Where is TV heading? This is a question to which there is presently no certain answer. The upheavals caused by digitalization, and particularly by the Internet, are so far-reaching, and make so many scenarios for the future possible, that no serious forecasting ­effort can be made. At the same time certain trends are visible which can be supported by more-or-less objective criteria. This article is intended as a contribution to the discussion and will investigate how the apparently competing platforms IP TV and Web TV are going to color the TV landscape of the future.

The Internet has a new area of activity. It’s called television. Just one year after its official launch the video web site ‚YouTube’ registers more than 100 million accesses to its video clips per day. This success has already attracted content providers and programmers from the traditional television industry. They are now using this new platform to make their television content available to web users via their PCs. And web video will evolve into web TV, where web TV is the provision of TV-like program content transmitted via a DSL access network to the public Internet.




At the same time the Internet is taking on television from another angle. The subject here is IP TV – which means that the normal TV programs, which were previously broadcast using antennas, cable or satellite, now reach the screen via Internet/DSL. In order to do this telcos have invested large amounts in the establishment of the necessary technical infrastructure. Internet-based, but still closed, distribution platforms have been set up which are controlled by the telcos and which have been marketed with varying degrees of commercial success to date.




It is difficult to access IP TV for less than 30 Euro per month. In Germany the prices are still significantly higher. Web TV on the other hand is generally free of charge and numerous producers, including Microsoft and Apple, supply the hardware and software needed for reception of web TV on both television sets and PCs.




That this will result in competition for IP TV seems natural. If similar services are offered over alternative channels at lower prices than the expensive IP TV platforms, then the latter are in danger of just being bypassed. But does this mean the end of IP TV? Have the telecommunications companies made a serious investment mistake? What are the consequences for the different market players?
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