TV Catchup had provided access to the commercial channels, as well as those belonging to the BBC as part of a 50-channel package, made available through the web, iPhones and games consoles.

Like Zattoo, which withdrew from the UK after a similar dispute, a short delay is made at every channel change to allow the company to insert its own advertisements.

Appearing on behalf of the claimants, James Mellor QC argued the transmissions could not be recognized as broadcasts under Section 6 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, but still met with Section 20 as it involved the communication of his clients’ broadcasts.

Anthony Boswood QC, defending, argued that rather than a broadcast of “one to many”, the online transmissions of TV Catch Up were actually “one to one”. He said that in order to meet with Section 20 the transmission had to comply with Section 6 in the first place.

Presiding, Justice Kitchin said Mr Boswood’s arguments were confusing the protected work and the restricted act of communication to the public by electronic transmission of all of those images, sounds and other information. He said that while Section 17 of the Act prohibited making a copy of the broadcast and Section 18 issuing copies of the broadcast to the public, there was no requirement that the copy itself must be a broadcast. Justice Kitchin said he was satisfied the claimants had a real prospect of success.

TV Catch Up will find out in detail at a full hearing in the New Year.

As of Monday night (November 29), TV Catch Up remained available, and although Broadband TV News had difficulties viewing ITV1, the company says no channels have been withdrawn. Indeed, as of last Tuesday ITV1 continued to be streamed by the site.

Last week the New York Southern District Court issued a temporary restraining order preventing the online video service FilmOn streaming programming from the major US networks. However, the site remains operational, including its UK version.

In a statement, Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO, said: “The loss of the W3B is a disappointment for Eutelsat and our customers. We share it with our partners, particularly Thales Alenia Space and the insurance community. We will now focus our attention on the delivery of the W3C satellite for entry into service at 16 degrees East by mid-next year and the implementation of a new satellite programme to compensate for this loss.”

The company said it is insured against the financial implications of the loss of satellite. Just 24 hours before the launch, Eutelsat closed a new insurance agreement for the next five launches.

“We know the nature of the anomaly, but we don’t know what caused the anomaly,” said De Rosen during a morning press briefing in Kourou on October 29. “What we know is that we have a significant leak in one of the two tanks. The leak is such that we cannot bring the satellite to its position to fulfil its mission. We are still receiving data from satellite, so we will now try to analyse the data.”

Eutelsat said the current three satellites that W3B was set to replace have enough lifetime left to continue the current services at 16 degrees East. The Eutelsat W3C satellite will launch in July 2011 and be placed at this location. De Rosen said it is working with the manufacturer to see if the building process can be speeded up, without giving up strict quality control.

Lifting off on time at 18.51 local time from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone in French Guiana, the Ariane 5 deployed the two craft during a flight lasting just under 38 minutes.

“With this evening’s success, we already have launched eight large telecommunications satellites since the beginning of 2010, which is more than all of our competitors combined,” said Jean-Yves Le Gall, Arianespace chairman & CEO.

The 5,370-kg W3B satellite for Eutelsat was deployed on the Ariane 5 flight 28 minutes into the mission.

Speaking in Kourou shortly after the launch, Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO, commented: “Tonight’s W3B launch opens a new chapter at our 16 degrees East location, which is already the chosen neighbourhood for over 400 television channels, making it one of our four fastest-growing video positions. The increased capacity and expanded coverage of our new satellite will enable Eutelsat to further raise quality of service and expand the offer provided from a position reaching into our core markets of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.”

Scheduled to enter service in December this year, W3B was to replace Eutelsat’s Eurobird 16, W2M and SESAT 1 satellites. Following the transfer to W3B of all existing traffic, each of the three satellites was to be redeployed to an alternative position.

The W3B had boasted up to 56 transponders, including three in the Ka-band. The satellite had a high-power footprint optimised for direct-to-home broadcasting in Central Europe. According to recent audience research conducted for Eutelsat there is already an installed base of 11.2 million satellite and cable homes in Central Europe receiving channels from 16 degrees East, making it one of the satellite market’s fastest-growing positions.

High-power coverage over Indian Ocean islands would also support expansion of pay-TV, which reaches into almost 400,000 homes, and accelerate digital switchover in Mauritius and Reunion Island.

