Tech Advice: CenturyTel Broadband TV ahead of its time but still behind demand

by Jonathan Sessions

December 1,2007

I watch a lot of TV shows, but I do not have the leisure time to stop and hang out in the living room, watching whatever is on. When prime time rolls around, I'm lucky if I am even at home. After I've caught up on work and reading, by the time I get to the TV, the only thing on worth watching is the late-night infomercial for the Magic Bullet. So I take my TV to go. I use Mediacom OnDemand, buy shows from iTunes, record shows with TiVo, or watch shows via online on-demand services from the major networks.

Mediacom's OnDemand allows me to watch "Big Love" and "Dexter" when I have time rather than during broadcast. iTunes allows me to download an episode at a time or buy an entire season, with each episode automatically downloaded to my computer. This is useful because Mediacom does not offer the Sundance Channel; iTunes does. With the latest version of TiVo, I can pull stored video directly from the TiVo and format it for my iPod. Plus, with all of the major networks allowing shows to be watched via the Internet, I can watch almost everything I want to without sitting in front of my TV.

CenturyTel is offering a new option with its recently released Broadband TV. Broadband TV is not IPTV, which comes though the phone line and hooks up to the home TV. Broadband TV is a subscription service delivered to your computer desktop via your browser. This last week I had the opportunity to use Broadband TV and judge what this new service has to offer and how well it works.

When I received CenturyTel's promotional information, I was pleased to see images of the service working on a Mac. But I quickly learned the service was not Mac friendly. Broadband TV requires viewers to be using Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6 (or greater), Firefox 1.5 (or greater), Flash 8 (or greater), or Windows Media Player 9 (or greater). So after hopping over to a Windows box, I got the service running; I also got it working on Windows on my Mac.

The system works much like IPTV or digital cable. An on-screen guide is used for channel navigation and viewing options (small, large, full screen). It offers about 25 channels, all streaming live. Obviously with only 25 channels, the selection is rather meager. News and sports are limited to FOX. Eleven of the channels are music videos, three are History Channel variations, and five are vintage/classic TV or movie channels. The current selection is not particularly captivating, though most channels are specially branded "Broadband" versions with no or few commercial interruptions. It offers no major network shows, but all the major networks offer streaming video from their Web sites. (For a complete listing of available channels go to www.centurytel.com/residential/internet_access/broadbandtv/channel_lineup.cfm.)

Once running, the Broadband TV works reasonably well. However, I was warned I would need a minimum 1.5 Mbps download speed; the necessity of this has become very clear. I have tried the service while wired at our office, where we have 10 Mbps download; on our wireless network, using our ExpressCard from AT&T on its 3G network; and on random hotel wireless networks throughout the eastern United States. In the office, I got a good image and quick channel change. On our wireless network (802.11n; 300 Kbps) I also got a good image, but it took longer to buffer when changing channels. When I visited the site using the ExpressCard and random wireless networks, the performance level was much lower. While trying to watch music videos on FUSE, I experienced long wait times for buffering, choppy playback and difficulty changing channels. In many places, the service did not work at all.

The quality, overall, is what I expected from broadband television. On a wired network, the image quality is comparable to what is delivered from the major networks; however, it did not perform as well on lower-speed networks. I always got a better image quality from NBC, ABC and CBS. I was pleased with Broadband TV's ability to go full screen, blocking out to the edges of the screen, similar to how CBS and YouTube's services work (like watching a DVD on a computer). This full-screen option is nice when connecting to a TV; it helps make it more "TV" like.

Having suggested that, though, I would not recommend it. The quality is far too low to make it worth viewing. On our 47-inch 1080p TV in the office, "Lost Worlds" on the History Channel looks great via Mediacom cable, but using Broadband TV the image becomes terribly unclear at 15 feet. This is definitely not yet a replacement for cable, satellite or IPTV, but as Internet speeds improve, so will the quality of service.

Broadband TV currently comes in two flavors: Broadband TV with 25 channels for $19.95 per month and an upgrade to include RetroVision TV, adding three addition channels for $1.49 per month. The CenturyTel subscription Web page outlines all the package details and states "new channels are coming soon." From the page, CenturyTel offers a limited demo and a free month of service. www.centurytel.com/residential/internet_access/broadband_subscriptions.cfm.

CenturyTel has made a leap by offering this service, one of the first of this nature. It has potential, but it is young and still needs to mature. The limited offerings are a major drawback, but the biggest issue I see is with the lack of on-demand features. Now the service is live streaming, which is nice if: you have time to kill; you're not near a TV but you have your computer; the show you want to watch happens to be on one of the 25 channels offered; and your Internet connection is fast enough. Without on-demand service or the ability to record shows and watch later, it's hard to see how this is much more than paying for TV again—only this time for a lesser service. With the speed requirements, I do not see a benefit in subscribing to have TV on-the-go. CenturyTel is off to a great start, but it will be a while before I change my viewing habits.

Jonathan Sessions is managing partner and consultant for Tech 2. He can be reached at 573-442-1555 or jonathan@tech2consulting.com

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