At Issue...

The Success Of Narrowcasting On Broadband Internet
Fieldhockey TV generates massive global publicity for the sport
by John Goedegebuure, LTR Consultancy
In March, UK-based Narrowstep Inc, launched www.high.tv, as the Internet’s first scheduled television channel featuring outdoor action, adventure and extreme sports. The first few month’s viewing numbers show that the concept is receiving a warm welcome from a global audience and advertisers and sponsors look to embrace the business model that Narrowstep has developed.

Coverage is truly worldwide, as high.tv has a wider distribution than any other global channel and is viewed regularly from the USA to Australia and from the UK to South Africa. The majority of the viewers connect at broadband data rates with an average of 76% connecting at 256Kbps or higher. The daily viewing numbers have increased steadily from the day the channel was introduced, with the numbers peaking during special events. The average “visiting-time” is lengthening continuously, which is a clear sign of increasing viewer loyalty. Consequently, the number of advertisement playouts has been going up, and because high.tv is a free channel sponsored by advertising, this will benefit both content owners and distribution partners.

By comparison, only a few specialized hard-copy magazines manage a circulation of more than 30,000/month, a number high.tv has already surpassed in its first two months in existence. A recently-signed distribution agreement with Freeserve in the UK and a pending Pan-European agreement with Tiscali, with regard to hosting High TV, clearly shows the growing interest from service providers to offer their subscribers quality video content.
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Based on the intitial success of high.tv and the large number of enquiries and requests for setting up new corporate and lifestyle channels, Narrowstep decided to move forward on introducing www.fieldhockey.tv as the next of its family of broadband channels. Many Olympic sports such as fieldhockey have an extensive global following, but on a per-region basis, and these sports often lack the demand needed to attract the interest of broadcasters. As a result they are generally not extensively televised. Broadband Internet offers an economically viable alternative, which means the “spell of lacking media attention” can be broken.

Transmission costs are limited compared to traditional broadcasting costs and the geographic reach is many times larger. Efficient use of Broadband Internet could therefore be the option to specific providers of content. The fact that service providers worldwide are increasingly offering broadband Internet, coupled with Narrowstep’s technological expertise, already today, enables users to experience true TV-like viewing (full screen) on the Internet.

“Field hockey has a passionate global following that is crying out for just this kind of coverage and information about our sport. I believe that Fieldhockey.tv will drive increased participation, support clubs and organising bodies and create global publicity for an under-publicised sport,” said Atlanta '96 Gold Medallist, Roelant Oltmans.
Fieldhockey TV is a global TV Channel, which will “air”on the Internet, 24 hours a day/7 days per week, and was jointly established by former Dutch National Hockey Coach, Roelant Oltmans and Narrowstep Inc.

Truly unique in covering all aspects of the sport, www.fieldhockey.tv will show filmed material from matches around the world, with commentary and live interviews, training-and instruction videos, event coverage, background information, promotions and specials. It is the ultimate form of narrowcasting, as Fieldhockey TV will provide extensive global exposure for field hockey competitions and events, clubs, associations and performance venues, not to mention their sponsors and supporters.

“Fieldhockey TV could have a tremendous impact on the future growth of the sport, as the Channel simultaneoulsy provides both entertainment and information to a potentially immense audience,” according to Iolo Jones, CEO of Narrowstep Inc.

To advertisers and sponsors Narrowstep’s online Adserver system, provides the ability to fully control and manage the advertising content. As full audit trails and detailed metrics are provided on usage and viewing figures, profiles can be built either by demographics or by theme, meaning that campaigns can be quickly and easily constructed and automated.

A major benefit to advertisers of narrowcasting on the Internet vs. broadcasting on television, is they will only be invoiced on a pay-per-view basis (similar to the Internet’s traditional CPM model). This transparent (based on hard facts) system enables marketers to get a much more realistic insight in consumer behaviour and movements and can be automatically linked to existing in-house management systems.




Source: LTR Consultancy
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