More Brands are tuned in but the Future is Still Fuzzy

Here at First Internet, we watch trends in web design and online with an almost obsessive interest; we – along with the rest of the online world – were excited by the meteoric rise of social media and we waited with baited breath for news of Google’s ‘next big thing’. Therefore, the fact that online television has – as yet – failed to make a significant impact on the world has not escaped us, but why?

With BT cashing in with their i-player service and ITV and Channel 4 launching similar propositions, internet protocol television (IPTV) is one of the sector’s hottest topics. Yet, paradoxically, it is also perhaps one of the least understood and under-used. While the UK was ahead of the game, launching its first IPTV service way back in 2003, its growth has been at best marginal and at worse stunted.

One of the main reasons for this is that the UK’s TV industry were not sure about what opportunities IPTV offered to advertisers and many questions were raised about how appropriate traditional advertising models would be in this new medium.

However, while there remains – for the moment at least – a mainstream audience for whom any form of advertising is an unwanted invasion, there is still a wealth of opportunity in IPTV ,as any advertiser who is willing to be creative in the medium will see.