-to-view tuner; digital video hard drive; and HD up-convert capability. The VEHDA box is a high performance, multi codec, set-top box; designed for high definition applications, with home networking ability to play media from your PC or storage device.
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The gdbTV™ middleware CONTENT ADMINISTRATION AND PLAYOUT Your channel content is served from one or a number of servers in our data centres. The busier your channel becomes, the more servers you'll use to distribute your content. The whole platform is designed to help you expand at your pace and budget. The gdbTV™ interface to maintain your channel is accessed through a standard web browser, giving you the freedom to run your channel from anywhere in the world. The control panel is a comprehensive webbased application that is simple and easy to use. Programmes can be created through a simple, meta data form, with image thumbnails applied and availability status decided. Content can be assigned to sub-channels and categories. Those sub-channels can be packaged for subscription and pay-per-view (PPV) costs. Thumbnails can be added to highlight your content and of course all meta data can be searched.
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Scheduled sub-channels have the added functionality of linear broadcasts. The control panel enables a simple drag and drop board to apply your programmes, events, advertising and idents. These can be copied across on a day-to-day timescale and items can be fixed to loop daily and/or weekly. Statistics can be monitored in real time, enabling you to find out how many people are watching, what they watched, where in the world they are viewing from and even ascertain the language of the viewer's browser.
movies
world
movies PlayTV UK is launching nine movie channels; constantly streaming the very latest releases, favourite classics, ´golden oldies´ from the silver screen archives and the best of world cinema.
world
PPV zone – with over 80,000 titles, in all genres, from: 'top 40'; new releases; children's and family entertainment; comedy; drama; horror; martial arts; music and musicals; nature and history; interactive; sport; sci-fi; made for television films; documentaries; action and thrillers; war; westerns; world cinema; Bollywood; and adult. One '18' certificate channel; including horror, war, action and more.
broadband broadband
Please note: age appropriate online classifications are implemented with PIN security, in order to protect your family from unsuitable content. I-Guardian software has been especially developed to act as an automated on-line verification system for IPTV and streamed/download content. BROADCAST
Please see I-Guardian page for further information on the classification software.
sports
sports
PlayTV UK is launching with over 15 great sports channels and will also offer live streaming of all the greatest, global, sporting events; in addition to a huge archive of national and international footage, documentaries, genre-related films and other select treats; from just about every genre of sport you can think of.
entertainment entertainment
entertainment
PlayTV UK Entertainment will offer a comprehensive package of hugely enjoyable, mixed genre programming, with an emphasis on comedy, lifestyle, music, celebrity gossip and much more; such as gaming options and internet functions streamed right to your television set.
nd
• • • • • • • • • • • • •
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Local TV Entertainment Children's and family Music News Documentaries HD TV Shopping Religion Gaming Lifestyle Magazine TV Search TV
Plus a massive archive of free-to-view and PPV content.
world
PlayTV UK World will offer a truly global experience, with hundreds of international TV channels, live events and multi-cultured programming from: Europe; Eastern Europe; Asia; Australia; Africa; the Middle East; North and Central America; and South America.
broadband
PlayRadio UK was the first of the PlayTV UK titles to go live last year. PlayRadio UK currently has an audience of over 1 million listeners and can be found listed on i-tunes.
Live Now
Live in November
Future listings will include Play Jazz, Play Reggae, Play Indie, Play Ska, Play Xmas, Play R&B, Play Country, Play Hip Hop, Play 30's to 50's, Play 60's & 70's, Play Latin, Play Chill, Play Love, Play Africa, Play India, Play Asia, Play Soundtrack, Play Talk, Play Sussex, *Genres in black will be going live in November 2007
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asian network PlayTV UK Asian was born from a number of production houses and aggregators wanting to promote their content on the PlayTV UK platform. PlayTV UK Asian has a package of channels including Indian news, numerous movies and varying genres of music. As the Asian market is so large and diverse, PlayTV UK is always looking for new and interesting Asian content for the growing suite of channels.
