[itvt] ITV Interview: Jeff Berenson, VP of Integration and Deployment, Vidiom Systems

Last fall, OCAP specialist, Vidiom Systems (note: the company, which was acquired last year by ADB Holdings, designed and developed an OCAP stack for OCAP Development, LLC, the joint venture between Comcast Cable and Time Warner Cable, and is also licensed to distribute that software), set up an Integration and Deployment Group to assist companies in the deployment of OCAP, ETV/EBIF, and other interactive TV technologies. The executive who heads up the new group, Jeff Berenson, recently spoke to [itvt]'s Tracy Swedlow about the testing and integration work it is doing; about developments we should expect to see in the OCAP space over the next two years; about cable operators' efforts to upgrade both their frontend and backend systems in anticipation of OCAP; about the challenges involved in testing, integrating and deploying OCAP-based products and services; about the kinds of interactive TV applications cable operators are most interested in launching; about efforts to encourage Java programmers to develop for OCAP; and more.

[itvt]: Jeff, you were hired last fall to head up Vidiom's new Integration and Deployment group. Could you tell us a little about the group and about why you were hired to lead it?

Berenson: The Integration and Deployment group is really a natural extension for us. At the same time, it is a significant expansion of our services--though it doesn't necessarily mean that the company is changing its focus from its core OCAP specification and engineering work. It's a new line of business that we're opening up--and I was hired to lead that effort. My past experience includes working in the professional services organizations of OpenTV, BearingPoint and Interactive Broadband Consulting, so I have a lot of experience in integrating and deploying systems in cable, satellite and IPTV environments.

[itvt]: How, if at all, is the formation of the new group related to the software development work Vidiom has been doing for OCAP Development, LLC?

Berenson: Vidiom's move into integration and deployment is a natural progression in the life cycle of the software, and our knowledge of the software makes us a good company to partner with. But the move has more to do with the stage at which the cable industry in general finds itself right now. OCAP is now around seven years old. But for the first few of those years, it was purely in the specification phase. As you know, it came about because everyone believed we needed to move away from proprietary systems to an open standard for interactive TV. CableLabs was charged with creating that open standard, and Vidiom was one of several vendors that provided leadership in that area--i.e. in the creation of this standard for open cable, which eventually became OCAP.

After the initial technical definition process was completed, you ended up with a compilation of specifications. Then, as you know, OCAP Development, LLC--known as the ODL--was formed by Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which contracted Vidiom to perform the engineering work needed to create middleware based on these OCAP specifications. The work that we did for the ODL, as well as work done by several other companies that have also been building to the OCAP specifications, have created several OCAP stacks for our industry. So what's really changed in the last year is that the OCAP space has moved from an engineering/specification environment to a deployment environment. Many of the operators--both because the OCAP middleware stacks have now been developed and for various other reasons--are now saying, "We've got to take this from the laboratory and start deploying it in the field."

There have really been two catalysts for this. One was the mandate by the FCC for separable security. Of course, the FCC didn't mandate OCAP; but OCAP just happens to be one of the dominant technologies that will allow the cable industry to comply with this separable security mandate. In the FCC requirements, there is a set of rules that require the cable companies to deploy technology that enables set-top boxes and other digital cable-ready devices to run on different cable networks. Another item in the requirements is to make set-top boxes available through the retail channel. The theory behind this is to allow the consumer to purchase their devices at the retail level and take those devices with them when they move, regardless of cable operator. To support these requirements, the cable operators chose the CableCARD technology, which is a removable security card, similar to--though not the same size and shape as--a PCMCIA PC card. OCAP has inherent support for this technology and other two-way communications capabilities that make it an ideal choice for meeting the FCC requirements and supporting future interactive television capabilities.

The second catalyst is just as important or more important. It is that OCAP really holds the promise of being able to provide a uniform application layer, so that a whole host of interactive services can be delivered across the cable systems in the US. And I think it's that latter promise, along with the competition from satellite, telcos and Internet TV, that's really moved the cable operators into deployment mode.

