Star TV in pioneer fever
With the niche channel Star Games, Paul Grau aims to conquer the entire German-speaking world
With the special-interest channel Star Games, Paul Grau wants to conquer the entire German-speaking regionBy Daniel Schifferle The special-interest channel Star Games, which focuses on interactivity, should not only help Zurich TV maker Paul Grau to gain an international presence. Grau is also convinced that he can achieve more commercial success with the games channel than with Star TV.
While others are downsizing and writing back, Grau is gripped by pioneering fever. With his Star Games project, which is scheduled to launch in late summer, he wants to break new ground in interactive television. The basic idea: viewers should be able to participate in collective video games on the screen from any location via telephone or Internet.
But the actual goal of the new channel goes far beyond the topic of videogames. The new channel is intended to fundamentally explore the possibilities of interactive services on TV. "With the same technology, interactivity can later be applied to information, entertainment and commerce content," says Grau. However, because new technologies are always first to catch on with young people, video games are the most suitable subject for developing and testing interactive TV, he says.
Grau wants to ramp up the content of Star Games "step by step," taking advantage of intensive synergies with Star TV. For example, the actual parent of the new station, the program "Multimedia" on Star TV, will also form the basic offering of Star Games - together with the program "Lifestyle," which will also be implemented one-to-one on Star Games. This already fills two program evenings. In terms of personnel, Grau is also relying on in-house production: the current four-person crew from "Multimedia" is also staffing Star Games. "Over time, we will expand this team to eight to a maximum of twelve people," he holds out the prospect. Despite the thematic focus on videogames, which is associated with very young people, Star Games wants to appeal to the age group between 15 and 34. "The videogame clientele has long since ceased to be recruited only from the kids," admits Grau.
Many years of experience with
Videogames and interactivity
The vision of an interactive TV channel is nothing new for the Star TV boss. Since launching his station around eight years ago, Grau has seen himself as a pioneer of both interactivity and
also the videogamer scene. "From the very beginning, we relied on the fully digitized studio workflow that is a prerequisite for interactive television. And we've had a multimedia track in the program since 1995 - at the same time as the launch of the Sony Playstation," explains Grau.
However, a dream cherished since the beginning - to cover the entire German-speaking area - did not come true with Star TV. "We thought we would have conquered all of Europe within three years. But nothing came of it," Grau recalls. "Star TV proved impossible to export because its content is too nationally oriented," he says today. With videogames, which are not tied to specific countries, he is convinced that he has now found a recipe that is really capable of crossing national borders.
The expansion of the reception area to the European region is also absolutely necessary. Star Games could not be financed in any other way. The reason: Today, only a vanishingly small proportion of TV households have digital reception capabilities. There are currently only 150,000 to 200,000 in Switzerland. "If we were to rely only on these, it would be comparable to the nonsensical attempt to drive across the entire desert on a single liter of gasoline," says Grau.
That's why Star Games has to target all viewers across Europe who can already receive a digital signal via satellite. At the moment, this is around two million households - just enough for the launch of the game channel. Only in a second step, if the new offering is successful, will efforts be made to launch it on the digital platforms of the cable networks in the entire German-speaking region.
Low program budget thanks to
Synergies with Star TV
The new channel is only possible thanks to low costs and full exploitation of synergy effects with Star TV. Grau won't say how much Star Games will cost, however. Just this much: "The annual budget is significantly lower than that of Star TV, which now stands at just over six million Swiss francs. The costs are to be covered from three sources: Telephone fees, which players pay when they enter their instructions via a chargeable number; secondly, via classic advertising spots; and thirdly, via sponsorship. As far as the potential revenues of Star Games are concerned, Grau is optimistic. In the medium and long term, these are much greater than those of Star TV.
Still somewhat up in the air is Star Games' exact timetable. "August 31, 2003 would be a nice date to go on the air. Because then it will be eight years to the day since Star TV was launched." However, Grau admits that this is a wishful date. The activities are only now being developed and built up. Distribution via satellite will begin before the summer vacations. But whether the necessary test runs will have been completed by then is still open at the moment.
Trial license also for SRGThe Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) has granted Star Games the license without objection as part of limited trials with new technologies. Star Games is thus granted the right to offer an interactive television program with games and interactive services via cable and/or satellite. The license comes into force on March 1, 2003, and is valid until the end of February 2006. According to Bakom, the purpose of the license is to gain experience in combining an interactive platform with various distribution platforms.
Star Games undertakes to report to Bakom after the expiry of the concession with regard to market acceptance, technical feasibility, distribution and reactions and complaints from the public.
