OTT is struggling as a third party, but IPTV is taking a backseat

If television is a man, then analog television, cable television, and digital television are all his wives who have been formally married and have been recognized by the family. There are various interests involved. 14 years ago, television and the Internet had a mutual affection, but they were not destined to be together. It was not until 10 years ago that television met IPTV, which was somewhat similar to the Internet, and finally got together despite many obstacles. After ten years of perseverance, IPTV also gained the tacit approval of the "parents" of television and lived in peace with digital television. However, five years ago, the Internet "studied abroad" and came back with a lot of names - smart, cloud, OTT, etc. Television and the Internet began to have a love-hate relationship again.

Although digital TV and IPTV have their own family support and are recognized by parents, their status is temporarily stable. However, OTT is becoming more and more popular and is about to overwhelm them. Finally, it annoyed the "parents" and they took action to regulate it.

The road of OTT is getting more and more bumpy.

Since 2013, the OTT TV market has grown rapidly, and DVB+OTT, IPTV+OTT, etc. have become the most popular additions. However, in the great prosperity of OTT, there is always an uncertain factor - policy. Now, with the intervention of policies, the road of OTT has become more and more bumpy.

SARFT - continuous action

Licensees - Continuing Rectification

APP——Counterattack

From the closure letter in late June to the interviews with the seven major licensees in mid-July and the APPTV version purification campaign in August, the sword of Damocles hanging over OTT is exerting its power. The recent measures of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television are mainly to further implement the effectiveness of the rectification, starting from the original interviews to the substantive rectification of business and other violations. The relevant provisions in Document No. 181 ( the full text of Document No. 181 on Internet TV ) are the basis for this rectification, and the focus of the rectification will be on APP, EPG and operators .

The once very happy OTT box industry has suffered a fatal blow, especially the rectification of APP, which directly pushed the copycat boxes into the abyss. There are many frightening and difficult to distinguish true and false reports about the consequences of the rectification, such as "LeTV was trapped in the most stringent rectification of OTT and fell to the limit, with a drop of nearly 30% this month" and "Xiaomi was restricted in shipments", etc. The most shocking statement is "offline channels collapsed, and set-top box sales fell by 90%". Although I have reservations about such exaggerated data, it is an indisputable fact that the OTT field is hovering in a low pressure. Moreover, according to Taobao data obtained by Streaming Media Network, the online sales of OTT boxes in July decreased by 10% month-on-month, and the top ten brands decreased by 16% month-on-month. This is July before the APP rectification took effect. The situation in August may be even less optimistic!

The road of OTT is getting more and more bumpy, and the Internet and TV seem to be drifting further and further apart. So, is IPTV, which has more than 30 million users, is allowed to broadcast live, and is backed by operator networks, the right path?!

IPTV is making steady progress

The theme of the 2014 Telecommunication and Information Society Day determined by the ITU is: Broadband promotes sustainable development. The State Council issued the implementation plan of the "Broadband China" strategy in August 2013, which means that the broadband strategy has been upgraded from a departmental action to a national strategy, and broadband has become a national strategic public infrastructure. Miao Wei, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, said at the teleconference on the mobilization and deployment of the Broadband China 2014 Special Action on March 21 that in 2013, the number of households covered by fiber-to-the-home in my country increased by 72 million per year, reaching 167 million households; this year, my country will add 30 million households covered by fiber-to-the-home.

What is the best tool for consuming bandwidth? Video! High-definition video! As the broadband China strategy continues to advance, as fiber-to-the-home covers 200 million households in China, and as 10M, 20M, and 50M bandwidths gradually become standard, operators will surely be committed to allowing users to consume bandwidth and generate value. And IPTV is exactly what operators have gained after 10 years of hard work!

On March 3, the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China announced the economic operation of my country's communications industry in January 2014. The data showed that as of January 2014, the number of IPTV users nationwide reached nearly 30 million. The top ten provinces have basically exceeded the scale of one million users, among which Jiangsu, Guangdong and Zhejiang have more than 3 million IPTV users. When I traveled to Jiangsu and Zhejiang in May, all the hotels I stayed in provided IPTV, and the penetration rate is quite scary. In 2014, Sichuan, the fourth place, emerged suddenly. As of August, the number of ITV users exceeded 3.1 million, an increase of 1.02 million households in just 7 months. In addition, Sichuan Telecom's goal is to reach 4.5 million households by the end of 2014. By then, Sichuan is expected to become the second largest province for IPTV. In addition, the number of IPTV users in Guangdong, Hunan and other provinces has been growing steadily. Even Hebei, which was previously unknown, has more than 200,000 IPTV users.

The business model is built on the user base. Currently, there are three main models on the large screen TV in China. One is DVB. According to statistics from Granville Research, as of the first quarter of 2014, there were more than 17 million cable HD interactive digital TV users in my country. One is IPTV. According to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the number of users in January 2014 was nearly 30 million. Another is OTT. Due to price wars, rapid product iterations and flashing, data statistics are difficult. Each company does not recognize each other's statistics. Previously, it was reported that a licensee was attacked for announcing the number of users and market share.

In a simple comparison, IPTV's advantages are immediately apparent - 30 million users, network security and billing support from operators, mature business model and value-added service development, and live broadcast and playback allowed by policies. IPTV has a good opportunity to take advantage of the situation and make a comeback! Moreover, after all, it is also in a free love relationship with TV. While OTT is still scrambling for the position of mistress, IPTV is still calmly conquering the city, and Sichuan is the best example.

These days, I see that the content of OTT boxes is getting less and less. I also see that Beijing Unicom is doing an event, pre-depositing 240 yuan to use IPTV for free for two years. I have the above feelings!

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.