UK Interactive TV briefing
By 2012, the traditional analogue TV broadcasts will have been replaced by digital signals, which will provide more choice of TV and radio channels, better quality of signal, fairer access to all channels and deliver enhanced interactive services.
The UK is the world leader in terms of access to and take up of digital TV. Currently over 88% of homes have access to digital TV with 55% of homes having access via more than one set. This figure will only rise as the UK moves towards complete analogue switch-off, a process which has already begun. The timetable of the analogue switch-off can be seen here.
Interactive Digital TV (DiTV) allows viewers to interact with a range of organisations providing services and content in much the same way that an internet website does - they use their remote control, or in a minority of cases a keyboard, to access pages of information, enter data and receive responses via their TV.
Today, 56% of homes in the UK have access to digital interactive TV and this figure is set to rise to at least 65% by 2012.
To enable this two-way communication, a phone line or broadband connection between the TV receiving equipment is typically required. This connectivity is standard for Satellite (Sky) and Virgin Media (formerly NTL / Telewest) subscribers. There are a number of Freeview boxes that have a broadband connection now available including BT Vision and Netgem iPlayer 6640 boxes. A number of further models are set for launch in the coming months.
Interaction on TV is one of the benefits that digital TV can bring to viewers and is provided in a number of ways. On Freeview interaction is primarily via the ‘red button’ which takes you to informational services such as BBCi and additional/supplementary footage. In reality these pages are not truly interactive, they are pre-defined pages which are set and do not allow for a response or interaction of any kind. However, a new generation of Freeview-style set-top boxes with interactivity provided by a broadband connection are coming on to the market.
An example is BT Vision, launched autumn 2006, which provides access to the Freeview channels via an aerial whilst delivering video on demand and interactive services via a broadband connection. The box has Internet connectivity, it must be plugged into BT broadband and supports Ethernet and USB connectivity (see http://www.btvision.bt.com). Another box on the market is the Netgem iPlayer 6640 which is also a personal video recorder (PVR) and costs around £199. Their latest offering now includes PowerLine adaptors turning the households electrical ring-main into a Local Area Network.
Expectations are that existing Freeview users will replace older set-top boxes over the coming years with these newer units, with costs for such boxes tumbling as is being experienced with other digital consumer goods such as DVD players, MP3 players and flat-screen TVs.
Freeview boxes with a return path in the form of a broadband connection or modem, allow for real interaction as they offer viewers the ability to access the web and specially designed DiTV services via their TV. Most websites are not configured for access by TVs and leave the viewer with a poor user experience in terms of accessing information and navigating pages. TVs are not equipped with keyboards, printers or a mouse, so much of the functionality that websites offer PC users is lost and can confuse a TV viewer.
However specially designed DiTV services that can be registered as favourites or even pre-programmed into interactive Freeview boxes, offer a relevant and appropriate experience for DiTV viewers. This would be a service that can be navigated by a remote control that understands the viewer is not in a pro-active state (ie: might be sitting some distance away relaxing on a sofa) and that takes account of screen resolution and size to its advantage.
The vast majority of cable customers now receive their TV service from Virgin, over 3.5 million households receive Virgin TV services. Alongside enhanced channel choice, interactive services can be accessed by viewers of Virgin delivered by an ’always on’ cable service. Virgin TV’s interactive services are available in a walled garden (a closed or exclusive set of information services provided for users and not allowing browsing of other services or the Internet), where dedicated DiTV services exist and offer a range of interactive propositions.
Prices for Virgin DiTV vary from nothing to £20.50 per month depending on the package chosen, however customers who want the cheaper options need to have a Virgin telephone line which begins at £11 per month. Variable installation fees are also levied.
Virgin offers video on demand (VOD), catch up TV and other options for varied TV viewing. VOD opens up the opportunity of offering video, where appropriate within your service. This could be particularly powerful for translation services for example, explaining eligibility criteria and how to fill in forms for common transactions such as benefits and housing could lead to significant savings.
Over nine million homes either subscribe to Sky or have bought the one-off Freesat option from Sky across the country, this is around 34% of the UK population*. Sky boxes are equipped with either a dial up modem or a broadband Ethernet connection. Again Sky has a walled garden where dedicated DiTV services are provided to the end user.
The lowest price one can have Sky installed for is £30 for the box, £30 for the installation and £16 per month thereafter. This gives you a much wider range of channels and interactivity. The household needs to sign up for a 12 month contract and a phone line is required. A one off fee of £150 will also buy you the ‘Freesat’ service which enables the home to enjoy the full package of ‘Freeview’ channels via satellite as well as the interactive services provided on the platform.
