Microsoft raises stakes in Web TV with launch of Mediaroom platform

It also follows announcement by TiVo that it will partner with YouTube to enable the streaming of their massive library of user generated video to the TV using a new TiVo box.

Early last year Apple announced its upgrade for its Apple TV set top box which includes the same ability to mix downloaded VOD content with streamed content from the Internet.

YouTube has been recently experimenting with High Definition (HD) formats set for PC use. YouTube also launched a white label Application Programming Interface (API) which enables publishers to embed video content using their own skin and specifications.

The API threatens the many video providers that have grown by letting publishers manipulate their players. The service enables publishers and enterprises to effectively outsource the pain of video delivery to Google’s robust video delivery infrastructure

“Our strategy with Mediaroom is to combine the power of client software and cloud-based services to greatly enhance the way consumers experience digital entertainment. We want to make it easier for consumers to find and discover great content in new ways on any screen,” said Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president for the TV, Video and Music Business at Microsoft.

The Mediaroom 2.0 television platform enables subscription TV providers to deliver more entertainment content to more types of screens, using a single cloud-based infrastructure ( a virtual internet connectivity).It is scheduled to be available for operators starting next month and can be deployed by them as their entertainment cloud, powering the delivery of a complete television service, including cloud digital video recording (DVR), on-demand features, interactive applications, and access to both operator-hosted content and externally hosted content such as Internet TV.

Also new with Mediaroom 2.0, service providers will now be able to offer their existing on-demand TV service to their entire broadband customer base using their existing set-top box inventory, thereby expanding their service footprint beyond the reach of their IPTV network.

All of this gives consumers more freedom in where and how they access their TV service, with the benefits of a familiar experience across multiple screens.

To date, Mediaroom deployments have been delivered over a fixed-line managed Quality of Service (QoS) IP network. By integrating IIS Smooth Streaming technology into Mediaroom 2.0, Microsoft enables operators to offer a premium, HD-quality video-on-demand service, with minimal buffering and fast startup times, even over IP-based networks of varying bandwidths.

Service reach

This significantly expands the service reach for operators and enables them to serve customers on fixed-line as well as wireless and, in the future, mobile broadband networks.

According to analysts Screen Digest, the top five Mediaroom customers generate on-demand average revenues per user (ARPUs) that are about three times that of the incumbent pay TV operator in their market.