To address the market for telecoms and data services, W3B would have initiated a new mission for sub-Saharan Africa, through coverage stretching from Senegal to South Africa and enabling connectivity with Europe. This new capacity would respond to high-growth applications including GSM backhaul and internet access for enterprises, public agencies and consumers.

The next Ariane 5 mission is set for November 25 with another heavy-lift launch, carrying the Intelsat 17 and HYLAS 1 satellites. It will be followed by one additional mission of this workhorse vehicle before the end of 2010.

What do these stories tell us? One, that watching television via the internet is real – with just one single provider (Netflix) taking up as much as one fifth of all traffic. Two, that current business models for television might soon be outdated.

The move by the three networks comes as no surprise – local affiliates of the US networks have been complaining for some time that the networks make programmes available for free on the web, while they have to pay for the right to broadcast them. With connected TV sets such as Google TV it is just too easy to watch network TV series on demand – for free.

One response from the networks has been the introduction of Hulu Plus, a paid for service, a premium section of the Hulu video portal, a joint venture between News Corp, NBCU and Disney. One solution for the networks might be to start to offer TV series against payment via Hulu Plus to connected TV owners. And indeed, Hulu and Google TV confirmed that talks are going on the make material from Hulu Plus available on Google TV on a transactional basis.

Meanwhile in Europe

Now these examples apply to the US, but in Europe connected TV sets, as well as all kind of hybrid devices, are also making big inroads into the market. On the one side, there are the consumer electronics manufacturers who bring out TV sets and Blu-ray players with connected services such as Philips Net TV, Samsung@Interent and Sony Bravia Internet TV who offer access to a limited walled garden of video content – and, in theory, also access to selected video portals on the open internet.

Then there are the platforms such as Canal+ in France who combine their regular TV offer via DTH satellite, IPTV or DTT with online access to their own walled garden – in the case of Canal+ the Le Cube box, which offers direct access to their ‘Canal+ a la Demande’ VOD service. And in the UK, BSkyB has started the phased roll out of its Pull VOD service Anytime+ using the connected capabilities of its Sky+ HD service. Such services only offer content from the platform – or at least controlled by the platform.

The question is now – will customers accept these limitations? The answer will of course be ‘no’ – people have grown used to the open internet and will also demand that of video over the web services.

UPC – the Horizon project

Cable operator UPC has taken the concept one step further with the Horizon project. Liberty Global chief strategy officer Shane O’Neill gave attendees at the recent TIF conference at Dublin Castle the first glimpse of the Horizon Connected Home Gateway, scheduled for deployment across the UPC network during 2011.

“On the face of it Google TV looks like a threat, but in reality the cable industry will do what it has always done, and try to embrace innovation developed elsewhere and incorporate it into its own service. I think there’s a very strong likelihood that you’ll see the cable industry embed Google television and that functionality into its own set-tops, so that it’s not a threat but a cool new way to search for video”.

Explaining that the new box would bring a marriage of linear TV and the internet, O’Neill said that multiple screens had meant the social aspects of TV had disappeared, but that the social networking features included in the UPC Horizon box would go some way towards restoring this. “We won’t necessarily watch together, but we will discuss it on the television, through Facebook”.

Horizon will enable the consumer to do four key things; to access the internet, as well as the pay-TV offering; to enable to stream content downloaded on the PVR throughout the house; it will enable any content held on a PC or other devices to be viewed on the main TV. Navigation, which O’Neill said UPC was becoming increasingly obsessed with, comes through the NDS Snowflake UI.

We have not yet seen a Horizon box actually working and it will be interesting to see how access to web content will be handled. The easiest way would be using widgets or apps, which will give easy access to various web services. A keyboard on the remote, which is planned for Horizon, will also make sure that any website can be accessed – at least in theory.

Vodafone’s  hybrid TV in Italy and Spain

Vodafone Italy has deployed the Vodafone TV Connect service, involving a hybrid set-top box bringing together a DVB-T tuner, internet access via dedicated widgets and access to locally stored content. The company is now also launching a similar service called Vodafone Internet TV in Spain. The box, developed by French company WyPlay, receives DVB-T channels, both free-to-air and pay-TV, as well as a number of IPTV delivered services including VOD.