[itvt]: Now Vidiom's new Integration and Deployment group offers a suite of testing services. Your corporate materials seem to claim that you are the only company in the world currently offering these services for OCAP.

Berenson: There are other companies that offer various testing components, so to speak, but Vidiom's really the only one that offers what I would call a full range of testing services: we don't just enable you to test whether your stack meets the OCAP specifications; we also provide architecture-testing services both to MSO's and other vendors. For example, our lab services include systems to test out specific components, software and hardware testing tools, playout systems, and technical assistance at all levels including application and device debugging assistance. Now that the OCAP world is moving from engineering/development mode to deployment mode, testing is about testing an application on an OCAP stack, on a device, on a network, in a full-blown systems environment. So, while some testing can be automated and some tests are still what you could call laboratory exercises, a lot of testing now requires you to recreate real-world deployment scenarios: it has to be carried out in a configuration that is identical to the actual deployment environment.

You often hear the term, "profiles," used, when it comes to networks. All networks have their variances: what an operator's network looks like, say, in New England can be very different from what the network looks like in Florida or in California. So being able to set up profiles in your testing, that mimic the variations you find within an operator's network--in other words, understanding the specific ways in which all the elements of particular networks and sub-networks plug together--is one of Vidiom's key strengths. I like to call it our ability to "dial up a profile"--though, as we all know, it is never that simple.

Another thing that's important when you're testing OCAP compliance, is that you need to be able plug in a lot of other things besides just the standard video playout. You have to understand the data network too. That's a big shift for the industry. You have to understand how applications can interplay with the EPG, with the VOD platform, with internal and external applications servers, and so forth. And being able to pull all of those pieces together in an operational environment is where I see the strength of Vidiom lying--and specifically the strength of the Integration and Deployment group.

[itvt]: How have you designed your testing facilities so as to enable your clients to "dial up" profiles that replicate the various operators' diverse networks? What are the various technologies and set-ups that enable you to do this?

Berenson: Vidiom's test facilities include access to our labs via secure rooms and drops from our headends. This environment enables operators, vendors, software developers, etc. to utilize our facilities in a secure manner. We are able to configure headend systems with specific parameter changes that enable--or disable--a feature or function that they are looking to test: for example, performance characteristics, channel changing across transport streams, remote DVR programming, etc. We also provide access to our vCert OCAP testing tools which enable OCAP component suppliers to test their devices in a conformance test packaged system. This allows them to have an environment where they can either run through a full test suite and see the overall results, or run individual tests with their device in debug mode to see the details on how every call is handled.

Along with the systems and tools, we can supply our expertise--whether it be in applications development and debugging, OCAP middleware integration, or QA architecture and processes. In the long run, I believe our clients will benefit from using our labs by not only speeding up their product's time-to-market but by ensuring that that product is more robust.

[itvt]: What products are you testing for OCAP compliance? You've tested an OCAP set-top box running on Broadcom chips, as I recall, correct?

Berenson: Yes, we've tested that development platform, as well as many other set-top boxes, for OCAP compliance against the two major headend vendors in the US. And we're not just testing set-top boxes: we're starting to test other devices, too--for example, TV sets, or at least the platforms on which TV sets are based. A lot of our clients bring us a circuit board and say, "Here. This is a TV set. Test this." Some time later, it will show up at CES, with the nice skins on it and looking great. But when we test these platforms, often they're not the finished product--which demonstrates how early on in a device's development cycle we get involved.

The goal of our service is to enable CE manufacturers to go through a CableLabs certification wave and be very, very confident that they're going to pass that certification wave. They can be confident, because they've already gone through not just the equivalent of the CableLabs tests, but a whole host of other tests that are specific to their hardware and that are above and beyond CableLabs' testing requirements. You see, what happens quite a lot is that we'll develop a test for a feature that might not be directly OCAP-related, but that the vendor naturally wants tested within the overall scope of the suite of tests we conduct for them.

