Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the launch of the all-new app-based Apple TV, “The future of TV is apps.” We couldn’t agree more. To date, 56 million pay-TV provider apps have been downloaded onto iOS and Android devices alone, and there are an estimated 460 million IP enabled devices currently in the marketplace that support pay-TV apps. Silicon Valley and television viewers love TV on apps because they’re easy to use, easy to improve, and easy to authenticate. And anyone who regularly watches TV via an app knows they get better every day.
Which is why it’s so puzzling that there continues to be a debate in tech policy circles about whether we need a new tech mandate to ensure that consumers can enjoy TV content on retail devices. We’re in the midst of a TV technology Renaissance. Tablets, smartphones, Smart TVs, and OTT devices like Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV are all re-defining the mobility and accessibility of TV content. These devices are revolutionizing entertainment as consumers can access content via pay TV and other video apps, and the pace of innovation keeps accelerating.
In a recent letter, eight Senators called for a FCC rulemaking to “ensure that consumers can use the set-top boxes of their choice.” Consumers have those choices today. They can get their content on retail set top boxes like TiVo and Roku, as well as via apps on smartphones, tablets, and other connected devices that don’t involve a set-top box at all. We’re all walking around with enough technology in our pockets to watch TV. Why do we need the government to design new set-top boxes?
This type of set-top box mandate, known as the AllVid solution, was proposed by a small set of companies, including a few Internet giants, and was included in the DSTAC report delivered to the FCC in August. The approach, which was not endorsed by the DSTAC, would require customers to lease a new gateway device from the pay TV provider on top of the preferred retail device used to access content. So the required gateway device wouldn’t even replace the need for a set-top box. This solution would cost consumers more money by forcing them to lease this gateway device which would also add to their energy bill. On the other hand, apps save the consumer set-top box charges since content can be received directly on the consumer’s smartphone, tablet, or other preferred screen without the need for a set-top box, and apps have the added benefit of consuming no additional energy.
The DSTAC Report was supposed to address software-based security solutions that support the retail availability of devices used to access pay TV services. Apps based approaches are already achieving this goal today and offer a proven, consumer-embraced model for furthering these goals in the future.
So we ask again, why impose a tech mandate on this thriving marketplace? Why put consumers in a position to have to lease a new AllVid box when they already own smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs with apps that let them watch TV? The choice of devices and streaming services we have today are delivering great content to millions of homes on the devices they choose, not through devices designed and dictated by the government.
NCTA has submitted reply comments to the FCC citing these and other realities and detailing the potential for an ever-growing app marketplace. You can read those comments here. Apps are the present and future of TV. An AllVid solution would be a giant step backwards, interfering with the apps we’ve come to rely on and the entertainment we love.
This blog also appeared in CTAM SmartBrief.