"We are Televangelists"
Television: Bluewin CEO Urs Schmidig on his TV project, program packaging, and the end of commercial breaks.
Television Bluewin CEO Urs Schmidig on his TV project, program packaging and the end of interruptive advertising.WW Mr. Schmidig, has Bluewin TV got off to a good start? The first of a total of 630 set-top boxes are being sent out to the trial participants these days - one of them to me. The starting blocks in your question suggest that this market launch is a sprint. However, we are expecting a marathon and are dividing our resources accordingly.
Its boss Jens Alder recently said that "we are newcomers to the TV business and will therefore make mistakes". One of the first is probably the name: Bluewin stands for Internet ...
... which also functions in the background as the basic technology of our new TV service. What would be the alternative?
Swisscom TV. Finally, the channels come to the home via telephone cable.
good parlor.
However, we do not want to emphasize the "tube" through which our TV offering ultimately reaches the customer. Our marketing focus is clearly on the interactivity bundled in the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and Personal Video Recorder (PVR). This is our central USP. In addition, most people know that we belong to Swisscom.
Bluewin TV therefore sees itself purely as an infrastructure player that wants to compete with satellite and cable providers, but not with existing broadcasters.
I would say that we are an infrastructure and service player. We offer customers the opportunity to watch television in a new way via the telephone line. The broadcasters play an important role in this offering and also have new opportunities to present their services.
Is a license extension, as Cablecom is seeking for the Infochannel, not an issue for Bluewin?
As I said, access providing is also the most important thing for us in the TV business. We see a central function for the Bluewin EPG, similar to the Bluewin portal on the Internet. However, the production and distribution of Swisscom's own content was and is not up for discussion. Instead, we see our opportunity in intelligent, i.e. interactive packaging and bundling of the variety of programs available today. This is where we want to establish ourselves and earn money...
... after all, Jens Alder also expects his second TV adventure - after Swisscom Broadcast - to be in the black at some point. When are you aiming to break even?
We are now starting the trial. We will gain insights from this that will allow us to plan the business and calculate the case.
How important is advertising revenue in Bluewin TV's business plan?
None so far. For us, advertising is currently just something we offer our suppliers so that they can advertise in the form of traditional trailers, as well as interactive links to certain broadcasting channels or current rental offers.
video offers.
You are unlikely to offer these opportunities for self-promotion free of charge.
The first phase is about promoting the new offer. Until we have 100,000 customers, I don't see a commercial product as a priority. At best, we'll do a few showcases with possible new forms of advertising. Because we have learned a lesson from Internet advertising: only confront the market with advertising offers when they are understood by agencies and clients and, more importantly, when your service has reached a critical mass of users.
How seriously do you take the fears of TV broadcasters regarding the integrated advertising skip function of Bluewin TV?
Very seriously. However, what some of our suppliers fear is not the "live pause" feature of our service, but the new technology on which it is based. But that's coming anyway. Now we are the television experts who are introducing it to the market and therefore have to make it understandable first. Although time shifting potentially jeopardizes interruption advertising as it is practiced today, point-to
Point television also opens up completely new communication horizons. We would like to look at these together with the providers and then develop them.
What do these new options look like? Advertising can be placed in a segment-oriented manner, for example, or interactive elements can be incorporated into the commercials or programs. In addition, the potential for content providers increases fundamentally thanks to the recycling of programs.
Interview:
Oliver Classen
Its boss Jens Alder recently said that "we are newcomers to the TV business and will therefore make mistakes". One of the first is probably the name: Bluewin stands for Internet ...
... which also functions in the background as the basic technology of our new TV service. What would be the alternative?
Swisscom TV. Finally, the channels come to the home via telephone cable.
good parlor.
However, we do not want to emphasize the "tube" through which our TV offering ultimately reaches the customer. Our marketing focus is clearly on the interactivity bundled in the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and Personal Video Recorder (PVR). This is our central USP. In addition, most people know that we belong to Swisscom.
Bluewin TV therefore sees itself purely as an infrastructure player that wants to compete with satellite and cable providers, but not with existing broadcasters.
I would say that we are an infrastructure and service player. We offer customers the opportunity to watch television in a new way via the telephone line. The broadcasters play an important role in this offering and also have new opportunities to present their services.
Is a license extension, as Cablecom is seeking for the Infochannel, not an issue for Bluewin?
As I said, access providing is also the most important thing for us in the TV business. We see a central function for the Bluewin EPG, similar to the Bluewin portal on the Internet. However, the production and distribution of Swisscom's own content was and is not up for discussion. Instead, we see our opportunity in intelligent, i.e. interactive packaging and bundling of the variety of programs available today. This is where we want to establish ourselves and earn money...
... after all, Jens Alder also expects his second TV adventure - after Swisscom Broadcast - to be in the black at some point. When are you aiming to break even?
We are now starting the trial. We will gain insights from this that will allow us to plan the business and calculate the case.
How important is advertising revenue in Bluewin TV's business plan?
None so far. For us, advertising is currently just something we offer our suppliers so that they can advertise in the form of traditional trailers, as well as interactive links to certain broadcasting channels or current rental offers.
video offers.
You are unlikely to offer these opportunities for self-promotion free of charge.
The first phase is about promoting the new offer. Until we have 100,000 customers, I don't see a commercial product as a priority. At best, we'll do a few showcases with possible new forms of advertising. Because we have learned a lesson from Internet advertising: only confront the market with advertising offers when they are understood by agencies and clients and, more importantly, when your service has reached a critical mass of users.
How seriously do you take the fears of TV broadcasters regarding the integrated advertising skip function of Bluewin TV?
Very seriously. However, what some of our suppliers fear is not the "live pause" feature of our service, but the new technology on which it is based. But that's coming anyway. Now we are the television experts who are introducing it to the market and therefore have to make it understandable first. Although time shifting potentially jeopardizes interruption advertising as it is practiced today, point-to
Point television also opens up completely new communication horizons. We would like to look at these together with the providers and then develop them.
What do these new options look like? Advertising can be placed in a segment-oriented manner, for example, or interactive elements can be incorporated into the commercials or programs. In addition, the potential for content providers increases fundamentally thanks to the recycling of programs.
Interview:
Oliver Classen
