Orange Africa Cup of Nations

ivi, Inc. with its channel partner Africast, is carrying all the final matches of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations live online through the downloadable ivi TV player. There is a free promotional period of the preliminary round matches Jan 10th through the 23rd, where some matches will be rerun. The real fun starts when the finals start on Jan 24th, where ivi is offering 1/4 Finals, 1/2 Finals, 3rd Place, and the Final match for Pay-Per-View of the COCAN sponsored events. This marks the first time that viewers can watch live football from Africa to the world on the Internet.

Viewers will be able to choose per day bundles, or pay to watch the entire finals according to the live CAN Angola airing times:

PPV Events:

Orange Africa Cup Playoffs Complete Package LIVE – All Matches

Starting Jan 24, 2010 (16:00 UTC) – Jan 31, 2010

Orange Africa Cup Quarter Finals LIVE Jan 24, 2010

Angola v. Ghana (16:00 UTC)
Cote d’Ivoire v. Algeria (19:30 UTC)

Orange Africa Cup Quarter Finals LIVE Jan 25, 2010

Egypt v. Cameroon (16:00 UTC)
Zambia v. Nigeria (19:30 UTC)

Orange Africa Cup Semi Finals LIVE Jan 28, 2010

Winner 25 v. Winner 28 (16:00 UTC)
Winner 26 v. Winner 27 (19:30 UTC)

Orange Africa Cup Third Place Game LIVE Jan 30, 2010

Loser 29 v. Loser 30 (16:00 UTC)

Orange Africa Cup Final LIVE Jan 31, 2010

Winner 29 v. Winner 30 (16:00 UTC)

When Joost started it was a downloadable, full-screen only, archived TV viewing application with limited content.

VCs came in, scrapped the downloadable application and went with a flash-based web player instead, echoing Hulu.

After launching its Flash-based website with a large menu of archived content, Hulu has since curtailed its plans to distribute with Boxee, and has now created a downloadable, full-screen only, archived TV viewing application.

Hulu’s best decision was to keep its meat-and-potatoes website offering, since the bulk of its viewership originates from its webpage.  Hulu’s downloadable player doesn’t offer users any advantages over its Flash-based player, in either content or functionality.  From a functionality standpoint, Hulu’s player contains the same design flaws as the Joost original.

ivi’s approach to the market is different, and we have a clear point of view about what Internet TV is and can be.

The ivi experience begins with the understanding that websites simply aren’t good live TV delivery mechanisms.  They’re great for relevant video clip delivery and archived video, as websites are easily organized thematically and are searchable.

Live TV, and alpha-state TV viewing, requires channel changing, and most importantly continuously-streamed content. ivi delivers the living room TV experience in a downloadable, stand-alone player.  Unlike the cumbersome “full-screen only” players designed by Hulu and Joost, the ivi player allows multi-tasking, because it can operate in easily customizable window sizes.  Television is coming to every Internet-connected device —  It will be powered by ivi.

TV on your PC posted a video this week that I found quite interesting. ivi TV’s particular interests are bringing the traditional TV experience online and  giving viewers more TV choices including free choices. The media obsession with TV vs. Internet is not that interesting to the consumer. I in particular feel like cable/live TV, archived TV, and live online TV (soon to be available through ivi) are all complementary aspects of true consumer choice. It’s not a Hulu vs. “real” TV option; we want the right TV for each of many contexts. So, the things about these mini interviews that stood out for me are:

1. People appreciate the “relax and veg out” nature of TV in a different way than they enjoy a more participatory Internet experience
2. People like having more TV choices
3. People are looking for ways to save money on TV entertainment
4. People spend A LOT of time on their computers. that can mean that they WANT television to be there, too, or it can eman they want a BREAK from the Internet to watch TV.
5. People are very aware that TV is going online in many ways

What would you want to add to te dialogue about current TV habits and attitudes? I’ve embedded the video below, but make sure to enrich the discussion with your comments!

I’ve made an iCal event to run this poll again next year, because I expect we’ll see some really different answers as more people get used to new ways of watching TV.

Internet video consumption is growing by 74% this year, and that’s just slightly down from a whopping 89% last year.