Logicbank Media

Silvio Scaglia, the Italian telecoms entrepreneur behind Fastweb and CEO of e.Biscom, is several months away from launching Babelgum, a global internet television service.

Milan-based e.Biscom is already funneling feature films and television shows — in addition to conventional Web and phone services to PCs and TVs in Milan, Rome, Florence, Naples, Bologna and Turin.

Babelgum, the latest attempt to profit from the boom in online video, promises to combine “the lean-back experience of traditional TV with the interactive and social power of the internet”.

The advertising-supported service will offer a free, personalised, full-screen video service to PC users.

The test launch, expected in March, will see Mr Scaglia in direct competition against the founders of Skype, who are developing an internet protocol television service which recently launched as “Joost” after being codenamed the “Venice Project”.

“When I started work on this a year and a half ago I was afraid we’d end up with five [competing IPTV services],” Mr Scaglia says. “The fact it’s still two probably gives us a good lead.”

NewTeeVee argues in its preliminary review of the service that while the Babelgum feels a lot like watching TV, and has a slick and straightfoward interface:

“What Babelgum lacks right now is a compelling differentiator — it needs to offer better content, better features or better technology than Joost and any other upstarts if it wants to win.”

The winners in this space may be those services best able to sign a significant amount of content partners, perhaps by affording them some sort of copyright protection, in order to offer a compelling service to a captive community.

In Babelgum’s case, content protection is accomplished through unspecified DRM and due to the fact that the content is free. Babelgum makes its pitch to content providers based upon security, distribution, and the ability to monetize content on behalf of the producer.

Babelgum seeks to provide a new venue for producers of high-quality professional content to reach the truly global audience of potential viewers.

With more than 300 million broadband users worldwide, even niche content – especially if it’s good - can find an audience that rivals or exceeds the mainstream TV audience in any local market.

“Babelgum’s breakthrough technology means the content is easy for users to see in high-quality video streaming and there is usually no distribution cost to the content owner. So it is really an ideal platform for content owners to serve directly the Long Tail of viewers’ interests not addressed by today’s broadcasting television networks.”

Source: FT

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