[itvt]: What kinds of devices do you find yourselves testing more frequently these days--set-top boxes or integrated digital TV sets? And what kinds of CE manufacturers are using your services?

Berenson: It's actually a fairly broad mix, and I really don't know what the various percentages are. But we are seeing a lot of consumer electronics manufacturers whose names you won't see on the device--so companies that focus purely on the manufacturing--that are now entering this market. It's not like it was in the past, where, in order to deploy in the US in any kind of volume, you essentially had to be a Motorola or Scientific-Atlanta box. OCAP holds out this promise of opening the market to other players. The promise of 2008 and beyond is that, yes, a set-top box manufacturer can have a private-label box on a shelf in a retail store that the consumer can go out and buy. That is the ultimate goal. When these kinds of products actually show up in the retail market is yet to be determined. But there's a lot of engineering and testing activity going on in anticipation of this scenario, and Vidiom, naturally, is very much involved in this.

[itvt]: Based on the work you've been doing in your group, would you be willing to give us a rough timeline of how you see the deployment of OCAP progressing over the next few months and years? Could you guesstimate when we'll see commercial OCAP deployments, other than these scattered deployments by Time Warner Cable and other early adopters?

Berenson: It will be pretty much the way things are traditionally rolled out in the cable industry. The first thing you'll see is trials with friendlies and other kinds of small trials that will allow all the MSO's to really get comfortable with this new technology they're p*ushing to the field; and that will also enable them to set the expectations for their divisions on the questions of how you do integration and how you manage day-to-day operations for this new technology.

So 2007 is going to be the year for the basics. It will be about getting the platforms out there, and making sure that they're stable and that the basic things work--so about ensuring that the boxes stay up, and you can change channels, access VOD, and so forth.

I think that the next big uptick in deployments--and that's not to say 2007 is going to be slow, by any stretch of the imagination--but the next really major uptick in deployments is going to be in the 2008 timeframe. I believe the industry will try to get as many OCAP boxes as they can into the market--including through retail--so that they can start deploying advanced services. So, to summarize, I think in 2007 you'll see OCAP widely trialed in the field, with deployments that could basically be summed up as: "Get the box in there, provide a good interactive guide whether OCAP-based or not, make sure channel-change works, and that the platform is stable." And in 2008, you're going to see a much broader range of deployments across the entire infrastructure of the cable systems--so with many of the tier-one and some of the tier-two systems.

You'll also start to see a few applications widely deployed in 2008. I believe that one of the more interesting things that's happening is that a lot of people are touting caller-ID applications as one of the must-haves, along with local weather, local news, local sports and a few other kinds of apps--though which apps are deployed will, of course, depend on what the individual MSO considers a priority. What's interesting about these apps is that they exemplify a number of longer-term issues that the industry itself is dealing with, today--and that I'm definitely seeing in my area of the business. That's because these apps have to be able to talk to the billing system, the provisioning system, the customer-care system, and so on--and one of the important things that Vidiom therefore brings to the table is the integration skills that are necessary in order to roll them out.

Now this whole Service Delivery Platform infrastructure is something that the cable industry is looking to modify and upgrade this year, along with their set-top box environment. There's kind of a dual approach going on here: many operators have to upgrade their backend infrastructure at the same time as they're starting to p*ush these new OCAP boxes and applications into the field. And all this, of course, is dependent on effective testing. Many scenarios--or "use cases" as we like to call them--have been tested in labs, but now it's time to test them in real-world environments that replicate deployment in the field. And this, of course, is the kind of testing that our Integration and Deployment group, in conjunction with the Vidiom Test Labs, provides.