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PlayTV UK Asian has root for the Asian community to stay in touch with what’s happening locally, in their own areas and their different home locations; and also offers a specialised call centre, dedicated to Asian consumers, and with staff who are experts in their field and who can provide the highest level of customer support.
PlayTV UK is offering 10 'R18' adult channels, offering genuine content from popular international labels, in addition to an extensive VoD library, containing thousands of titles. R18 classification online: Athough streamed / download content is not required, by law, to be submitted to the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) for category award (e.g. PG, 15, 18, R18, etc), PlayTV UK implements the I-Guardian software which was developed in order to prevent minors from accessing material, as classified in accordance with BBFC regulations, inappropriate for their age. As such, any R18 age-restricted content broadcast by PlayTV UK will be regulated accordingly.
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PIN access is only available to those over the age of 18 who are able to provide official forms of ID as required. Please see I-Guardian page for further information on the classification software.
All your free-to-view channels available via the inbuilt digital tuner.
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Retail tv THE CURRENT RETAIL MARKET Both national and international retail-toconsumer targeting has undergone substantial change with the developments in modern technology. Many areas of the traditional retail trade have already suffered, or are now at the beginning on a downturn. The internet currently plays a significant part in consumer shopping and the continuing escalation of this trend means that retailers, in order to remain in the market, have to include an internet sales option. This is becoming increasingly relevant for all retail business, from superstores selling everything from food to home technology, to shop fronts for catalogue sales and even independent and specialised merchants. Today, almost all retail businesses have websites.
SO HOW DOES IPTV FIT IN? Television is not only an incredibly powerful advertising medium, but also enables direct home retail via digital/interactive sales. IPTV provides a way for retailers to showcase their goods and increase their specific consumer market.
A supermarket, for example, can launch its own home shopping channel by simply creating a small, simple, studio set up and appointing a presenter. The consumer becomes the viewer and is able to browse and purchase goods online (via their computer) and/or directly via the television (using their remote control). Video format advertising may be implemented and many existing advertisers will already carry video advertising for terrestrial and/or satellite broadcast. For the retailer, an IPTV channel on the gdbTV™ platform will enable the running of both scheduled broadcasting and the streaming of archive content, in addition to live event broadcast, under one channel brand.
IPTV benefits - Increase advertising revenue - Improve service offering to customers - Dramatically improve sales success with video sales - Embed a TV channel within your current website - Obtain your own unique IPTV channel number - Add revenue through branded set-top boxes Footnote: QVC UK sales in 2004 reached ÂŁ265 million
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Magazine tv THE CURRENT MAGAZINE MARKET The last decade has seen a dramatic change in the number of magazine publications available. Whereas a few years ago, there were several big titles in most genres and hundreds of thousands of subscribers per magazine, the drop in print production costs has resulted in a significant increase in the choice available to the consumer. No longer do magazine publishers need to secure such a high number of readers to justify the production run, but can succeed with a lower and consistent subscriber following. For example, specialist and niche titles carry far more targeted advertising and content-specific articles for the readership.
SO HOW DOES IPTV FIT IN? Put simply, magazine readers can become magazine viewers of the magazines IPTV channels and advertisers have the option to include a video advert as a supplement to the standard magazine advertisement. Many existing advertisers will already carry video advertising for terrestrial and/or satellite broadcast. For the magazine owner, an IPTV channel on the gdbTV™ platform, will enable the running of both scheduled broadcasting and the streaming of archive content, in addition to live event broadcast, under one channel brand.
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The partnership of magazine and TV can significantly enhance the presence of both medias and the low operating costs of the IPTV platform may be used to the advantage of offering subscriber access to both.
IPTV benefits - Attract user generated video content. - Offer more value added service to subscribers . - Expand your audience to a global market. - Increase advertising revenue with interactive advertising. - Embed a TV channel in your current website. - Obtain your own unique IPTV channel number. - Add revenue through set-top box sales.
