【InterBEE2012】Multiscreen Broadcasting Study Group to demonstrate 15 television programs developed by broadcasting companies for multiscreens

The Multiscreen Broadcasting Study Group will give a demonstration of multiscreen broadcasts at the IPDC Forum booth (crossmedia, booth #8310). The demo uses IPDC (IP Data Casting) to transmit IP packets over the digital airwaves.

 The Multiscreen Broadcasting Study Group was started in December 2011 with the aim of implementing a 'multiscreen broadcasting service' letting viewers enjoy related content while watching a television program. That service would use the ISDB-T digital terrestrial television broadcasting standard with IPDC technology to send program-related information in real-time. The group started with 12 companies: Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, Kansai Television, Television Osaka, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, NEC, Panasonic, NextWEB Corporation and Village Island. By December 2012, however, the ranks had grown to include Tokyo Metropolitan Television Broadcasting, Shizuoka Asahi Television, Shizuoka Broadcasting System, Shizuoka Telecasting, Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting, Hiroshima Home Television, RKB Mainichi Broadcasting, Kyushu Nishinippon Broadcasting, Television Nishinippon, and Chukyo Television Broadcasting, as well as various manufacturers and communications companies, bringing the total to 43 members.

■15 programs to be demoed -- created by member broadcasting companies

Multiscreen broadcasting uses IPDC (IP Data Casting) to simultaneously display two types of synchronized data on a smartphone or tablet acting as a second screen: data related to the television program, as well as data indicating the show's elapsed progress.
Representatives from twelve broadcasters from the Multiscreen Broadcasting Study Group plan to be at the booth, giving demos of a total of 15 programs created based on the proposed service's actual parameters. Hiroshi Saito, manager of Mainichi Broadcasting's Strategy Planning Division, explained that 'Each program will be about five minutes long with a commercial at the end. We have three sets of five of these, for a total of fifteen programs.' Shin Hamaguchi, director of the Strategy Planning Division, adds that, “For example, we have a quiz show with a puzzle game tie-in, disaster and traffic information matched to a news report, travel programs that run with store or product information, or anime cartoons with additional content in the form of original sketches. We also plan to demonstrate how this tie-in capability works with commercials, as well.'

■ Displays of digital televisions with IPDC functionality
Hamaguchi adds that, 'Thanks to Panasonic's support, we plan to showcase trial models of digital televisions with built-in IPDC functionality.'

■ IPDC Forum member Fuji Television to demonstrate a second screen service that uses audio watermarking
At the IPDC Forum booth, IPDC Forum member Fuji Television will display the 'Media Trigger' forum application, which allows displaying related information on a second screen tablet in real-time using existing digital broadcast methods without IPDC.