Anybody who has done deployments will tell you that you can test all you want in the lab, but that all manner of unexpected things can happen in the field, and that you've got to test for these in a very methodical way. There are many forms of testing, from strict API-level testing (which is typically automated), to use case testing (which tests particular scenarios being executed through the system). There is integration testing, which involves a series of specific tests--performed both in an automated and manual fashion--where you test out different components as they are integrated, or re-integrated, in the system. This kind of testing tends to be for upgrade processes, where you may be attempting to determine how a new version of VOD software interacts with all the other components, or where you have a new version of an EPG, and want to test that linear, VOD, and potentially DVR content can be discovered by and made available to the viewer. Then there is what is known as "destructive testing," where you inject errors and exceptions into the system to make sure that your operations processes quickly identify the problem and that the systems can handle the error conditions while continuing to offer service. This type of testing is usually on the level of taking a critical server offline in the middle of an operation. My personal favorite is walking up to the back of the system and pulling out the Ethernet cable. You get some pretty interesting error conditions! So, anyway, that's where our expertise is: in understanding all the components, integrating them together, and testing them. And then being able to duplicate that testing process at many, many different headends. There are hundreds of headends in the US, and they all will have to go through an integration and testing process at some point in the not-too-distant future.

[itvt]: Could you talk a little more about the cable operators' efforts to upgrade and modify their backoffice systems in anticipation of OCAP?

Berenson: I think the industry realizes that the backoffice piece is just as important as the frontend--the set-top box or the integrated digital TV set--in the long-run. So we're seeing a number of customers, who have very large backoffice system environments, looking to put in a Service Delivery Platform that can be either homegrown or off-the-shelf. What this enables is that, instead of interconnecting to every single one of the BSS systems, you essentially talk to what I like to call the "message bus." It has various services on it--such as parental control services, customer care, billing, and provisioning--and this really gives you a lot of flexibility.

In some cases, operators are able to prepare their backoffice for OCAP simply by doing swap-outs for technology that's now well-established in the field. But remember that most of the cable operators have been around for a long time and so their BSS systems are very entrenched. Most of the time it's not a simple matter of: "We're going to take out this old technology and put in a new technology." It's a matter of: "We're going to have to put in an integration point, a Service Delivery Platform." And then they have to decide whether to build it or buy it.

I should also point out that the telcos anticipated all this as long as five or six years ago, when they started talking about IPTV. They've spent millions revamping their infrastructure, so that they can provide sophisticated, converged, interactive TV services. One of the things you frequently hear the IPTV community boast about is their ability to take interactive TV applications from conception to launch in months or even weeks. Without OCAP, the timeline for cable to do this is much longer. So, obviously, the cable operators are very eager to shorten that timeline.

[itvt]: For our less technically minded readers, could you explain the concept of a Service Delivery Platform that you were just referring to?

Berenson: The concept of a Service Delivery Platform has been around for many years, but has mainly been implemented via a number of proprietary technologies. The idea behind the SDP is that each of the BSS systems communicates through the SDP to all the other BSS systems. This way, the only interface from, say, the provisioning system to the customer care system is via the SDP. All interfaces and messages transmitted between the two systems occur across this bus. This enables upgrades of each of the individual components without major rewrites of the interface of each system with every other system.

The key to the SDP architecture is really the "workflow" component of the SDP. This is the component that essentially defines what each step in the process is to execute on a service request (or event). For example, if a marketing group comes up with a package of VOD assets, a pay-per-view event, associated wireless content, and a gift card to the local sports shop, the provisioning system, in conjunction with the workflow system, can break these down into the individual components and send--or receive--the appropriate messages for authorizing, billing, supporting, and providing the necessary customer-care services. This can be conceived, modeled, tested, and deployed in very short order.

Consequently, an SDP can act on events such as network outages. For example, if a fiber-optic line is broken due to a downed utility pole, the events being triggered from the Operational Support Systems can be propagated into the appropriate customer-care, billing, and other administrative services. This could even include dial-out call center activities that would notify consumers on their wireless phones of the outage and the expected repair time.

