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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Openivo Inception Meeting Summary

Day 2:  We had a productive discussion leading to clarification of the mission:  To put the control of TV programming and TV advertising in the hands of the viewers.   We reviewed the pain points for all the stakeholders.  Relative opportunity valuation led to a focus on sponsors and viewers.  Recognition that the primary concern of sponsors is reach to viewers, therefore the primary focus of the initial efforts will be on establishing a significant viewer base.  Discussion of privacy and security, including threat analysis.  Conclusion that building on an open source OS will provide sufficient security for the early versions.
Mission Statement:  To put the control of television programming and television advertising in the hands of the viewers.
Values:  Openness, Honesty, Freedom, Privacy, Security, Respect
Commitments:  Open Source, Viewer-focus, Ease-of-use, Inclusiveness.
Vision:  An infrastructure for a community of viewers, developers, content providers, and sponsors as equals, working together with mutual respect to fulfill the mission.

Day 3:  Viewed and discussed panel discussion "Addressable advertising:  Who benefits?"
https://www.itvt.com/kalturaentry/tvot2009-addressable-advertising-who-benefits-part-1
Keval Desai - Product Management Director, Google TV Ads
Jerry Dow - Chief Marketing Officer, Suddenlink Communications
Carolyn Everson - EVP of Strategy and Operations, US Ad Sales, MTV Networks
Konrad FeldmanCo-Founder and CEO, Quantcast
Seth Haberman - CEO, Visible World (moderator)
Lisa Kowitt - SVP of Advertising, Wachovia
Daniel Scheinman - SVP and General Manager, Cisco Media Solutions, Cisco Systems
Matt Seiler - Global CEO, IPG Group, Universal McCann
Yael Taqqu - Partner, McKinsey

Discussed plan for initial trial system, including choosing and purchasing hardware, recruiting viewer participants for initial testing in one area in Cleveland, etc.  This would lead to the easiest and lowest cost for viewer participants.

Day 4
1. Recognition and discussion of the problem that there would be minimal revenue available until there was a large installed base.  Solution:  Change the plan for roll-out to be as low-cost as possible.  Plan for zero revenue until a significant user base is achieved.
Discussion of v.1.0 system:  Software only.  Includes a simplified installation of MythTV software with network management (power and functional monitoring, email notification for system problems)

Day 5  Final Day
We reviewed data on the adoption of KnoppMyth/LinHES, a simplified appliance version of MythTV.
I tried to get a very rough idea of how many KnoppMyth/LinHES users there were and how long it took to develop this base. A review of the subscription dates of the members of their forum showed the following data:
2004 1817
2005 2465
2006 15712
2007 7428
2008 82
2009 297
2010 234
2011 59 

We were encouraged by the size of the group of early adopters, but puzzled by the large drop-off after year 2007.  To get some idea, we did a practice installation of LinHES.  Download of software took 2.5 hours.  The installation procedure was awkward and difficult.  Required 4 hours, with incomplete functionality.  Our conclusion was that the Openivo 1.0 version did not need network management to provide significant differentiation.  MythTV with a simplified installation and configuration procedure would be a significant advance.

3 comments:

Joe B. said...

Marc - one reason for the substantial drop-off in KnoppMyth, and all Myth installations is the rise of popularity of HD programming. Myth and all open-source DVR implementations are limited in that they cannot record HD programming from satellite or cable networks. They can only record over-the-air signals in HD. This has led to substantial abandonment of the Myth platform and all other open-source platforms.

Until the FCC demands a solution for home recording and time-shifting, Myth will be less and less relevant.

Marc Allan Feldman said...

Joe,
Very good points. Availability of the Hauppauge 1212 HD PVR allows HD recordings from Cable and Satellite, as long as the cable box has component outputs. If a critical mass of users develops, the Cable and Satellite networks will be unable to close the "analog hole".

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