IPTV Platform Updated, Rebranded

An update to Microsoft’s Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) platform, which enables telephone companies to deliver video signals over IP networks, introduces a new brand—Mediaroom—and lets users play digital media stored on networked home PCs, among other features. The update supports Microsoft’s strategy of selling multiple, connected devices for the home. However, adoption of Mediaroom has been slow, and cable companies are continuing to improve their video offerings while drawing voice customers away from telephone companies, suggesting that the overall IPTV market may not get the traction Microsoft hoped it would.

Rollouts Slow

Microsoft’s IPTV platform, which the company introduced in 2003, is the company’s latest effort in a decade-long campaign to provide software for TV distribution.

Prior to its IPTV platform, Microsoft’s TV strategy was focused on software for cable TV set-top boxes, including its most recent effort, Foundation Edition. However, none of this software achieved significant market traction, and setbacks have been common. Most recently, in May 2007, Comcast announced it would use an over-the-air software update to replace Foundation Edition, which it had deployed in Washington State in 2005, with the GuideWorks software it uses in the rest of the United States. (GuideWorks is a joint venture between Comcast and Gemstar-TV Guide.)