Property tv THE CURRENT PROPERTY MARKET Choosing a property is one of the biggest decisions a person will face and buying a house is almost always the single most expensive purchase they will make. However, bricks and mortar remain one of the best ways to invest money and, regardless of fluctuations in property prices, the industry remains lucrative. Commercial competition and the result of obtaining a satisfactory sale closure, have led to a number of marketing techniques being employed in order for the process to run more smoothly for the buyer, the seller and the agent. Website generated virtual tours are relatively successful, however, many prospective buyers prefer the personal touch of an actual guided tour. Still, the fact remains that prospective buyers want to know as much about the property they are considering, before arranging a tour.
SO HOW DOES IPTV FIT IN? IPTV takes virtual tours to the next stage and, with the addition of a 'presenter' (an agent with a camera), it also provides the required personal touch. As such, an estate agency could offer video broadcast tours on their own branded TV channel/s and these can be viewed through computers and internet connected television sets anywhere in the world.
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Any estate agent and/or auction house, whether residential or commercial, can run an IPTV channel on the gdbTV™ platform. All the software to manage clips, advertisements and programming is accessible via a standard web browser. This facility to run both scheduled programmes and video-on-demand (VoD), on the same branded channel, makes the IPTV option a highly attractive way to present properties to literally millions of viewers. IPTV is specifically beneficial for auction houses and estate agents.
IPTV benefits - Expand your potential market. - Improve service for customers. - Dramatically increase leads. - Embed a TV channel in your current website. - Obtain your own unique IPTV channel number.
Music tv THE CURRENT MUSIC INDUSTRY The music industry is one of the biggest industries for technical development, from equipment to productions but is suffering from the same effects as the film industry with routes to market constantly under threat. From the days of 4 track tape through to CD and mini disc there had never been the dramatic change that the internet has brought to the world's record companies, producers and the musicians themselves. For some of the independent labels and artists this revolution has brought huge benefits by being able to directly target their audience without the obstruction of distribution and major labels to rely on. Those who have embraced the internet and the freedom it can offer have generally made a bigger impact on the industry than the larger organisations who continue with traditional means. Apple's own iTunes and Napster before it have kicked the major players into realisation that there are some very easy methods to make direct sales to the consumer.
SO HOW DOES IPTV FIT IN? IPTV allows producers, content owners and distributors to be able to reach their audience directly, without concern of piracy or plagiarism. BROADCAST
The gdbTV™ IPTV platform offers the opportunity to run a complete marketing and sales campaign, within a television format, video-on-demand (VoD), scheduled and more importantly as live. Direct studio broadcast of this style, means that live events can be watched by fans who maybe haven't been able to buy tickets for the event. This generates additional revenue without the network restrictions of traditional broadcasts. Now, anyone from the record label to the independent unsigned artists themselves, are able to control the delivery, format, commerce and audience like never before, around the world.
IPTV benefits - Implement direct marketing under your own brand. - Extend your audience into an IPTV network. - Obtain your own unique IPTV channel number. - Add revenue through set-top box sales. - Perfect for independent artists and labels. - Ideal for venues to add revenue for live events.
Movie channel THE CURRENT MOVIE DISTRIBUTION MARKET It is undeniable that traditional movie outlets are in a decline to the ever-present and increasingly popular online stores. This is going to rapidly take over the way people have purchased and rented movies up until this point. With the invention of IPTV and particularly the set-top boxes that are finding their way into homes, there isn't just a fear of losing some customers to broadband e-stores but real inevitability about the future demise of DVD.
Global Digital Broadcast's seamless, easy-to-use system, can deliver movies to computers, mobile devices, other compatible media and, most importantly, to TV via the set-top boxes which are currently being deployed around the world. Operated from one central point, a branded movie channel can become a hugely successful distribution platform.
There has never been a better time than now to ride the crest of the IPTV wave for movie distributors, niche content owners and producers. At the dawn of the internet it was the early adopters who realised huge captivation of the market with their foresight and IPTV is now the rebirth of internet into a hi-tech broadcast dream.
- Increase advertising and consumer revenue. - Improve customer service for viewers. - Expand your audience to a global market. - Embed a TV channel in your current website. - Obtain your own unique IPTV channel number. - Add revenue through set-top box sales.