These prices are a general indicator as there are numerous bundled packages (phone, broadband and TV) and one-off/seasonal offers available for both Sky and Virgin.
Miniweb is an Interactive Service Provider whose goal is to enable interactivity and targeted, web-style advertising on TV. Its TV Key™ service can be accessed through the first page of the Interactive menu on Sky Digital.
Access points are expected on other interactive platforms in the near future.
Miniweb describe their offering as follows:
Miniweb delivers a unique interactive TV experience, combining TV viewing, online services and advertising to bring web-style interactivity to the TV. For TV network operators, content owners and advertisers, Miniweb is driving a new interactive broadband experience in the living room, removing the barriers to entry across the industry and enabling new revenue generating, enhanced TV business models.
In fact Miniweb can also offer a dual interactive and broadcast offering, where the viewer continues to watch the broadcast element of the service in a ¼ screen whilst navigating the interactive options and services around it. This type of combination could be very powerful in a learning or service delivery environment.
An adjunct of the miniweb offering is the availability of TV Keys, which allows organisations to offer an easy way into services by tapping in the numeric value of the letters required (as predetermined by telephone key pads). For instance ‘Hull’ would be a simple ‘4855’ key, whilst ‘hackney’ would be ‘4225639’. This could be marketed to the public and potentially to employees as a fast and effective way of getting in to dedicated DiTV services.
- Over 22.5m million households had multichannel television equipment connected to their primary set by the end of Q2 2008.
- More than two million digital terrestrial television (DTT) devices were sold during the period, up by 21% on Q2 2007. Integrated digital television sets (IDTVs) accounted for around 1.4 million units of these - up 54% on twelve months ago - while set-top boxes accounted for over 0.8 million.
- DTT-only households accounted for around a quarter of all growth in multichannel main sets in Q2, rising by around 78,000 to reach 9.7 million homes.
- Free-to-view digital satellite homes increased by almost 120,000 to 840,000 in the quarter, contributing over a third of net additions to multichannel main sets. More than 40% of households (around 10 million) now have some form of free-to-view digital television (either DTT or free-to-view satellite) on their main set.
- The total number of homes with satellite (either pay or free-to-view) in Q2 reached 37.3% or almost 9.6 million. Pay satellite homes accounted for around 8.7m (91%) of these with free-to-view making up the remainder.
- Cable was the primary viewing platform in 12.5% of homes in Q2. Virgin Media reported net additions of around 24,000 new subscribers taking their total subscriber base to over 3.5 million.
- Conversion is growing fastest in the early switching regions and take-up in Wales and Granada reached 90% for the first time.
- 89% of the UK population had heard of digital switchover and in the early switching regions (Wales, West Country, Border & Granada) that figure was almost universal.
Read more:
Digital UK and Ofcom Switchover Tracker Survey, Switchover Progress Report, Q2 2008
OfCom Digital Television Updates
A recent BERR consultation regarding the box specification for the digital switchover Helpscheme has mandated that all Helpscheme boxes in phase one (those deployed during 2008-2009) must have a return path. This will allow for the provision of interactive services to those that it could be argued, need them most.
Boxes for the first phase of the Helpscheme will be provided by Sky, and will give access to Freesat. The scheme will be monitored and research undertaken as to how people use these boxes and what additional benefits they bring. If successful it could mean that by 2012 all people over 75 years old, many people with disabilities and those who are partially sighted or blind will have access to DiTV, and thus government DiTV services.
With Internet penetration at less than 50% in every socio-demographic bracket for people over 65 years old, and in some cases as low as 8% (for the DE 65+ bracket) this offers a great opportunity to get to those households and people with a high usage of government services via a self service channel.
All local public service providers face a conundrum. We are being tasked with providing more quality services on budgets that are being squeezed every year. There are clearly cost/efficiency savings to be found if you can encourage members of the public to ‘self serve’. However, there is a well documented portion of the population that does not have, and will never have a PC at home that is connected and on which they have the right skills to navigate the internet. Many homes in the UK simply do not have a PC at home (current estimates suggest just under 40%). Worse still, there are many UK homes that do have a PC connected to the internet, but this is only being used by the younger generations in the household who have the appropriate skills.
