Liberty Global, one of the largest pay TV operators in Europe, is unlikely to follow in Sky’s smart TV footsteps.
That’s according to Bob Greene, managing director at Liberty Global, who called such a move “doubtful” during a Monday keynote interview at Fierce Video’s StreamTV World conference. He said two potential roadblocks would be meeting consumer expectations for smart TV performance and managing the cost of maintaining the necessary infrastructure.
“The way our operations are set up, it’s not as conducive to the scale side of it. Comcast has the U.S. and it has Sky, so they were able to look at a value proposition for consumers that was very enticing,” said Greene. “At Liberty Global, we don’t see ourselves getting into the electronics business like that. That’s just not in our wheelhouse.
But Liberty Global didn’t rule out potential partnerships that would allow it to offer similar devices and services to subscribers. Greene said that Liberty Global is talking with companies about app distribution or partnerships for broadband- and mobile-only homes.
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“There’s all kinds of different things we can do provide value to the consumer and let them make those choices as to what technology they want in the house,” he said.
Last week during Comcast’s earnings call, Sky CEO Dana Strong dove into the shifting commercial model accompanying Sky Glass, which will be sold a lot like mobile handsets through monthly payment plans that allow room for upgrades.
“We’ve converted a large upfront payment to an affordable monthly payment with ownership, of course. It establishes a long-term relationship with a customer as a result and it improves [Sky’s] acquisition economics because it allows for self-installation and there’s no longer a need for a dish and a set-top box,” she said.
Sky said that Glass opens a wider addressable market with consumers who may previously been either prohibited from having a satellite dish or just didn’t want one. Strong also called out syndication opportunities and chances to draw more revenue from new services and features that can be developed for the devices.
“Long, long-term we think this is a platform for innovation and really just the beginning,” Strong said, adding that Sky Glass has the “exact same guts” as all other Comcast technology, amounting to significant synergies with the company’s overarching smart TV strategy.
Vewd, a TV software provider, also made smart TV news in October through a partnership with Vestel for an end-to-end smart TV platform that can be licensed by pay TV providers.