SO HOW DOES IPTV FIT IN? IPTV allows producers, content owners and distributors to be able to reach their audience directly, without concern of piracy or plagiarism.
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Using the gdbTV™ platform, content and rights owners can broadcast as scheduled and/or video-on-demand (VoD), in addition to being able to stream live from the studio. Direct studio broadcast, of this style, means that the making of (the movie) material can be followed by fans in real time, thus generating revenue in advance of release.
IPTV benefits
Local tv UNDERSTANDING LOCAL TELEVISION
SO HOW DOES IPTV FIT IN?
Global Digital Broadcast's understanding of local television comes from the old ITC RSL local channel licenses; two of the gdbTV™ directors were involved in obtaining a license for Lanarkshire Television (which eventually was taken over by Thistle TV).
The ability to create content and play it out to a global audience in real time (live) and as delayed broadcast (scheduled or video-on-demand), is what every local broadcaster dreams about. IPTV makes that dream a reality and at a fraction of the cost associated with traditional television. Using a simple web interface, the channel owner can upload and manage his content. He can build his channel with a mixture of schedules, video-on-demand and even live events. It could even be a 'one man' operation, as the content can be managed from any standard internet connection.
Understanding what local TV needs is the key to success and gdbTV™'s unique IPTV platform is perfect for this purpose. A local IPTV channel is easy and inexpensive to set up and manage and content is currently exempt from Ofcom regulations, thus providing the answer to the many local broadcasters who, for years, have fought to get their own local channel/s. Fringe TV will be the biggest expansion in global television, with thousands of channels available to your settop box. Plus, as 'local TV' is, in fact, an international offering, you can, for example, watch Chinese movies direct from China, and when in China you can watch your local UK channel. Your set-top box will work anywhere you can get a standard broadband connection.
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IPTV benefits - Become part of the future of local broadcast. - Capitalise on the IPTV explosion. - Accurate real time statistic reporting. - Involve communities, clubs and colleges. - Create and manage your channel/s for a fraction of the cost of terrestrial broadcast. - Obtain your own unique IPTV channel number.
Sports tv THE CURRENT SPORTS INDUSTRY It would be fair to say that almost every person in the civilised world has a sporting interest of some nature. It is also a fact that many sports fans are not able to follow their specific interest to the level they would like, whether that is their local football team, a national swimming event or ice hockey games from abroad. Existing broadcasting platforms carry mainstream sports with the very occasional niche sport programme and generally these channels are only available on the higher premium subscription packages, thereby restricting the audience to those who only watch sufficient amounts to warrant the costs. Many niche sports, with lower potential audience figures, are disregarded by the mainstream networks and are rarely given air time. Broadcast programmes of this nature can find their audience on IPTV, with a far easier and more cost effective method of distribution.
SO HOW DOES IPTV FIT IN? The ability to create content of any sporting genre and play it out to a global audience in real time (live) and as delayed broadcast (scheduled or video-on-demand), is what every sporting organisation dreams about. BROADCAST
Now IPTV can make that dream a reality and at a fraction of the cost associated with traditional television. Using the gdbTV™ IPTV platform, your club or organisation has the opportunity to run a complete global television channel as video-on-demand (VoD), scheduled and, more importantly, as live. Direct broadcast of this style, means that live events can be watched by fans who maybe haven't been able to get to the event and/or of course, for viewers in other towns or countries. The revenue this can generate in advertising and sponsorship, as well as the subscription or pay-per-view (PPV) possibilities, can make your television channel the focus of your organisation.
IPTV benefits - Generates a new brand awareness. - Capitalise on the IPTV explosion. - Create new TV advertising and sponsorship models. - Build communities, involving members and fans. - Obtain your own unique IPTV channel number.
gdbTV™ channels NEW CONTENT
NEW REVENUES
IPTV is rapidly generating new channels all over the world. In the UK, every major town and city is creating a channel to be delivered over IP. This new broadcasting avenue is opening up a world of opportunity for programme creators, producers, actors, writers, directors and, in fact, anyone from top-level production crews to amateur film makers.