In Italy, the TV Connect widgets include Vodafone Calcio (football), the weather, horoscopes, information and more. The STB is available in retail under €200, with discounts available for Vodafone DSL customers.

In Spain, the new service is set to compete with Telefonica’s IPTV service Imagenio and Orange TV as well as with cable. However, in contrast to its competitors, Vodafone does not plan to invest in content itself, but rather rely on DTT services in a hybrid box. Vodafone also has no IPTV services in the two countries, but has chosen to rely on DTT broadcasts for its main TV offer.

A series of widgets will provide access to Spain’s catch-up TV services. Additional content will be available from National Geographic Channel, Canal de Historia and Canal Cocina (entertainment).

The hybrid box, developed by French company WyPlay, allows access to the internet on the TV, including on-demand and streaming sites, and gives access to locally stored content, such as videos, photos and music. The box is “PVR ready”, allowing recordings to be made to a USB device, and includes DNLA, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity and is also ready for both HD and 3D content.

At an IBC lunch hosted by NDS, which is providing middleware and security for the German launch, Diego Massidda, director of video & connected, Vodafone Germany said the project could be replicated in other markets. However, the German initiative is a different beast, combining Vodafone’s own IPTV offer with additional channels from cable or satellite, while in Spain, viewers get access to all the DTT channels, both FTA and premium, with additional content from the open internet using dedicated widgets for easy access. In addition, the WyPlay box also acts as a media centre, giving people access to their own locally stored content.

What is up for SFR?

Wyplay has also been selected by French IPTV provider SFR, in which Vodafone owns a share, to collaborate with its technical team to develop the software for its next generation of HD IPTV set-top box. With over 4 million broadband subscribers in France, SFR has decided to shake up the existing solutions in the market by proposing a revolutionary HD IP-STB solution in 2010. “We want to bring a new user experience to our customers by facilitating access, exchange, and consumption of all media; TV, internet, mobile, PC, NAS,” said Pierre-Alain Allemand, general manager Networks SFR, in a statement.

More details on the set-top box are expected before the end of the year. We expect the new SFR box to offer some kind of web access using widgets (or apps), as well as to locally stored content. The French IPTV is the most competitive in the world and SFR will need a device that will beat those of its rivals, which include the Canal+ Le Cube and the Orange Livebox 2.

Belgian’s Mobistar TV offer

The Belgian mobile operator Mobistar has launched its new Mobistar TV ‘quintuple-play’ package offering mobile and fixed telephony, broadband access and IPTV, DVB-T and DVB-S television.

Mobistar says it has developed a complete television solution combining multiple available technologies. Its hybrid television receiver gives access to satellite (via DVB-S), digital terrestrial (DVB-T) and IPTV television signals. Satellite offers HD quality (Full HD 1080) and 3D television experience and brings over 500 television and radio channels. The internet gives customers access to interactive services (EPG), content on demand (VOD) and “thanks to Mobistar TV’s intelligent platform”, customers can watch, record and manage their favourite programmes both on their television or mobile devices.

The satellite portion of the offer, delivered from Astra at 19 degrees East, echoes a similar implementation by Vodafone Germany. Mobistar is working together with the two Belgian DTH platforms from the M7 Group, TV Vlaanderen and TéléSat. The telecom operator uses the Viaccess PC4.0 encryption.

Mobistar is part of the France Telecom group and will use their Livebox to connect to the internet and to offer TV and radio to the television set. The Livebox 2.0 has wifi, is DNLA enabled and contains a 320 GB hard disk.

However, in both research reports the outlook for connected TV sets is bright. The figures from DisplaySearch refer to the number of sets shipped, the figure from Park Associates is devices in the home.

The new research from Parks Associates indicates the number of European households with a connected TV will grow from less than 4 million in 2009 to 47 million in 2014. The number of households with a connected Blu-ray player will jump from 5 million in 2010 to approximately 66 million in 2014.

“Connectivity is becoming standard in CE products,” said Kurt Scherf, VP, principal analyst, Parks Associates, in a statement. “Stakeholders as diverse as managed service providers, content aggregators, and third-party application developers will play a role in how these devices link to services and allow the consumer to discover new ways to interact with entertainment.”

