Article:
SeeSaw - the Future of UK TV?

Following the success of UK catch-up and on-demand TV services such as BBC iPlayer and 4OD, UK audiences may be thrilled to know about the launch of SeeSaw, a new Internet TV service.

Launched on 17th February, SeeSaw can stream shows from BBC, 4 and Five channels. In its ‘beta’ form, SeeSaw currently works much like iPlayer where recently aired shows can be watched for up to a week, for free. Rumour has it, however, that SeeSaw will make a subscription and/or pay-per-view service available in the near future. On the free version, SeeSaw injects short ads at the beginning and in the middle of the programmes.

Sadly, as with many other VoD (video on demand) services, SeeSaw seems squarely aimed at laptops and computers - there is no HD content or protocol to use media streaming devices like the AppleTV (though I’m told the service works on the Playstation 3).

Another concern highlighted in one newspaper is the business model that relies on advertising and, in the future, subscriptions. Internet advertising is sold for a fraction of the price of TV advertising and is often regarded as less effective. In this case, the company will have to rely on subscriptions – but as most Internet users will attest, they’ll put up with ads if the content is free (look at YouTube), making subscription useless.

There would have to be a large piece of cake waiting behind the subscription route to get people on board. In the early 90s, Sky offered exclusive sports packages as the major sell behind a service that previously no one was buying in to. These days it may be even tougher.

One advantage that the service does have is its technology, based on the forlorn Project Kangeroo, a VoD service backed by a coalition of channels and finally put down by the competitions commission last year. SeeSaw has the advantage of years of R&D and a tried and tested base (in BBC’s iPlayer). Technical stability and usability is often a major draw to punters.