[itvt]: Now, as you know, it's taken a very long time to roll out OCAP--much longer than, I think, many of us anticipated…

Berenson: We've been talking about OCAP in this industry for at least seven years now. But now, I believe, competitive pressures have become a major factor in accelerating the deployment of OCAP. I believe most operators are now saying, "We should p*ush this new technology because, in addition to making it easier for us to comply with the separable security mandate, it gives us a common platform for deploying applications, and also allows us to tap into the large community of Java programmers when it comes to developing those applications."

That being said, one of the challenges for the industry--and this, of course, is a challenge that our Integration and Deployment group is trying to meet--is to create an ecosystem for OCAP application developers, so that they can develop, integrate and test their applications in an environment that replicates the deployment environment. If you're an application developer and you're going to build, say, a polling application that will allow viewers to choose who's going to get voted off the latest "Survivor," you want to have an ecosystem where you can write the application and be assured that it's going to run across a whole host of OCAP-enabled devices, on a whole host of OCAP-enabled networks. After all, that is the ultimate goal of OCAP.

[itvt]: So you don't believe that the cable industry--as some more cynical observers have suggested--is supporting OCAP simply as a stop-gap measure in order to fulfill their obligations under the separable security mandate…

Berenson: I've heard that, too. But I think that ultimately the cable industry does realize that OCAP offers them the promise of an open platform that will enable them to choose customer premises devices from multiple manufacturers, and select components for their networks from a much larger set of vendors--which I believe is paramount to them. OCAP will help solve the separable security mandate, but I don't believe that the larger MSO's view this as being the primary reason for OCAP. It's just one of the benefits that OCAP provides for them.

[itvt]: Could you talk more specifically about some of the services your group is currently providing?

Berenson: Here's a service we offer to operators that I believe we excel at and that our clients find highly valuable: we take literally all the systems that need to be upgraded within a headend--I'm not talking about classic Motorola DAC and Scientific-Atlanta DNCS components, but the other servers that will provide OCAP services and applications--and we stage them in the lab, test them out, and make sure they all work. Then we take all this equipment out to a headend, install it, and make sure it works in that headend. We also take a lot of care to document everything, and to train the local headend technicians on what the new technologies and services are, how they work, how you debug them, and how you fix them when they break. Procedure development and the associated documentation is really one of the key components to a smooth deployment.

So the process is very well thought out, well documented, and, to some extent, repetitive--though, of course, each headend has its own flavor. Our ability to package up all these services in advance of deployment--making sure everything is all tested out both in the lab environment and the field, and making sure the day-to-day operations personnel know how to deal with all this new technology--this is something that I think is of great interest to the operator community.

We also have a number of clients that are technology vendors. As you might expect, vendors are always very, very familiar with their own particular piece of technology, but they aren't necessarily familiar with all the surrounding things that have to come together to make their technology work. So we serve as the prime integrator for them, taking on the responsibility of getting all the other components in a network--both managerial and technological--to work together, so that their products sing. And we also provide them with laboratory services, where they can bring in their technology and test it against a whole host of components that they might not otherwise have access to.

[itvt]: Can you talk about some of the challenges that you're seeing in the testing, integration and deployment work you've been doing for operators and vendors looking to implement OCAP?

Berenson: Well, I think that one of the things that we're seeing with testing and integration is that there are a lot more pieces to the puzzle than many people realize. The more complex the applications are in the set-top box, the more backoffice services they need to touch upon. That's probably the largest stumbling block that people are coming across. In a lot of cases, you can either connect up to or simulate a backoffice service. Though in other cases, you're going to need to host that service. Being able to do that is a complex and time-consuming process. One area that we are seeing as a natural evolution is that our experiences in the field are teaching us what needs to be done in building out our application, developer, and testing tools. This, in turn, helps the entire industry move forward.

[itvt]: Does Vidiom sometimes have to host backoffice services on-site itself, in order to provide a real-world environment for testing an application?

Berenson: We certainly could. We haven't had to do that to date, but we definitely could. We can see that we're going to have to do this before too long, simply because the complexity of the applications is growing.

