France: VOD to Be Tested on DTT

TDF is not ready to leave the monopoly of on-demand services to telcos. According to a report published in daily Les Echos, the French transmitter company has offered broadcasters to test VoD services on DTT as of early 2009.

“It is possible to send movies during the night to the hard disk of a DTT viewer who finds a catalogue of contents stored in the next morning,” DTT managing Director at TDF, Alain Komly said.

Some broadcasters have already shown interest including TF1, France Television and M6. Using the “push VOD” system, the technique would allow broadcasters to save DSL costs used for content delivery. However, according to the law, DTT channels are not allowed to broadcast VOD programming. The law must change and viewers would have to invest into a new box.

By Pascale Paoli Lebailly, Rapid TV News