All public sector organisations now provide some form of web service - and these are increasingly sophisticated. However, there is clearly a significant part of the population who will never engage with these online services. It is also fair to say that they often represent those in our communities who are most in need of access to public services.
Only six in ten still have internet access; penetration is slowing down:
| | All | 15-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ |
|---|
| | % | % | % | % | % | % | % |
|---|
| All | 62(+2) | 74(+1) | 71(+1) | 78(+4) | 72(+2) | 59(+5) | 24(+1) |
|---|
| AB | 79(+1) | 89(-4) | 88(-4) | 93(+3) | 91(+4) | 80(+2) | 42(+0) |
|---|
| C1 | 73(+3) | 85(+1) | 85(+1) | 86(+2) | 81(+3) | 70(+9) | 27(+1) |
|---|
| C2 | 58(+3) | 74(+4) | 65(+2) | 74(+5) | 67(+5) | 44(+2) | 18(+2) |
|---|
| DE | 37(+1) | 55(-1) | 45(+4) | 52(+7) | 38(+8) | 29(+1) | 8(+1) |
|---|
% percentage with internet access at home or at work, 4th quarter 2006
Base: c. 10,000 GB adults 15+, October-December 2006, (compared to c. 12,000 GB adults 15+, January-March 2005)
Source: Ipsos MORI Monthly Technology Tracker
So how can we encourage these people to self serve? The answer comes from having a channel strategy that embraces all mainstream forms of technology over which a range of services can be provided 24x7. Digital television and mobile are two of these channels. Mobile is already all pervasive and digital TV is not far behind, with the digital switchover process already begun in Whitehaven (Oct 2007), the importance of the television as a channel for service delivery is increasing.
"Technology and the Internet are now woven into the fabric of our society. However, we cannot ignore the fact that those who are socially excluded are much less likely to have access to and benefit from technology."
"Digital inclusion aims to create a fair society and bring social and economic benefits to individuals, communities and the economy as a whole. It is the links between social and technological disadvantage that makes digital inclusion a priority today."
"By all working together, we can make a difference to our 17 million citizens currently excluded from the digital world."
Paul Murphy, Minister for Digital Inclusion, Oct 2008
"Most of the folks that government policy is designed to help can't be via the Internet, as they're not on the net, and have no intention to be, three in four of the elderly, and nine in ten of those living on state benefits, in the DE social class who are 65 or older."
IPSOS MORI
"For some in the UK technology is an entirely alien world, excluded for a variety of reasons - but primarily that they either don’t see the benefits or they have neither the access, nor the skills to use it. Of concern are the strong links between social disadvantage and lack of engagement with technology. The very people that government needs to support most are the least likely to be using and benefiting from ICT. As a result - digital exclusion risks reinforcing social exclusion.
"Despite the barriers this is a good time for local government to start using new and innovative ICT applications and processes for meeting service delivery targets and to add a digital dimension to many of the place shaping and social cohesion issues that form part of the National Indicator targets."
'Delivering Digital Inclusion: An Action Plan', October 2008
This paper lists many of the issues that add to and influence digital exclusion and amongst the solutions and ideas they espouse the appointing of Digital Inclusion Advisors from November 2008, to advise and assist LA’s and LSP’s in meeting their 198 NIs through the use of a Digital Inclusion ‘Tool Kit’, is a proactive one for local authorities to tackle this very real problem.
By recognising and addressing digital inclusion the DCLG summarises that benefits are numerous from local and regional economic prosperity to education, improving the quality of civic life, contributing to service transformation and improving individual lives through greater choice in the short, medium and long term.
The provision of services via DiTV and mobile is one way that local authorities can begin to tackle the digital divide due to the pervasiveness of mobile phones and the increasing ownership and the demographic thereof of DITV watching and use.
Increasingly local authorities are being tasked with considering their carbon footprint and reducing their emissions. Providing services via interactive TV can lead to a reduction in carbon emissions if used and marketed effectively:
- When authorities promote their services effectively there is a direct reduction in people using other channels, this can lead to fewer leaflets/forms/brochures needing to be printed and the related cost saving financially and environmentally
- Citizens will be upgrading their TVs and or adding boxes due to the digital switchover any way so the hardware requirements will not increase any further than already expected.
- Savings are frequently made on not having to travel to the Jobcentre or the council offices to undertake a job search or request a service. Many have cited the need not to travel and the relevant cost as a massive benefit to them, particularly as many viewers are low or non-waged, this in turn leads to less emissions by buses and other vehicles.
