Course Syllabus TLEN 5380: Future of Video Technology, Policy and Economics Fall 2015 (9:30 10:45 a.m., T & Th, Rm. ECEE 283, 3 credits)

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1 Course Syllabus TLEN 5380: Future of Video Technology, Policy and Economics Fall 2015 (9:30 10:45 a.m., T & Th, Rm. ECEE 283, 3 credits) Course Description and Objectives The entertainment video industry is currently in the throes of a major transformation driven by emerging broadband Internet technologies that are shifting once stable business models with new opportunities and competitors, along with creating new public policy dilemmas. TLEN 5380 provides an interdisciplinary view of the future direction of the entertainment video industry. Television networks are migrating to the web with sophisticated user interfaces and usage tracking capabilities. Moreover, video is evolving beyond entertainment to support new communications and interactive services. In this class, students will learn the technologies, business models, and public policies impacting this evolution and transformation. The course focuses on the interactions and dependencies among past and present video platforms, their business models, and public policies issues to project the future of video in the emerging broadband Internet era. TLEN 5380 examines the evolution of the entertainment video industry from its inception in television broadcasting to the emerging broadband Internet of today with the following key objectives in mind: Understand the core technologies, business models, and policy dilemmas that faced the development and growth of the existing television broadcasting, cable, and satellite platforms. Learn the current state of development of Internet video technology, exploratory business models under development, and public policy issues being created by this new, disruptive video delivery platform. Develop a framework that will provide students the ability to critically evaluate and develop a roadmap charting the evolution of video services over the Internet. Learn video publishing tools and create video presentations on topics selected by the student. Given the instructor s 20 years of experience managing R&D projects in the cable industry, engage in real-world discussions of the current controversies in the entertainment video industry. TLEN 5380 covers these topics and achieves these objectives by tracking the evolution of entertainment video market from television broadcasting to the emerging broadband Internet of today. To do so, the course is split into the following three units of study: Unit 1: Creating Content starting with topics on video production techniques, basic video technology such as compression and distribution, and a background on the history and evolution of delivery of television, we create a foundation for the discussion and understanding of next-generation video delivery via the Internet Unit 2: Video Streaming on the Internet the transition to Internet video

2 streaming is covered in the context of the emergence of prior disruptive video distribution models such as the transition to cable and satellite distribution, the transition to digital and High Definition, and the regulatory and commercial barriers to deploying Internet-based television solutions. Unit 3: Emergent Issues of Internet Video understanding the state of the art in current Internet streaming technologies, investigate forces associated with competition from existing players and the motivations and business needs of content owners. Students successfully completing this course should gain a much greater appreciation of the rapid changes in the technology, economic, and public policy aspects of the entertainment video industry and, uniquely, the complex interactions among these aspects that are shaping the future of this critical sector of the economy. The resulting understanding should enhance employment or promotion opportunities in the broadband sector and enhance the student s ability to participate in the public discourse regarding the future of the electronic media. Instructor Dr. David Reed Faculty Director, Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program david.reed@colorado.edu Office Hours Time: 2:00 4:00 p.m. Thursdays Location: ECOT 347 Course Prerequisites TLEN 5210 Principles of Telecommunications Policy or instructor consent. The course assumes no prior experience with video technology, production, and engineering. Grading Item Percent of Grade Pop Quizzes and Class Participation 10% Homework Assignments and Labs 25% Mid-Term Project 15% Final Project 25% Final Exam 25% To do well in this course, you will need to be prepared for each class by being ready to discuss and engage in critical thinking on issues covered in the readings. Be forewarned: pop quizzes will often be given at the start of class on the assigned reading material for the class. Video is emerging as an increasingly important medium of communication in the broadband age. To provide students with the opportunity to develop their technical and presentation skills of communication through video media, there will be two projects in 2

3 the class, both of which will be short video presentations of a topic chosen by the student and related to the entertainment video industry. No video equipment or training is needed for the course; we will be drawing upon the resources of the University s MediaLab to create these projects. Student papers will be graded on both the substantive content of the video and the quality of the presentation in the video format. Each project will also be presented to the class for feedback and sharing of your material. All assignments are due for in-class and distance students at the start of class on the due date. No exceptions to deadlines for course work will be made absent either an emergency or prior notification to the professor stating the date and reason for the classroom absence two weeks in advance. Required Materials 1. CU iclicker remote. Students can purchase iclicker remotes at the CU Bookstore and register the device in MyCUInfo. There is not a required textbook for the course. Students will be expected to have read the class readings noted in the course syllabus before attending the class. Many of the readings will be posted on the Desire2Learn web site. To access Desire2Learn, go to: You can login using your IdentiKey username and password. Once you login, click on TLEN 5380 Future of Video to go into the course. 1 Course Syllabus (Subject to Change, all times are Mountain time, Required Readings posted on D2L) Date Lecture Topic, Reading and/or Work Assignment Aug. 25 Lecture 1 Course Introduction Aug. 27 Lecture 2 Future of Video Reed Hastings, