Miniweb launches to help TV rival the PC in online services

A new company has been launched to help promote the uptake of networked interactive TV (iTV). Miniweb Interactive, which was created through a management buy-out of the SkyKeys/Internet Sites service, has secured a global licence for TV browser technology from BSkyB. It aims to deliver a service that brings together TV viewing, online services and interactive advertising across multiple TV distribution systems. The ultimate goal is linking eyeballs to services and keeping consumers 'on-platform', thereby enabling broadcasters to enhance and deepen their relationship with the viewer.

Miniweb is taking a content and consumer-centric approach to next-generation iTV. The company recognises that fragmentation and a lack of browser standards is a major challenge and has built an impressive ecosystem around its proposition consisting of a developer community comprised of over 1,000 registered members, payment providers, content management systems and other vendors.

Its standards-based wTVML platform enables web developers to create a TV site (an internet site designed for TV) once, publish on multiple TV platforms and allows consumer access from any set-top-box or CPE, including digital media adapters (DMA) and next-generation games consoles. Standardised through ETSI, wTVML is an XML-based content format designed to allow website operators to easily develop and deploy iTV services. Miniweb president and founder Ian Valentine worked for waptv, the company which Sky acquired to obtain the original wTVML micro-browser technology.

A poor user experience of TV sites has arguably provided the greatest barrier for consumer uptake of iTV, which Miniweb claims wTVML can also overcome through a cleaner and more intuitive UI. "Without very careful re-purposing, content services designed for the 'three foot' PC or the 'one foot' mobile environments provide a poor user experience on TV. We have designed wTVML to make sure that TV Sites are optimised in both look and feel, and the user interface has been enhanced for the '10 ft' user experience of a consumer sat on a sofa interacting with the TV," Valentine told CSI. To this end, Miniweb has simplified how TV sites are accessed and used with a remote control, for example avoiding a drop down menu approach, which does not work on the TV.

"One important example of a feature that works for both the broadcaster and the consumer is wTVML’s support for quarter screen video within the interactive application. This means that, where it is relevant and desirable, an interactive TV Site can still display the video of the ‘source channel’, so that the viewer is not lost to the channel even as he or she enters a deeper and richer interactive experience – a real advantage for both the viewer and the channel owner,” added Valentine.

Miniweb has avoided a purely broadcaster-centric approach because it is aware that for its interactive services to be a success, it needs to be compelling for the consumer and profitable for the broadcaster, platform owner and advertisers. The company argues that TV keys are easy to remember and much easier to use on TV input devices (such as the remote control) than URLs. “Our TV search service might use similar techniques to the internet but the presentation of the results and navigation are specifically designed for the TV,” said Valentine.

Miniweb believes that there will be an increasing trend to move beyond the walled garden. Although the walled garden allows a broadcaster to control the experience, ultimately it will also put a limit on the monetisation of the interactive experience. Moreover, it hopes that key factors such as greater processing power in STBs, increased take-up of broadband, and the desire of content owners and traditional broadcasters to increase the variety, power and depth of interactive applications all mean that 2008 is the year that iTV will really start to take off.

By removing the barriers to entry and reducing the cost of development, Miniweb hopes to enable new revenue generating TV business models. The company claims it can cost as little as £200 ($400) for converting a website to the TV. The technology acquired has existed within Sky for six years, but it is now applying that infrastructure to other networks, including cable, IPTV and DTT, and said it is in a number of discussions worldwide. Of course, Sky is not a bad place to start. It gives Miniweb a foothold in 8.5 million installed set-top boxes, which is more than the entire global base of IPTV subscribers.

Miniweb will replace the current SkyKeys/Internet Sites service with a new interactive TV service by the end of 2007.