OKI Introduces Audience Rating System

Oki Electric announced its Audience Rating Information System for IPTV for the Japanese market, which collects viewership data. This system will enable service providers, with the authorization of the viewers, to obtain information about when and which channel and programs are watched.

The system will collect the viewership data in the form of an audience rating library on the user's device, which will then be encrypted, sent to and registered in the database server at the IPTV distribution center. This information will then be printed out as viewership reports which service providers can offer to program producers.

The audience rating library can be embedded in the set-top-boxes or in the TV with an integrated set-top box. Those who have STBs or TVs without the embedded library can connect a home gateway that has the audience rating library to collect viewership data. This system has been tested in IPTV applications that utilize mutli-casting. OKI will add the system to its product lines that includes the OKI MediaServer, the video distribution server for IPTV, plus home gateways and set-top-boxes.

Oki is one of the video on demand suppliers to NTT's IPTV services. Privacy is becoming a large issue with these systems as consumers come to understand what they are and how they are being deployed.

Interview with Oki Electric about Japanese IPTV Market

I recently had an interview with Oki Electric in Japan. Oki has been active in the Japanese IPTV market supporting NTT’s various efforts. Oki explained to me that NTT has set up three separate IPTV services

• 4th MEDIA which offers broadcast and on demand content.
• OCN Theater which had only offered on demand content, but now is including broadcast content to its service.
• On Demand TV which offers broadcast content and on demand content.

Oki said that NTT has a plan to restructure its IPTV for NGN, the next-generation network. These separate services evolved this way due to separate efforts in NTT group companies as well as due to regulatory restrictions that have made it difficult for NTT to enter the IPTV market.

Oki provides video on demand servers to 4th MEDIA. Oki also provides middleware and content security systems to 4th Media.

Oki is also entering the IPTV set-top box market. It will start shipping an IPTV set-top box to trials in China before the end of 2007.

The IPTV market has been quite complex in Japan. NTT has had to take several approaches to overcome regulatory obstacles. It appears that this complexity may reduce over time.