Local community channels, like TVbrighton, now enable content from virtually any origin to be broadcast over broadband, allowing people around the globe to access content through PCs and TV sets, using broadbandconnected set-top boxes. Indeed, thousands of new channels are available through the VEHDA HD+80. Businesses previously unable to advertise on TV due to the high cost now have a way to advertise at a budget that is more like advertising in the local paper and can geotarget their advertising to reach the audience that matters - the locals, regardless of geographical location. Niche channels from sky diving to scuba diving, football to volleyball and from every language in the world, are able to broadcast through this rapidly growing global service. Imagine running a global TV channel with no barriers and no frontiers. The time is now!
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Commercial package Roll out of PlayTV UK commercial package to include:
- On-demand music juke box - Music channels - Karaoke channel - Adult channels (stag and hen) - Pub community channels (live event links) - Games channels - Virtual horse racing (betting revenues) - Sports package - Dedicated training channels
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Vehicle livery The PlayTV UK fleet will soon be at 300+ vans. Content providers will have the opportunity to sponsor vans by postcode.
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Preparing your channel content ENCODING CONTENT FOR THE NETWORK Global Digital Broadcast can supply a range of professional hardware encoders from different manufacturers. These are generally based on the world-renowned Osprey video card. The real advantage of these turnkey systems is their flexibility, quality and stability, enabling many different codecs for different devices as well as multiple, simultaneous encodes, including live broadcasting, with ease. Your channel content can be encoded for PC and TV as well as mobile devices such as iPod, Playstation portable (PSP), Nintendo Wii machines et al, all of which can be managed through the gdbTV™ middleware. An integrated turnkey 2U rackmount system for real-time encoding, such as the Powerstream Pro can be supplied as part of a channel package. Full assistance in setting up these encoders is given, including initial training and profiles for encoding.
Each encoder offers high quality video and audio capture from analog, DV and professional digital sources. They provide composite video (BNC), S-Video, DV (via IEEE 1394), SDI (SMPTE-259M) video and embedded SDI audio, unbalanced stereo audio, balanced stereo audio (XLR) and professional digital audio (AES/EBU) via the included 1U rackmount breakout panel. Video and audio monitoring is available via a separate breakout panel. For content owners who don't require a live broadcast hardware encoder it is a simple case of using Windows Media Encoder software. This is available as a free download from Microsoft and simply requires a fast PC to run on. In this case content can be encoded in the same manner as live encoding with the exception of the source coming from file instead of a live feed. A batch encoding software program is also available from Microsoft to speed the process of multiple file encodes. This content can then be uploaded to the GDBTV storage servers or simply put onto external hard drives and shipped to the data centres.
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The consumer experience NETWORK DELIVERY TO THE CONSUMER The dynamic elements of the gdbTV™ middleware mean channel portals for TV and PC display the same information, spreading the user experience to both platforms. The consumer has a simple to use interface, laid out in an easy to follow manner, whether on a PC portal or on television through the VEHDA HD+80 set-top box. PC Portals
Your channel appears on the electronic programming guide (EPG) and can be found either by directly entering your channel number, or through whichever genre your channel qualifies for. Consumers can track their account subscriptions, PPV purchases, viewing history and can easily top up on credits.
Handling consumer payments THE gdbTV™ PAYMENT GATEWAY
Your channel's PC portal is built to your specifications and design, enabling your branding to be represented clearly. The portal can be launched from your website or, in some cases, built directly into the site. Whatever your company or organisation's business, it would benefit hugely from a television channel that can be viewed both via your own website on the internet and also through the VEHDA HD+80 service. The best form of representation is video, whether you offer a training or sales video portal, or a full broadcast production channel. Broadband TV is moving boundaries for television and opening the consumer world up to a multitude of choices. VEHDA HD+80
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The VEHDA HD+80 service is a global television set-top box that enables thousands of channels, from hundreds of countries across the world, to be watched through standard broadband, simply by connecting the VEHDA HD+80 box between the internet connection and a television.
