The iTV Doctor Is In!: Going Through Canoe

Dear iTV Doctor:

I just came back from the CTAM conference in Denver. It was terrific to have interactive television the topic of so many panels and discussions--that seems to be a real breakthrough. But after digesting all that information, I'm confused. We have seen tremendous progress in EBIF deployments and EBIF application development over the past 18 months, but some of the announcements suggested EBIF might be slowing down because of the expanding role of Canoe. Can you clarify?

Just Wanna Know Wassup

Dear Wassup:
 
I certainly understand your consternation. I attended a couple of CTAM sessions where panelists were describing Comcast's 2010 plans for interactive television. They described three separate paths:

• Guide extensions for more rapid development and deployment of critical navigation functions.
• Home-grown widgets (things like weather, sports, news, etc.).
• And something important for programmers: a "cleaning of the pipes" to clear the path for programmers to distribute their EBIF data packets from the programming origination to the cable headend to the set-top box.

But when those panelists clicked the next slide with the "Canoe" overlay on the network section of the previous slide, there was an audible gasp from the crowd. The direction was clear: if you are a programmer who wants to work with the six Canoe Ventures Partners, go through Canoe. The appetite for "one-off" iTV applications has waned. It's a standards-based, template-driven world.

Here's my take on the role of Canoe. A central clearinghouse/coordination organization for EBIF-based interactive television is an idea that has long been hoped-for. It will finally allow programming networks to benefit from the efficiency and scale that is part of the DNA of the television business. I mean, when a studio produces a new television program, they don't have to worry about how it will play on broadcast, on cable, on satellite or on telco. It just plays. Period.

So when interactive enhancements can be baked into those programs, either at the point of production or later on, we'll finally get to the tipping point that my friends are tired of hearing me describe:

"The business won't take off until Mrs. Smith is sitting in front of her television on a Tuesday night, clicking her remote control, saying, 'Where's my stuff?' When she expects interactivity to be part of the viewing experience, we've arrived."

Anything that can help us achieve that goal works for the industry. And up to now, we've had a patchwork quilt of technology (differences between EBIF user-agents) and process (different for each operator) to deal with. It's been frustrating for content owners, advertisers and developers.

But I think Canoe will actually speed deployment of standards-based interactivity, allowing national programmers to deploy the same application across the six member MSO's. There may be an initial "hitch" while the pieces are assembled over the next few months, but the process will continue to accelerate as the EBIF footprint grows.

And the whole concept of templates facilitates that process. Don't think of templates as limiting your creative freedom; think of them as your distribution partner saying, "This is what I can do NOW." You may remember the iTV Doctor column on June 25, "Keeping iTV Costs Reasonable":

"...my suggestion is to balance cost, time and creative design. That fancy-schmancy feature that is just 'way too cool' may eat up half of your budget, eliminate half your audience and double your production schedule."

So here's The Doctor's prescription: Engage the Canoe team immediately. That will ensure your long-term success at broad cable-based deployment of iTV. But at the same time (and this won't come as a surprise to anybody who reads this column), get to the satellite and telco folks. They can deliver box-car audience numbers that will grab the attention of your advertisers, and get you instantaneous viewer engagement.

There are application developers, including (SHAMELESS PLUG!) my friends at itaas, who can provide multiplatform deployments now and through Canoe in 2010.

So if you're smart and pay attention to the iTV Roadmap (one of The Doctor's diagnostic tools), you could be in front of something north of 40,000,000 interactive homes by this time next year.

And if you want a one-on-one consultation with The iTV Doctor, ping me directly: rickhowe@aol.com

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The iTV Doctor is *Rick Howe*, who provides interactive television consulting services to programmers and advertisers. He is the recipient of a CTAM Tami Award for retention marketing and this year was nominated to Cable Pioneers. He is also the co-author of a patent for the use of multiscreen mosaics in EPG's. Endorsed by top cable and satellite distributors, "Dr" Howe still makes house calls, and the first visit is always free. His services include product development, distribution strategy and the development of low-cost interactive applications for rapid deployment across all platforms. Have a question for the iTV Doctor? Email him at *itvdoctor@itvt.com