Despite the growth of the connected TV segment, no clear front-runner has emerged. DisplaySearch said that only around 10% of the connected TVs sold in Japan have joined a network so far, while expectations for North America have been scaled back as the TV market struggles in the region this year.

In Europe, Parks expects a growing role for hybrid devices. “The growth of hybrid set-top boxes, which offer broadcast and broadband/IPTV options, is a major trend in the European video market, especially as the continent is poised for full DTT switchover,” according to Scherf. “For example, DTT coverage in France reached 88% of the market by June 2009, and the full switchover will finish in 2011. Industry consortia in several nations are working on set-top standards to enable interactive TV services. Efforts include MHP, HbbTV, Project Canvas, OHTV, and Hybridcast.”

By contrast to the connected TV market, uptake of 3D TVs among consumers has been limited by high prices and lack of content. Displaysearch expects that 3.2 million 3D TVs will be shipped in 2010, with growth to over 90 million in 2014. Based on this forecast, 3D will grow from 2% of all flat panel TVs shipped in 2010, to 41% in 2014.

“While TV manufacturers have bold plans and a lot of new products, consumers remain cautious,” said Paul Gray, Director of TV Electronics Research. “Consumers have been told that 3D TV is the future, but there still remains a huge price jump and little 3D content to watch.”

The company forecasts that 3.2 million 3D TVs will be shipped in 2010, with growth to over 90 million in 2014. Based on this forecast, 3D will grow from 2% of all flat panel TVs shipped in 2010, to 41% in 2014. “While TV manufacturers have bold plans and a lot of new products, consumers remain cautious,” said Paul Gray, director of TV Electronics research. “Consumers have been told that 3DTV is the future, but there still remains a huge price jump and little 3D content to watch.”

The findings from this study confirm a report from Strategy Analytics on the attitudes of both the production sector and consumers towards the 3D format that painted an uncertain future. “North American consumers in particular appear to be playing a waiting game,” noted Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV Research. “Set makers have trained consumers to expect rapid price falls for new technology, and consumers seem happy to wait a little.” As a result, DisplaySearch forecasts that 3D shipments in North America will be just under 1.6 million this year.

The results also found that sales of 3D glasses in Western Europe remain low, with most countries failing to achieve 1:1 sales of glasses to sets. “This is particularly disappointing,” noted Gray, “A healthy level would be closer to two pairs of 3D glasses per TV, so it’s clear that these sets at best are being chosen for future-proofing, and at worst it’s an indication that consumers cannot buy a premium set without 3D.”

Nevertheless, 3D is a feature that set makers are determined to develop. 3D product choice is expanding fast with increased product launch plans and more set makers adding 3D. Rapidly expanding product offerings and 3D TV set prices have led DisplaySearch to increase its forecast for 3D in later years, with an anticipated 90 million sets being shipped in 2014.

“TV manufacturers strongly believe in 3D and are driving its cost downward, but its value to consumers relies strongly on the availability of quality material to watch,” Gray concluded.

Mobistar says it has developed a complete television solution combining multiple available technologies. Its hybrid television receiver gives access to satellite (via DVB-S), digital terrestrial (DVB-T) and IPTV television signals. Satellite offers HD quality (Full HD 1080) and 3D television experience and brings over 500 television and radio channels. The internet gives customers access to interactive services (EPG), content on demand (VOD) and “thanks to Mobistar TV’s intelligent platform” customers can watch, record and manage their favourite programmes both on their television or mobile devices.

The satellite portion of the offer, delivered from Astra at 19 degrees East, echoes a similar implementation by Vodafone Germany. Mobistar is working together with the two Belgian DTH platforms from the M7 Group, TV Vlaanderen and TéléSat. The telecom operator uses the Viaccess PC4.0 encryption.

“This innovative proposition combines the best of two worlds and will allow Mobistar to become a fully-fledged ‘quintuple play’ provider in the Belgian residential market,” said Benoit Scheen, CEO of Mobistar. “Mobistar TV allows us to provide optimal flexibility and choice to Belgian consumers and will be offered throughout the whole country via 160 dedicated Mobistar stores and the online shop.”

Mobistar is part of the France Telecom group and will use their Livebox to connect to the internet and to offer TV and radio to the television set. The Livebox 2.0 has wifi, is DNLA enabled and contains a 320 GB hard disk. The activation cost is €50.

