“We
already we have been developing and releasing radio and TV applications to give
you access to all our broadcast on all platforms — new and old. The TVJ
Everywhere Platform will also allow us to facilitate other content creators;
independent producers; filmmakers; and playwrights to develop and monetise
content as well”
Managing Director of
the RJR Communications Group, Gary Allen during an AGM (Annual General Meeting)
held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday August 27th
2014
The
RJR Communications Group is keeping good on
its promise to launch a streaming Platform.
According
to Managing Director of the RJR Communications
Group, Gary Allen during an AGM (Annual General Meeting) held at the
Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday August 27th 2014, this new
Streaming Platform will be called TVJ Everywhere as reported in the article “RJR
enters subscriber TV market”, published Friday, August 29, 2014 by STEVEN JACKSON Business reporter,
The Jamaica Observer.
TVJ
Everywhere is a part of a JA$300 million upgrade in partnership with
Miami-based UNIV (Unified Video Technologies) launch a VOD (Video On Demand)
Streaming by October 2014 as I'd reported back in April 2014 in my blog article entitled
“RJR
Group to launch UNIV’s uVOD Streaming Platform by October 2014 - Streaming
Gamble against Piracy as 2015 is DSO to DTT and Digital HD Radio”.
Television Jamaica to
go Streaming – Incremental improvements noticeable
This
is basically Netflix Style streaming that takes advantage of already
pre-existing Telecoms Networks to allow RJR
Communications Group’s Radio and Television subscribers to listen to and
Watch Television anywhere on any device i.e. smartphone, Tablet or Laptop.
Currently
Television Jamaica’s Streaming Platform has
since improved with a registration process involving singing in to JWplayer in
order to stream from their website, effectively allowing Television Jamaica to gauge who
and how many viewers are streaming their programming.
 |
They've
always improved the streaming so that it's streams smoothly even over 6MBps
capable Digicel 4G Broadband, which to me is a big deal as that's my main means
of connecting to the Internet! Still, it has a long way to go to match the
stability of CVM TV Live
Streaming which is excellent with no lag or sound distortion.
Also,
you can view older programs on Television
Jamaica’s Streaming Platform,
albeit you're currently limited in your selection as it's not fully
comprehensive. Also, there's no option to gain unlimited access to their Prime
Time News Archive or even the option to purchase television programs via a
Credit Card payment System.
So
they have a long way to go, especially now that they’ve upgraded Studio C as a
part of that upgrade, to quote RJR
Communications Group, Gary Allen: “Our single biggest investment was in the
country's first full High Definition TV studio — TVJ's Studio C — which enabled
us to take over the lottery draws on TV, contributing much to our improved
financial performance”.
With
this now revealed JA$300 million spend, what exactly can Jamaicans expect? And
do we have to STILL upgrade our Television sets?
RJR Communications
Group goes Streaming - From DTT to OTT for TVJ Everywhere
Television Jamaica has already
been doing some upgrades since then, mainly focused on infrastructural
upgrades. Once such is their new Studio C, which according to Managing Director
of the RJR Communications Group, Gary Allen,
is a part of their US$300 million infrastructural upgrade budget which started
last year, quote: “We also invested more than $300 million to improve our production
and transmission facilities last year”.
They
also began, (finally!) to upgrade their Transmission Towers, most notably:
1.
Flower Hill, St James
2.
Mount Airy, Westmorland
3.
Huntley in Manchester
Since
they're going Over The Top (OTT) or just IPTV Streaming over Broadband Internet
instead of building out a DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television), there will be
no need to buy a special Set Top box to listen to RJR
Communications Group's Radio and Television Stations.
Instead,
with the help of Miami-based UNIV, you'll be able to stream content on any
device be it a Smartphone, Tablet via an App or Third-party Streaming Set Top
Box.
Good
to note here that Broadcast Network based on DVB-H (Digital Video
Broadcast-Handheld) or ASTC (Adaptive Scalable Texture Compression) are
examples of dedicated IPTV Networks but with fixed infrastructure i.e.
subscribers have to have a set top box and possibly having to upgrade their
Television Sets.
Thus
I'm not sure if by this move, the RJR Communications Group is really trying to
avoid a DTT upgrade that's mandated to occur in 2015 as detailed in my Geezam blog article entitled “The
Future of Free-to-Air Broadcasters in Jamaica as Digital Switch Over Approaches
in 2015”. After all, it would negatively impact their revenues if they were
to go DTT and force everyone to change their Television sets.
Currently
the RJR Communications Group has multiple
Apps and Websites for Tablets and smartphones that allow you to steam their
various Radio and Television offerings as detailed in my blog article entitled
“Music
Cloud Streaming set to rise in 2014 - Still no home-grown Jamaican or Caribbean
Free Cloud Storage Services as we Ride Along on Foreign Cloud Services”.
After
the UNIV Streaming upgrade, all these programs will be incorporated under one
App as well as live on one common Website i.e. a common Platforms for ALL of RJR Communications Group Content.
Thus
as I’d mentioned in my blog article entitled
“RJR
Group to launch UNIV’s uVOD Streaming Platform by October 2014 - Streaming
Gamble against Piracy as 2015 is DSO to DTT and Digital HD Radio”, the
following improvements are expected by October 2014, when the upgrade is to be
completed:
1.
