I was recently asked to participate in a fun interview with Aditya Kishore from Telco Transformation Magazine and really enjoyed a wide ranging discussion on the following topics;

  • What are your chief responsibilities at Sky?
  • What are the key areas of focus for you today?
  • How do you see the balance between the two services shifting?
  • How do you see the video/pay-TV space evolving in the future — let’s say the next five years?

One of the key challenges with OTT services, is closing the gap with Satellite and Aditya says it best;

“Sky customers accustomed to digital satellite quality are unwilling to endure low-quality streaming experiences on the Internet; they expect a high-quality experience regardless of device or access network. And it’s Webb’s responsibility to create the best experience possible for streaming customers, despite the vagaries of Internet connections. As such, his goal is to “close the gap” between the video experience a customer has on a private, controlled network like satellite, on one hand; and the open and unpredictable Internet, on the other.”

In the second part (available in 1-2 weeks), we discuss CDNs, video compression and DRM.