Watching MNF on an iPhone

Peter Kafka had an interesting article about not being able to watch Monday Night Football at his home with his iPhone. I had a couple thoughts and comments about his dilemma which I'm sure is shared by many.

First - being able to watch something on your iPad but not on your iPhone while using your home WiFi is probably an encryption / conditional access / DRM issue. The cable company with any sort of TV Everywhere probably treats your PC, laptop or tablet device the same as a set top box. A cell device is probably a little more tricky.

Second - since it was the Watch ESPN app which should have allowed mobile devices like the iPhone - I have to wonder who Peter had his cell service with. If Verizon has an exclusive on NFL mobile rights then that may extend to the handset. I doubt this is the case but it was the first thing that popped into my head. Maybe iPhones are the exception to cross carrier availability?

Anyway - my two cents on the matter.

NFL Sunday Ticket without DirecTV?

Peter Kafka has an interesting post about DirecTV's relationship with Sony's PlayStation Network and how the PS3 can be used to watch the NFL Sunday Ticket (whether you get DirecTV or not).

While that is interesting in and of itself. The article got me wondering - what is the future for the NFL Sunday Ticket?

A la Carte TV

Peter Kafka has a new article where he argues that it is most likely that Apple TV will go along with the current content arrangements to get along. He mentions two scenarios that would create a more a la carte  environment but he misses the most likely - Congressional action.

A la carte TV may come to Canada and will be through legislative action. Of course the content producers would spend millions lobbying against such action in the US but can you imagine how popular it would be? Everyone - Democrats and Republicans - have to pay for channels they don't like.

Pay-TV Share Shift

Peter Kafka makes an interesting argument that the pay-TV market isn't shrinking - the market shares are just shifting around.

And it should be pointed out that the numbers Peter writes about don't include any of the small telcos or FTTH companies that have gotten into IPTV and taken subscribers away local MSO's.

Apple TV and Hulu Plus (Continued)

Here's some additional thoughts on Hulu Plus being added as a channel to Apple TV:

Redbox Instant by Verizon

When you think of it the Redbox Instant by Verizon product is genius. The child of a joint venture between Verizon and Coinstar's Redbox - the service plays off the strengths of both companies. Verizon handles most of the bandwidth traffic requirements (like a free CDN for Redbox) while Redbox handles the content rights which will pretty much be same movies you'll find on Amazon, Netflix or iTunes. Want a newer DVD release? You can try one of the Redbox kiosks - a wrinkle you won't find from any of the competing services.

Redbox enhances their existing offering with this service and Verizon adds traffic to their existing network. Win-win. The genius part is neither company is responsible for the last mile or wireless connectivity - the two areas where most of the customer issues will reside. Even if the customer is using Verizon DSL or Verizon Wireless - hey that's a different division!

Peter Kafka has a nice take on the new offering.