[itvt]: Could you talk more about the kinds of applications you anticipate will be deployed in the near future, based on the testing and integration work you've been doing?

Berenson: I think the first wave is going to be pretty simple applications. Things like VOD advertising, voting, polling, calling-line ID, weather and sports. There are definitely more sophisticated applications out there, but I don't think that operators are going to deploy the very complex applications--the ones that use e-wallet-type transactions and have that kind of sophistication--going out the door. These more sophisticated applications require the deployment of a Service Delivery Platform-like architecture, such as we discussed earlier. It will happen: it will just take a little longer to get out there.

Another kind of application that we see cable operators very eager to deploy in this first wave is what some people call "hyper-local" applications. These applications allow you to view the lunch menu for your kids' school, or provide you with weather reports tailored to your zipcode, or with local high school sports scores. Apps with hyper-local content are an area where cable can really shine, versus satellite operators, which really don't have granularity down to the local level. But, in general, in 2007 I believe we'll be testing applications and systems that provide fairly basic services, and 2008 will be when more robust applications--such as multiplayer gaming, etc.--come into play.

[itvt]: Now, clearly, the cable operators can afford to develop applications, and put them through the entire process of testing, integration and deployment that you offer. But one of the promises of OCAP has always been that it would allow the cable industry to tap into this vast community of Java developers that has grown up around the Web. Are you seeing any initiatives in the offing that are designed to make it easier to develop OCAP applications--some sort of OCAP developers' program or something like that?

Berenson: I'm definitely seeing some movement in that direction. Without a doubt, I believe the industry sees that it has to create an environment that encourages application developers to come to their platform. I believe the whole IPTV/Web construct environment is a competitive threat, and one thing about the Internet, which is what that environment is based on, is that pretty much anyone--even you or I--can pretty easily create applications for it. Though, of course, how sophisticated those apps would be would depend on our respective coding skills. But, nevertheless, an inherent benefit of IPTV is that developing applications for it is not that different from developing applications for the Internet.

However, when it comes to developing applications for cable, there's currently only a handful of firms that can create an application and then go through the necessary QA and integration steps needed to actually deploy that application. I think the cable industry absolutely wants to change this and the Java developer community is also interested in changing this. We've gotten a lot of requests from application developers who really want to be able to write applications for the cable space. That's why Vidiom, along with CableLabs and the NCTA, is going to be hosting an application developers' conference just prior to this year's NCTA Cable Show. It's also why we're actively working with Sun and why we participate in many Java community events. For example, we're very involved in the whole JavaOne community, trying to help people understand how to develop applications for TV. For example, at this year's JavaOne event, we'll be demonstrating our Vision Workbench OCAP application development software and applications.

[itvt]: I take it that your group is also working on testing, integrating and deploying ETV/EBIF applications?

Berenson: Absolutely. There's a lot of interest in EBIF on the part of the operator community. Many of them see EBIF as a very important interim step. The fact that it allows you to run interactive TV applications on low-end set-top boxes is a major plus for operators with deployed systems. So a lot of our customers are asking us to provide integration, testing and other services for EBIF, and we're definitely doing that. What operators seem to be most interested in initially are basic EBIF applications that enable telescoping and localized advertising.

[itvt]: Obviously, you talk to a lot of cable operators. What are your impressions of what they are thinking about the future of their business--other than, obviously, the need to implement OCAP and roll out sophisticated applications that will allow them to compete more effectively with satellite and IPTV?

Berenson: I can't speak for the operators, so I should caution that these are just my personal thoughts. I think one of the things you're starting to see a consensus on within the television industry in general is the need to make assets available in a cross-platform environment. So, for example, making VOD content available on a range of devices--on your television set, on your cell phone, or on your PC. There's a lot of interest on the part of the operators in offering this kind of integrated environment: they believe that this kind of cross-platform availability will allow them to use their expertise in content to provide a service that's not only extremely competitive with, but actually out in front of, IPTV.

