Videotron’s new TV app ‘sign of what’s to come’: analyst

MONTREAL —Videotron’s new iPad application, which allows users to access live TV, free and paid video-on-demand (VOD) content and programming stored on a personal video recorder (PVR), in addition to a recommendation function and integrated social networking, is a sign of where "TV-everywhere" strategies are heading, said Alan Breznick, a media, telecom and technology analyst at research group Heavy Reading. “I think this is a sign of what’s to come, and we’ll definitely see more social media integrated, we’ll definitely see more search-and-recommendation integrated,” he said in a phone interview, noting there is a lot of demand for those features. “We’re definitely going to see those kinds of things integrated into the TV-everywhere apps, because if you are getting so many different video services, you need help navigating, searching and finding what you actually want to watch.” Videotron, a division of Quebecor Inc., announced the iPad application Thursday at a press conference in Montreal. One of the app's features is that it allows users to build different profiles for each person, Videotron president and CEO Manon Brouillette said in an interview after the press conference. “So I’m a fan of sports, or kid’s stuff, it will pull all the content that we distribute, even from your PVR, based on your profile, which is totally different than the way we used to manage content,” she said. “It’s totally different; it’s reverse engineering,” she said. When a viewer indicates a specific interest, such as sports, “it will aggregate content from all sources” —showing, for instance, a game is happening right now, there are two scheduled for tomorrow, and will recommend some sports movies. “So, as a phenomenon, it’s totally different than anything else on the market,” she said, adding the app can also be used as a controller for the PVR, TV program guide and set-top box. The functionality of the app is different, depending on where customers use the application, with PVR-ed content and 230 channels of the 300 Videotron offers not accessible outside the home due to regulatory and rights issues, clarified Brouillette. While those who don’t subscribe to Videotron’s TV service can access some content through the app, full functionality is reserved for its TV subscribers. The free app will be available in Apple Inc.’s App Store within weeks, Brouillette said, and available for devices that run on Google Inc.'s Android software in the future. Videotron said in an email release earlier in the week that its upcoming release would “change TV forever.” Breznick said the app isn’t “revolutionary,” as Videotron described it, but it is more advanced than the company’s previous iPad app. “Videotron does tend to be more advanced with some of their apps,” he said, but noted it's unclear how much of a difference that makes when it comes to competition. “I don’t know if people will switch because one has a better iPad app than the other,” he said. “It probably makes a bigger difference in terms of keeping customers satisfied and content and keeping them as your customers.” While TV providers across Canada have rolled out their TV-everywhere strategies, having to navigate multiple apps and websites to access content, separate from set-top VOD programming, is causing customer confusion, the Wire Report reported in March. “People don’t want to have a lot of remotes, they don’t want to have to use a lot of different apps, they don’t want to have to go to one place for one service and another place for another service,” Breznick said on Thursday. Having everything available in one place is “definitely a selling feature, definitely something for them to promote, and definitely something customers want for convenience," he said. Brouillette said Videotron built the app because the company wants to remain relevant in the face of competition from foreign over-the-top (OTT) companies. While Videotron is less vulnerable to competition from the likes of Netflix Inc. due its large French subscriber base, which prefers local content, Brouillette agreed that Netflix’s recent foray into France could make it more of a threat by increasing its stable of French-language content. “We need to work and to make sure we stay focused on the customers and we stay pertinent, and that we can … stop that cord-cutting and cord-shaving phenomenon,” she said. “I’m a person who believes that if there is a competitor, you have to respect them and you have to make sure you stay pertinent for your subscribers.” Analyst Troy Crandall of 3Macs said in a phone interview that the company needs to do what it can to compete with BCE Inc.’s Bell Fibe TV service, which has been increasing its footprint and having a significant impact in the Montreal and Toronto areas. He said customer satisfaction was already higher for Videotron’s existing iPad app than for Bell’s. “So one could actually argue that Videotron was pretty competitive, at least from its app, prior to this anyhow,” he said. “They need to keep up with Bell, and in fact, from what I can tell, not only are they keeping up, I think they’re maybe even keeping one step ahead of Bell.” He added: “But at the same time, ultimately, it comes down to more than just how good your iPad app is. There’s a number of aspects —service, quality and content —that ultimately it comes down to.” — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca

Videotron’s new TV app ‘sign of what’s to come’: analyst

Broadcast | June 5, 2014

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