ExperienceLab

What will TV be like in 2020?

The rapid changes in consumers’ viewing habits brought about over the last decade by such services as Sky+ and Freeview show what can change in a short period in the TV domain. VOD and IPTV services through a set-top box have also emerged over the last decade but have been slower to make real changes to viewing habits. However, their impact is set to accelerate over the next decade. User interest in VOD is definitely present (as high usage of BBC iPlayer suggests) but ‘discovering’ content in broad VOD libraries, particularly on a TV screen, (or even thinking to consider VOD content instead of on broadcast channels) requires a substantial change in user behaviour. This change will only be brought about by UIs that really take account of user needs and so facilitate this change.

National digital retune causes problems

September 30^th was National Freeview Retune Day. This was a reshuffle of channels proceeding the introduction of High Definition on Freeview. Despite it being widely trailed beforehand, the confused of the nation still caused the website explaining the changes to crash and were calling the Freeview helpline at a rate of 200 calls per minute seeking advice.