24/7/365 Streaming instead of just a few
hours per day on Television Jamaica’s
Website
2.
Websites for all the other Television
Station and Radio Stations under one common redesigned RJR Communications Group website
3.
Broadcast in HD (High Definition) at
720p and 1080p Resolutions, with the capability to scale up to 4K and offer 3D
Programming in the future
4.
Access to RJR
Communications Group Library of Content and the ability to pay to play via
Apps being made for their various Radio and Television Stations
5.
Pay-per-view Programming, where certain
exclusive Content such as local Sports Events can be viewed for a price
6.
Accessible on any device, be it a
Computer running Windows, Apple Mac OS Laptops and computers, Apple iPhone or
Apple iPad and Google Android smartphones and Tablets.
7.
A lot of Local Programming Content from
TVJ, a major hurdle for the RJR Communications
Group to cross, as most of our programming is rehashed Content from abroad
TVJ Everywhere –
Independent Animators guaranteed revenue as YouTube Piracy Rampant
That
last bit should resonate well with Animators, many of who are looking for ways
to monetize their content other than YouTube as noted in my blog article entitled
“JANN
to host Intellectual Property Workshop at UTECH – How Independent Animators can
Make money from Animation and thwart Copyright Infringement”!
YouTube
is clearly Piracy prone as they make it too easy for persons to download your
videos and even music as any UWI (University of the West Indies) student knows per
my blog article entitled
“UWI's
planning to increase all Tuition by 5.5% come the new Academic Year 2013-2014 -
How to Download ANY Video, including Facebook Videos, Convert and Free Video
Hosting Online”.
The
RJR Communications Group knows this as well,
which may well explain why they’re avoided posting their content on YouTube, as
advertising revenue made via YouTube, albeit substantive, isn’t worth the loss
of their original content to mass copying. A Pay-per-view or Monthly Pay
Streaming Model is preferable to wholesale downloading, which can even be done
via Mozilla Firefox Browser….’cause that’s how I download YouTube Videos!
TVJ Everywhere - Boon
to Animators to boost Advertising Revenue with more Eyeballs Everywhere
2014
has been a tough year for Broadcasting, around the same time the RJR Communications Group began investing in
improved infrastructure. Thus 2014 seems to be the year when they're finally
turning a corner as it relates to profitability. The RJR Communications Group has seen some growth
in Second Quarter of 2014:
1.
JA$15.2 million, an increased of JA$2
million more than year-earlier levels
Their
Earnings numbers for Financial Year ending March 2014 are also positive
indicators that they're finally turning a corner:
1.
JA$1.84 billion in Revenue for financial
year ending March 2014
2.
JA$1.78 billion in Revenue for financial
year ending March 2013
3.
3% increase in Revenues overall when
financial year ending March 2014 is compared to financial year ending March
2013
4.
JA$59.4 million Net Profit
The
economy has been growing slowly, causing many to cut back on advertising as
people just aren't buying their products or services. This is especially true
of their Radio stations RJR 94 FM, Hitz 92 FM and FAME 92 FM, all of which have
been underperforming against the current kings of Radio ZIP 103 FM.
In
fact, there are many that are speculating that the Tower climbing incident by
Ikon D Link as reported in “Pressure At
The Controls”, Published Thursday August 21, 2014, The Jamaica Gleaner may have been a
publicity stunt by ZIP103 FM all along to cement their popularity!
Telecom Providers and
Streaming – TVJ Everywhere competing with Digicel and LIME TV
Television
is also poised to become more competitive by 2015 with the Telecom Providers
coming onto the scene.
Telecom
Provider Digicel is entering into the IPTV Steaming via 4G LTE (Long Term
Evolution) when they purchased Telstar Cable as chronicled in my blog article entitled
“Digicel
acquires Telstar Cable – 4G LTE with a dash of Streaming Cable TV Service”.
Obviously,
they need the Fiber Optic infrastructure that Telstar Cable has to interconnect
their various Cell Towers to power their 4G LTE Network as I'd explained in my blog article entitled
“Digicel’s
Fiber Optic Network has July 2014 Completion Date – Launchpad for 4G LTE, Frame
Relay, FTTH and Cloud Based PBX Services”.
But
they may also use Telstar Cable's License and upgrade it to an all-island license
and Stream their content over 4G LTE in a move to counter Telecom Provider
LIME's LIME TV Plans as described in my blog article entitled
“LIME
experiences 25% increase in Profits due to MTR - 4G LTE and FTTH like Bahamas
with IPTV Streaming LIME TV will give LIME 3 Days to Kill”.
CVM TV, their other competitor in the
Free-to-Air Category of Television broadcast, is already feeling the pressure
for Cable TV. That's why they've snagged Scandal
and now Suits for this September
2014 as I'd reported in my blog article entitled
“CVM
TV's Suits Scandal - Why Couch and Studio get Bigger as Torrenting and
Streaming are King and Broadcasting Commission is powerless”.
They
already have Streaming on their Website and you can watch CVM TV Midday News served up on their CVM TV YouTube
channel.
Whether
or not CVM TV has plan to go IPTV Streaming,
be it OTT or DTT remains to be seen. So will TVJ Everywhere boost the RJR Communications Group revenues? We'll know
in a year’s time by October 2015.
Here’s
the Streaming Links:
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