"Unlike traditional free-to-air and/or pay TV models, the Hybrid TV model is “open” to a wide range of industry stakeholders where each party can achieve significant value through their participation and co-operation. "

To drill down a little further into their content strategy, MediaWave interviewed Rebecca Blasina (Head of Corporate Affairs)

MW: How will Hybrid TV download offerings work from a consumer point of view. How will they be accessed and paid for?

HTV: Hybrid TV's broadband proposition is called CASPA On-Demand. It provides movie, TV and music content through one interface. The customer simply lodges their credit card details when they activate their TiVo online. They are not charged anything to their credit card until they purchase content on CASPA.
Once they start using CASPA – they will be presented with both pay-per-view content as well as free content. From April 2010 we will be introducing advertiser-funded content in the mix – however this will be primarily for TV and music content – not movie offerings.

MW: Where will Hybrid TV source their downloadable content from?

HTV: Hybrid TVs content portfolio is sourced directly with the producer or studio – the only exception is the music content which is through a strategic partnership with bandit.fm (owned by Sony Music but includes all record labels).

Are you actively looking to source original content from Australian independent producers?

HTV: Absolutely. It will be what will differentiate us from the rest of the market who provide only pay-per-view “popular” content. We wish to provide independently produced local and foreign content – both pay-per-view and advertiser funded.

MW: Do you have a program acquisition person or department?

HTV: All of our energy has gone into getting CASPA up for the Australian and New Zealand market – and in the main the focus has been initially on getting the major studios ingested into CASPA. We are in the midst of establishing an online registration and content submission website which will allow people to register their information and how they wish to work with us, provide us with links to or upload samples of their work – and of course help us understand how they wish to monetise their work with the public. As soon as we have this up and running we will be back to you with the URL.

MW: Are you looking for a range of feature films, documentaries, episodic drama/comedy, lifestyle programming, animation, short form content?

HTV: If the content is appealing – no matter how long, short, amateur or professional – then we are interested. The main point is that all content producers who wish to be on our platform need to ensure that their content is
1. Owned by them and they have the right to distribute that content
2. The talent and music et al contained in the content is rights free and there are no 3rd party fees payable
3. Their content does not offend anyone and remains in good taste

MW:Do you have one or a number of models for generating revenue from downloaded content?

HTV: Right now it is PPV and FREE – but of course we are looking forward to launching our ad-funded proposition which will certainly differentiate CASPA from other VOD platforms.

MW: How will you split revenue with the contrary creators?
HTV: The answer to this depends on the strength of the content and the power of the content brand.

MW : Are you looking at partnerships with ISPs to deliver unmetered content for consumers?
HTV: We are very fortunate to already have ISPs that provide unmetering to the TiVo device here in Australia. They include Internode, Primus, iiNet and Adam Internet. In New Zealand – all Telecom broadband customers have unmetered access to CASPA content on TiVo.

What this means to you

Hybrid TV's content portal is due in Q1 2010. By this time they should be looking for content deals from independent producers and be clearer on the parameters. Looks like there are genuine opportunities. MediaWave will follow up on Hybrid TV next year.