In a letter to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Mockridge said most of the new frequencies made available by the country’s analogue switch-off should go to new entrants, possibly including foreign companies, which have both financial resources and ideas. He said the allocation of frequencies should be determined by independence, objectivity and transparency.

“In the field of pay-TV, Mediaset operates without any limitation, while Sky is subject to a long list of regulatory restrictions (if Sky get better results it is because consumers are free to choose our product in preference to that of Mediaset Premium),” he said.

The restrictions imposed on the Italian market had reduced freedom of choice and resulted in fewer jobs in the sector than the European norm.

Mockridge called for an end to legislation that he believed was designed to hinder Sky’s progress in the market, such as restrictions in the sale of advertising. He also said the link between Mediaset, RAI and the audience research body Auditel should be broken so that new entrants could rely on the available data.

Mediaset chairman Fedele Confalonieri responded robustly, saying: “We won’t take lessons in competition from a member of the world’s most dominant media groups.”

In June, the European Commission has accepted plans for Sky Italia to bid for digital terrestrial capacity, but on the pre-condition that it is restricted to free-to-air broadcasts until 2015.

The new platform will initially offer 14 channels from Sony, ProSiebenSat.1, RTL and MTV, but at least four additional channels are expected before year’s end. Subscription will cost €9.90 monthly, or €7.90 when viewers sign a 12-month contract. The new platform will be available on the Astra position at 19.2 degrees East. The plan is to also launch a dedicated HD bouquet during 2011.

Austriasat’s complete line-up will consist of AXN, Animax, kabeleins classics, Sat.1 Comedy, RTL Living, MTV Music, MTV Rocks, MTV Dance, MTV Hits, VH-1, KidsCo, Hustler TV, Marcel Dorcel TV and Alpenglühen (“so sexy ist die Heimat”). People with the Austriasat smart card will automatically have access to the Austrian free-to-view bouquet of ORF, ORF2, ATV, Puls TV and Austria 9 TV.

During 2011, Austriasat will launch an HD bouquet. “We want to be the largest HDTV provider by the middle of next year,” said Olaf Castritius, MD, M7, in a statement. “HDTV should be available to our customers ‘cheap and easy’, according to the price and sales philosophy of our company.” The platform’s goal is to reach 100,000 subscribers by December 2013.

The M7 Group is active with DTH platforms in The Netherlands (CanalDigitaal Satelliet), Belgium (TV Vlaanderen and TéléSat) and Luxemborug (TéléSat). ORS already operates the satellite services for ORF and is responsible for the smart card handling of their smart cards.

In seven out of nine markets Liberty has seen an improved performance driven by the two planks of broadband internet and digital TV rollout. The latter is particularly significant, as the staged rollout of digital TV from UPC hasn’t always kept pace with the availability of digital terrestrial services and in some markets commercially available direct-to-home satellite services. Once digital video services are in place – not just the linear TV channels but the other benefits such as VOD and PVRs – the triple play proposition becomes a truly workable marketing tool.

In an investor call on the company’s second quarter financials, Mike Fries, CEO & president, Liberty Global said that by far the most improved market was The Netherlands, where UPC added 38,000 RGUs boosted by new triple play bundles. “This is not an anomaly, this is a significant trend for us and one that should continue for us as we reach 80% of our footprint with DOCSIS 3.0 by the year end,” Fries said there had also been a halo effect for its voice business as customers took up the triple play option.

Romania was not so lucky, amid major competition from the DTH sector accounted for 40% of sub losses for the quarter. Excluding Romania, the figure was 20%.

In some markets it just doesn’t work out, with hardly any DTT to speak of and little in the way of DTH, Switzerland’s Cablecom had just got it wrong. Over the past year though Cablecom has been put under new management, introduced HD, VOD, DOCSIS 3 and even dabbled in 3D. New resources have been put into customer care and UPC is so confident that a rate increase can be introduced in the second half of 2010. The newly found confidence also extends to Cablecom starting to take the UPC name.

“At this point we’ve seen good signs that Cablecom is about to turn the corner, specifically we’ve seen strong net RGU performance year on year, although weaker than budget and that was largely due to an aggressive assumption on the reduction of churn,” said Gene Musselman, president and chief operating officer, UPC Broadband.