Global Digital Broadcast has set up a secure payment system that forms an integral part of the gdbTV™ platform. Using our preferred bank processing and Thawte security approved servers, our eWallet technology enables your customers to purchase your content or products in the easiest and most efficient way. eWallet information (debit/credit card and mobile phone data) is stored in our secure database to allow your customers to purchase repeatedly with ease. This means every repeat purchase takes just the time for your customers to enter a simple PIN. The eWallet is created when a customer registers for the first time on a gdbTV™ powered channel. With this eWallet they can then top up from a credit card and spend the credit on any of the channels on the network with the same account.
How it works for your content
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Client 2 is exactly the same as client 1, only the set up is facilitated by gdbTV™ in return for a revenue share and partnership in the channel. Therefore, the client doesn't pay storage and network costs, but simply provides the content and markets the channel to consumers.
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Client 1 can encode his content; upload to the network;'$"46 .ETWORK manage content through the gdbTV™ middleware and make it available as on demand, scheduled or live (through the same symmetrical digital subscriber line (SDSL) upload method). He can set subscription rules, charge pay-per-view (PPV), attach advertising, or combine all three methods. Added to which, he can create new sub-channels for his content, effectively enabling directory levels which turn a single channel into a network of channels. This option gives the owner full control over all content and management of his channel.
Client 3 can use the network for his live streamed content and to appear in the electronic / interactive programme guide (EPG) listing. This channel would be under the control of the broadcast service. Client 4 can simply have a link direct into the EPG, for the channel to play from the client's own network, thus not crossing the gdbTV™ network. This appears inside the portal for gdbTV™ to use for advertising revenue.
I-Guardian - automated online age verification How it works:
To compliment the proposed BBFC Trust system, gdbTV™ has developed new software named I-Guardian. This software will act as an automated on-line age verification system, emulating the current shopkeeper/ video rental store age checking process and has complete, built in, parental control.
The first part of the process is to understand what 'online movies' actually are. In this digital streaming age, (online) movies, rather than being DVDs or videos, are simply sent as files across a network. This network can be closed, like in a hotel which provides a network service, or open, like the internet. Anybody, anywhere in the world, can view open network streamed content, so tools are required to protect and regulate it. The files can be in a number of formats, the most popular being Microsoft's Windows Media Video, which can be viewed on 97% of internet-connected computers around the world. I-Guardian has been developed to work with all the most widely used formats. Following the BBFC's examination of content, a restricted category (e.g. PG, 15, 18, et al) is awarded and an electronic black card (EBC) is generated in relation to that specific piece of content. This advises the viewer of the movie's suitable age audience and also provides some basic information as to what content will be in the movie (e.g. mild peril, swear words, nudity, et al).
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Currently, nothing is stopping a minor from viewing an unsuitable (open network) online movie. Some companies use credit card verification but this is only useful if he/she is accessing per-per-view and/or a website which specifically requires age-relevant ID. I-Guardian (master) PIN codes may only be obtained by persons over the age of 18.
I-Guardian uses credit card ID for age verification, but also allows the master PIN holder/parent to assign age-appropriate profiles for family members and to set varying levels, with PIN protection, for each one.
In practice: As the EBC is generated, an attached digital certificate is also embedded into the movie. This is called a cookie (or script) and gives the suitable age audience for the movie. The I-Guardian software recognises the cookie and will not play the movie unless the consumer is logged in with the relevant age-appropriate PIN. Each age classification has a different cookie and is set, as explained above, by the master PIN holder/ parent. The master PIN holder/parent can decide what age to set for his/her children and can leave the house knowing that I-Guardian will make sure they only view content appropriate for their age/s. As each child can have their own (age-appropriate) PIN number. I-Guardian is also suitable for a home with many children of varying ages. The PIN only needs to be put in once and, unless cancelled, no secondary input is required. When the adult returns home, s/he simply inputs the master PIN again in order to re-open access to all categories.