I believe that, while implementing OCAP is a major part of the operators' long-term thinking, it's definitely not the only component. In general, I would say that a shift by the industry is starting to take place that sees us thinking more in terms of services and home networks than in terms of platforms. Rather than thinking in terms of VOD services vs. OCAP services vs. PC services, the industry is adopting a more integrated and global view, where, if you have the rights to subscription VOD content, then the "platform" should enable that content to be securely viewed on the device chosen by the consumer at any particular moment in time. So, for example, if my kids are watching a VOD movie and it is time to leave, I can transfer that movie--using wireless LAN or cell phone technologies--to my car's video system to continue the playout. All of this, of course, entails the use of cross-platform security systems.

Now turning back to OCAP, I think one of the promises of OCAP that the operators are keenly interested in is its ability to do targeted advertising. I know that that's a buzzword that's been heard a lot around the industry, and I know that IPTV also holds out this promise--though that's still somewhat theoretical as IPTV is still not very widely deployed. But OCAP definitely holds the promise of being able to offer Google-style targeted advertising to the consumer. So, if you and I were watching the same episode of "Studio 60," the commercials you would see and the commercials I would see and the commercials our neighbors would see would all be completely different. So, in addition to enabling interactive advertising, OCAP will enable targeted ads that are very, very specific to the individual consumer. Of course, this will open up a whole host of technological and even social issues, but OCAP is definitely an enabling platform for this capability.

OCAP can be viewed as the door to these types of services. Since it provides a very robust application programming environment which takes advantage of both data paths embedded in the video stream and the robustness of a DOCSIS two-way data channel, it enables a host of sophisticated applications. Unlike in the past, applications can use the DOCSIS two-way data path for transmitting and receiving data that is specific for this device, this program being watched, or this viewer. Though I think we should leave the discussion on "viewer identity" to another day…. As you would expect, the goal of the industry is to deploy OCAP in such a way as to minimize the pain of rolling out new systems and to allow it to support these kinds of applications and services in the near future.

[itvt]: As you know, a lot of broadcasters are now offering programming--including their most popular primetime programming--on the Internet. How worried do you think the cable operators are about what has been called "disintermediation"--i.e. about being bypassed by the broadcasters?

Berenson: I believe that cable and broadcasters need each other. There are so many consumers these days who get their television services through the cable system, that they absolutely need each other.

I think what's going on shouldn't be understood as "disintermediation," but rather in terms of demographics: we who work in the technology side of the industry tend to have a very good understanding of technologies, obviously; but these technologies have to be understood in terms of the different audiences.

Both the broadcasters and the cable operators realize their services are viewed by several demographic segments and that they need to provide offerings for all of these viewers. There's clearly a couch potato-type viewer who simply wants to sit back, turn on the TV, and have content p*ushed to him. Then there are kids and y*oung adults that are just coming out of college--people who were raised on the Internet, on iTunes, YouTube, IM, etc.--who are used to complete interactivity. And I think the broadcasters see those people as an important element of their market, and want to ensure that they cater for them. And cable likewise. In the long term, I believe we will see consumers move between technologies and viewing styles, and that there will be a place for all the different mediums.

[itvt]: CableLabs recently hailed January's Consumer Electronics Show as having represented a "significant milestone" for interactive TV. What was your impression of that show from an OCAP perspective?

Berenson: We saw a lot of companies with OCAP boxes and devices at the show. Several of these were in private demonstration areas; others were out there for the world to see. The good news is that we saw a lot more activity then there used to be.

[itvt]: Finally, is Vidiom doing any work in the IPTV space that you can talk about?

Berenson: Yes, we are doing work in the IPTV space. We are building middleware and applications, and performing testing, but we can't mention any specific clients at this time.

[itvt]: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Jeff.

Berenson: Thank you. Hope to see you at the NCTA show in May.

http://www.vidiom.com

Originally Published: February 21, 2007 in [itvt] Issue 7.19

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