Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) delivers television content via Internet Protocol (IP) networks. A central provider offers the service which bears similarity to the delivery method of cable and satellite technologies. The difference is that IPTV doesn’t always obtain proper rights for distribution of the programming for which it provides feeds.
Immediacy denotes another difference between cable, satellite and terrestrial television. With IPTV, the viewer choose what to watch when they want to watch it. It doesn’t require setting a DVR. To view an episode of your favorite crime drama, you simply click on the show to start streaming it. So long as that episode aired already, it streams. It requires a subscription and a client media player.
IPTV services provide three main types of content:
- live media or television with or without interactivity,
- time-shifted programming,
- video on demand (VOD), similar to that offered by Amazon or Netflix.