The Netherlands, where KPN now has over one million subscribers to its pay DTT and IPTV services, posted its lowest video subs loss in three years. As the first European country to switch off its terrestrial analogue services, way back in November 2006, Holland is once more a mature market.

High definition is beginning to play its part, an additional 260,000 HD subscriptions were taken on the quarter, helping to deliver a combined total of 2.4 million HD and DVR subscribers across the continent. Typically HD is able to command a premium of between €5 and €10.

With hardware costs coming down, it is less painful on the capital expenditure to get new HD boxes into the homes of subscribers that are happy to pay for the privilege. It has also brought down the cost of the proposed Liberty Media network device that with six-tuners might have initially been seen as high-end in the extreme. “We are making great progress with Samsung, Intel and NDS on the development and integration on the hardware and software components here and we continue to feel very positive about the impact that this IP device for the home will have on our digital TV and broadband business,” said Fries, pointing our that the company had received a good reception from operators in both the US and Europe.

Fries described how subscribers would be able to use the gateway to communicate with multiple Wi-Fi devices while sitting in front of the TV, moving content to an iPad from another device elsewhere in the home, over the IP network. “This isn’t just a slightly better user interface, this is an entirely different approach to the user experience, but more than that this is about putting a device in the home that has all the bells and whistles that your PC has today in terms of a very fast processor, multiple Wi-Fi chips, six tuners, and importantly the ability to communicate with your Wi-Fi devices.”

Because Liberty still has close to ten million homes that use no set-top box at all – the cableco has not set a date for an analogue switch-off – Fries said this presented a unique opportunity.

There are also opportunities in acquisition, Fries said Poland remains a very appropriate and obvious consolidation market and pointed to obvious consolidation in the Czech and Slovak markets. In the Czech Republic there were also “interesting opportunities”.

Liberty Global Q2 Financials

• Organic RGU2 additions of 169,000 increased by 80% or 75,000 RGUs
• Revenue of $2.17 billion and Operating Cash Flow (“OCF”)3 of $985 million
• Reflects reported revenue and OCF growth of 20% and 21%, respectively
• Represents 5% rebased4 revenue and OCF growth
• Operating income expanded by 120% to $327 million
• Cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations

Source: Liberty Global

Ofcom published a consultation on March 31, 2010 in the light of the Pay-TV Review that lead to Wholesale Must Offer (WMO) obligations being placed on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2.

The Competition Commission will now look at whether the sale of rights to show movies from the major Hollywood studios in the first pay-TV subscription window in the UK and the wholesale supply of pay-TV packages including the core premium movie channels is in contravention of the Enterprise Act 2002.

Ofcom believes that the market areas represent distinct economic markets with a combination of features that keep consumer prices artificially high. These include the limited pool of genuine premium content from the Hollywood studios, the windowing system itself, and the bundling of SVOD (subscription video on demand) rights with those for premium linear channels.

For once we have a case of the regulator acting ahead of technology. BSkyB currently has no SVOD offer of the type practiced by HBO and Canal+. This is not surprising, given it currently has no television-based on demand service. But by purchasing rights it cannot immediately use, the regulator will want to know if the market is being distorted.

“We believe that we have reasonable grounds to suspect that the combination of these features prevents, restricts or distorts competition in these closely linked markets,” said an Ofcom statement. “In particular, the combination of the features identified creates a situation in which one player is enabled and incentivized to prevent, restrict and distort competition.”

Ofcom’s discussions with the studios indicated that a change in sales policies was unlikely, and it arguably faces a greater challenge than with sports rights, given that these are practices found across the world.

The Competition Commission could now seek to change the way in which movie rights are bought and sold. This could arguably affect UK cable’s major supplier of VOD content, the Disney-Sony owned FilmFlex, as well as Sky. It is within the powers of the Competition Commission to restrict the ability of firms to aggregate different types of rights or requirements to make the sale process more contestable.

It could also intervene to reduce Sky’s ability to act on incentives to exploit market power, by requiring it to provide wholesale access to linear and SVOD premium movie content on regulated terms as has been done with Sky Sports.

Such a move is likely to hasten the launch of a Sky VOD service that could take place in the autumn, once the satcaster’s Sky+ HD receivers are connected to the internet for the delivery of VOD content.