Lovellette Brooks, Special Projects Editor
Emilio Rubio, Production and New Business chief executive, HBO LAG.
Sunrise, Florida:
Redefining the roll of television through increased use of technology was the central theme at the the HBO Latin American GroupSM Tech Trends Conference held at the Hotel Sheraton Suites on Thursday August 16.
Lead provider of cable and satellite programming services in Latin America, HBO Latin America GroupSM , which was recently launched in the Caribbean, zeroed in on initiatives aimed at revolutionising the way people watch television.
Complete digitisation of the industry including digital television (DTV), the availability of video on demand (VOD) and DVD on demand; the advent of high-definition television (HDTV); the increasing use of mobile television and the various multimedia, wireless devices available, were among the new tendencies presented and discussed.
Watching television from a phone
"The possibility of watching television from a telephone or a PDA is a worldwide tendency that will arrive in the region from the hand of digitisation of content transmission," said Emilio Rubio, president of production and new business of HBO Latin America GroupSM.
Digital television is a transmission technique that replaces analogue television signals, such as is currently used in the region. Among its main benefits for users are improved image and sound quality, increase in the number of channels, and additional services on the part of cable operators.
"We believe that the digitisation of television is a key step within the technological revolution, for which reason we consider it fundamental that Latin America invest in the digitisation of its networks," he added.
In 2003, HBO Latin America GroupSM switched from analogue transmission and went completely digital. One of the advantages is that digital transmission allows for more channels with existing satellite capacity. In addition, said Rubio, "digital set-up boxes deter piracy, and that's one of the biggest problems we face right now, especially in the Caribbean".
He urged increased investment to digitise television in Latin America as a key step for the full incorporation of the region to the development and the technological revolution of the 21st century.
Digitisation of television signal is, however, the first step to opening up new opportunities for viewers. Video on demand and high-definition television made possible through digitisation allows personalised and customised user-generated content.
"Ten or 15 years ago, television was part of of our home; now television is part of our environment, it prevents or deters loneliness. People want control of their viewing environment, and this is what video on demand does," explained Marcelode Fuentes, who presented a profile of cable users in Latin America.
A non-linear way of viewing television, video on demand (demand TV) allows viewers to download and watch their favourite programmes anytime, anywhere. It allows the television viewer to select and look at the content he/she wants at the moment he/she want it. In addition, VOD offers the same functions as a conventional video recorder, such as the option of advancing or rewinding video content.
Largest providers
One of the largest providers of this service in the region is Sea Change. Demand TV, as explained by Yvette Kanouff, chief strategy officer for Sea Change, "is everything on demand." The "demand platform includes education on demand, movies on demand, news on demand, all available through Pay Per View or 'buy'.
The transfer from analogue to digital also allows for the use of high-definition television, where images on screen have double the resolution of those transmitted via analogue signal.
"High-definition television will stop being an exclusive domain of the developed world, since, with the progressive digitisation of the transmission, television viewers will be able to make use of the HDTV functionality of their television sets," said Rubio.
lovellette.brooks@gleanerjm.com
