This month we interviewed the founders of New Century Television (NCTV) to find out about what it takes to be a successful Internet television service provider (ITVSP). NCTV has been providing Internet television directly to consumers since 2002. 

An ITVSP allows consumers to directly watch television programming through broadband Internet connections. Presently, NCTV consumers watch the programs on multimedia computers or on standard televisions with PC to TV adapters. In the future, NCTV customers may watch Internet television on set top box adapters and perhaps, on handheld and other portable video devices. 

advertising for Internet television services and companies are buying ads. 

One interesting fact that we found out about NCTV is that when both Blumenthal and Schwartz were executives at CDNOW, a large online music retailer, they were streaming music-oriented videos that were achieving higher viewership numbers than some cable companies are achieving today for similar types of programs. They explain that those numbers led to NCTV's focus on video on demand channels that are developed for highly targeted customers who are not currently serviced by cable television companies. It also helps that their programs are seen in over 50 countries around the world 

   When Blumenthal was working at Warner, he worked on the Qube interactive television system. Back then, when most cable systems offered a dozen or two dozen channels, people asked him why someone would want or need hundreds of channels. Today, some digital cable systems offer more than 500 television and music channels. 

   Both founders have been successful in popular television programming and interactive media. For example, the pair produced the successful Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? for PBS. They have extensive experience in new media, publishing and interactive ventures. They focus on the value chain and give the public quality programming that they can't easily find or get anywhere else. 
   From the beginning, NCTV has always been offered exclusively via broadband TV. NCTV, television channels reach subscribers around the world rather than through a regional or even national basis. 

The founders explained that the process of converting content to quality digital program format and providing programming choices involves multiple steps that must be carefully executed. They present programs for television viewing on the Internet as opposed to simply watching individual video streaming files on a web site. NCTV also provides meta-data around the content that allows users to search and find content they want or need. 

NCTV offers primarily informational content -- entertainment and education. The Denmark Channel was the first channel available from NCTV, and other channels for tourism boards have followed. La Salle University's channel was the first to speak directly to potential students; a channel for Rutgers University followed, and more are in the works. 

Initially, NCTV started working with groups that wanted to cost 

 The story of NCTV began in the late 1970's when founders Howard Blumenthal, employed by Warner Communications and Ariel Schwartz, employed by Home Box Office (HBO) fostered their belief that customers should have instant access to any media channel of their choice.

In 2002 NCTV began offering Internet television service. At this time broadband availability was limited. Blumenthal and Schwartz predicted that the number of broadband Internet access subscribers would rise in spite of an economic recession. They were right. The next step they would take would be to prove that people would watch television on multimedia computers, and again, they were right. NCTV conducted studies to determine whether or not people would pay for IP television subscriptions, and in 2005 their studies showed that people were definitely willing to pay for the service, once again making their assumptions of success on target. Now, NCTV is beginning to sell

In the beginning of 2005, NCTV started offering a consumer subscription service. The current list of subscription channels includes The Artist's Channel™, The Traveler's Channel™ and The Cook's Channel™.

The types of revenue sources generated by NCTV include client services, subscription services and advertising. Client services are fees that are paid by content owners and/or marketers to deliver messages to highly targeted audiences. Often, NCTV produces the video for these channels. Clients have included colleges and universities, tourist boards, religious organizations, consumer electronics manufacturers, and more. Each subscription channel is filled with programming acquired by NCTV from a wide range of producers and program distributors. Consumers are encouraged to enjoy a "free trial" to sample segments, and then to subscribe for 5 hours per month or more. Presently, advertising is presented as graphic links, but video advertisements are in the works. 

The average New Century viewer watches 15 to 30 minutes of

effectively communicate with viewers in a large geographic area. These clients included universities and government organizations that were willing to pay an IPTVSP to make their content available. Before this, the partners actually donated some of the airtime. 

Internet television per session and several hours per month. The viewing patterns vary depending upon the channel and its purpose: the college and university channels, for example, are watched only by students and parents with a keen interest in applying to a specific college, and depending upon time of year, they may be watched more or less frequently, and for longer or shorter periods of time. The Artist's Channel, which is viewed by subscribers with an interest in learning to draw or paint more successfully, may be watched for longer periods, and more often.

calls, selling related or new products and demonstrating benefits of an existing product or service to prospective customers. Internet television channels can be well suited to retailers that have a large base of customers that share a common interest. 

At this time, viewers watch television on a multimedia computer that has media player software. NCTV estimates that over 80 percent of PC users in the US are equipped to watch NCTV channels with no additional hardware or software whatsoever. NCTV is reviewing set top boxes that will allow viewers to watch NCTV on standard televisions. Because NCTV is IP based, they can use commercially available IP set top boxes. 

From a technology perspective, NCTV is currently providing video media using Windows Media Player 9 and 10 (WMP9 & WMP10). They are looking at providing television services via MPEG-4 as more media players have that capability. 

NCTV considers itself a programming and marketing business enabled by a combination of custom and off-the-shelf technology. People subscribe for access to content. Technology is only important to make the user's navigation and interaction easy. 

Each NCTV viewer receives the same quality of programming. As the average broadband connection speed increases globally, NCTV plans to increase the quality to all viewers. They have already initiated one increase in the quality and more are planned. 
One of the most proprietary features of NCTV is their operations and billing systems. Their system keeps track of all the viewership data down to the number of seconds of a program or advertising message. According to Schwartz, this system is great for paying royalties to content owners (subscription services) and for charging advertisers on the actual number of ads seen by viewers. NCTV believes that their viewership data will be very valuable to companies that may want to partner or invest with them. 

There are four key steps that NCTV performs to setup and promote Internet television channels. The first step involves developing a marketing and programming strategy: defining the video segments and channel structure, gathering and editing content and producing the digital media files. The second step is to build the mechanics and technology related to the particular channel (all channels are built on the same interface and back-end, but every channel varies slightly depending upon audience or client needs). Then, the channel is promoted to its viewers. This promotion typically includes press releases, links on related web sites and email broadcasting to existing customer base. Finally, the channel's activity is monitored at a per-program minute level with extensive reports and analysis leading to an optimization of channel content for each target market. 

The types of content owners that benefit most from NCTV are companies or groups that have an existing audience and would benefit from having its own television channel. Some of the benefits of creating an Internet television channel include reducing customer service 

If you would like to contact New Century Television:

New Century Television

Phone: 215-860-5662

Web: www.newcenturytv.com

Email: info@newcenturytv.com