Author: Steve Musallam, Product Manager, Network Infrastructure
The first version of a new specification called Mux 3.0 is due out soon, and with it comes an interesting debate about the future of Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) and interactive advertising and applications for television. Since Canoe shut down its interactive ad initiative, the reaction cycle has progressed from mourning to resilience and optimism. However, while many have pointed out cable operators’ continued interest in regional interactive advertising efforts (Todd Spangler first among them), few have highlighted the collaborative industry efforts taking place to make these interactive capabilities possible, both under the umbrella of advertising and outside it.
To take a step back, the interactive applications delivered by operators today rely on EBIF. In a world that is increasingly shifting toward IP delivery, millions upon millions of homes still rely on traditional set-tops (without IP connectivity) for television service. While second-screen apps are growing in popularity, both programmers and cable companies want an avenue for addressing and engaging viewers directly through the TV as well. The widely deployed EBIF spec allows this, and operators are focusing heavily on applications that take advantage of the technology.
EBIF alone, however, doesn’t address certain delivery issues that come with attaching enhanced and interactive applications to TV content. For that, we need Mux 3.0.
Mux 3.0 is a specification being developed to deal with many of the management and reporting functions that come up around EBIF applications. Specifically, Mux 3.0 addresses application source management, application authorization, bandwidth management, and reporting on application delivery. These are all of the nitty gritty details that make interactive applications possible, but until now there’s been no uniform approach for managing the end-to-end process. The engineers behind Mux 3.0, including many of us at Motorola, are working to change that and to take interactive television mainstream.
Mux 3.0 is a collaborative effort, and one that will help to extend the capabilities of existing cable infrastructure. On the long road to IP, that competitive advantage is critical, and cable operators should do everything possible to leverage it. Canoe may have gone a different way, but EBIF and interactive applications for TV – from telescoping ads to polling and other synchronized content – are still very much alive. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.
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Product Information: Motorola CherryPicker CAP-1000
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