So what is internet TV or ipTV? Far more than an amalgamation of the best bits of the internet and television, the phrase ipTV has been used in reference to several different technologies and services. It has become a settled, umbrella term to describe the delivery of video content through a broadband connection to the consumer.

Free from Ofcom’s TV broadcaster regulations - as it requires neither license nor investment in broadcast transmitters - a wide range of businesses are considering how ipTV can benefit them. Online media owners, telecommunications companies, conventional TV broadcasters, content owners and even brand advertisers are investigating the launch of ipTV services.

IpTV services are arriving in the UK at a time when traditional TV broadcasting and the advertising it carries are undergoing a period of uncertainty and adjustment. Advances in technology and the resultant changes in consumer behaviour have provoked review of the mass audience advertising model that has long been the bedrock of the television advertising industry. As the number of channels on offer has grown from 3 to more than 500, audiences have become fragmented by the vast array of choice, allowing some finer targeting of audiences at the expense of the erosion of TV’s ability to reach very large audiences at once.

Simultaneously, the attitude of consumers to media and advertising is shifting. Today's consumers have a stronger sense of individualism than ever before; they want greater control over how and when they consume media and are increasingly intolerant of attempts by media rights owners to limit the ways in which they can do so. This impacts upon attitudes to advertising, driving a preference for engagement on their own terms with advertising for goods and services of relevance to them, as opposed to the traditional approach of broadly targeted interruptions to editorial material.

IpTV services give greater control to the consumer, allowing them more choice of content, to be viewed as and when they want. So it is a timely arrival. But the provision of vast libraries of programming presents one of the major unknowns of the new medium. Who will be the new media owners? Will viewers pay for content? What will they buy or rent and at what cost? Will advertising adequately fund online retailers of TV programming? The intelligent search and personalisation techniques that IP technology offer will play a major role in overcoming this challenge. Ease of use is one of the common features of all successful technologies. It will mark the difference between successful and unsuccessful ipTV operators.

Content owners, from the major film studios to the smallest independent TV production companies are excited about the distribution opportunities presented by ipTV. For many content owners, ipTV presents the first realistic opportunity to sell programmes direct to consumers rather than via a limited number of powerful intermediaries. A new cast of intermediaries including the traditional broadcasters will take shape. Content owners will want to see their product available in the largest number of these outlets, whereas the new distributors will seek to create market saliency by offering content exclusively. It remains to be seen how this tension of marketing objectives will be resolved.

IAB members can download the full ipTV: The Emerging Market report from our knowledge bank on our website.

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