The approval for Star Games is only the second license that Bakom has granted so far for trials with new technologies. The other was granted to SRG, which is testing terrestrial digital television DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial) during the upcoming World Ski Championships in St. Moritz. DVB-T offers an additional supply of television programs independent of satellite and cable providers. The background: In the next few years, analog reception via indoor or indoor antenna will be replaced by digital reception in Europe. (dse)
While others are downsizing and writing back, Grau is gripped by pioneering fever. With his Star Games project, which is scheduled to launch in late summer, he wants to break new ground in interactive television. The basic idea: viewers should be able to participate in collective video games on the screen from any location via telephone or Internet.
But the actual goal of the new channel goes far beyond the topic of videogames. The new channel is intended to fundamentally explore the possibilities of interactive services on TV. "With the same technology, interactivity can later be applied to information, entertainment and commerce content," says Grau. However, because new technologies are always first to catch on with young people, video games are the most suitable subject for developing and testing interactive TV, he says.
Grau wants to ramp up the content of Star Games "step by step," taking advantage of intensive synergies with Star TV. For example, the actual parent of the new station, the program "Multimedia" on Star TV, will also form the basic offering of Star Games - together with the program "Lifestyle," which will also be implemented one-to-one on Star Games. This already fills two program evenings. In terms of personnel, Grau is also relying on in-house production: the current four-person crew from "Multimedia" is also staffing Star Games. "Over time, we will expand this team to eight to a maximum of twelve people," he holds out the prospect. Despite the thematic focus on videogames, which is associated with very young people, Star Games wants to appeal to the age group between 15 and 34. "The videogame clientele has long since ceased to be recruited only from the kids," admits Grau.
Many years of experience with
Videogames and interactivity
The vision of an interactive TV channel is nothing new for the Star TV boss. Since launching his station around eight years ago, Grau has seen himself as a pioneer of both interactivity and
also the videogamer scene. "From the very beginning, we relied on the fully digitized studio workflow that is a prerequisite for interactive television. And we've had a multimedia track in the program since 1995 - at the same time as the launch of the Sony Playstation," explains Grau.
However, a dream cherished since the beginning - to cover the entire German-speaking area - did not come true with Star TV. "We thought we would have conquered all of Europe within three years. But nothing came of it," Grau recalls. "Star TV proved impossible to export because its content is too nationally oriented," he says today. With videogames, which are not tied to specific countries, he is convinced that he has now found a recipe that is really capable of crossing national borders.
The expansion of the reception area to the European region is also absolutely necessary. Star Games could not be financed in any other way. The reason: Today, only a vanishingly small proportion of TV households have digital reception capabilities. There are currently only 150,000 to 200,000 in Switzerland. "If we were to rely only on these, it would be comparable to the nonsensical attempt to drive across the entire desert on a single liter of gasoline," says Grau.
That's why Star Games has to target all viewers across Europe who can already receive a digital signal via satellite. At the moment, this is around two million households - just enough for the launch of the game channel. Only in a second step, if the new offering is successful, will efforts be made to launch it on the digital platforms of the cable networks in the entire German-speaking region.
Low program budget thanks to
Synergies with Star TV
The new channel is only possible thanks to low costs and full exploitation of synergy effects with Star TV. Grau won't say how much Star Games will cost, however. Just this much: "The annual budget is significantly lower than that of Star TV, which now stands at just over six million Swiss francs. The costs are to be covered from three sources: Telephone fees, which players pay when they enter their instructions via a chargeable number; secondly, via classic advertising spots; and thirdly, via sponsorship. As far as the potential revenues of Star Games are concerned, Grau is optimistic. In the medium and long term, these are much greater than those of Star TV.
Still somewhat up in the air is Star Games' exact timetable. "August 31, 2003 would be a nice date to go on the air. Because then it will be eight years to the day since Star TV was launched." However, Grau admits that this is a wishful date. The activities are only now being developed and built up. Distribution via satellite will begin before the summer vacations. But whether the necessary test runs will have been completed by then is still open at the moment.
Trial license also for SRGThe Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) has granted Star Games the license without objection as part of limited trials with new technologies. Star Games is thus granted the right to offer an interactive television program with games and interactive services via cable and/or satellite. The license comes into force on March 1, 2003, and is valid until the end of February 2006. According to Bakom, the purpose of the license is to gain experience in combining an interactive platform with various distribution platforms.
Star Games undertakes to report to Bakom after the expiry of the concession with regard to market acceptance, technical feasibility, distribution and reactions and complaints from the public.
The approval for Star Games is only the second license that Bakom has granted so far for trials with new technologies. The other was granted to SRG, which is testing terrestrial digital television DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial) during the upcoming World Ski Championships in St. Moritz. DVB-T offers an additional supply of television programs independent of satellite and cable providers. The background: In the next few years, analog reception via indoor or indoor antenna will be replaced by digital reception in Europe. (dse)
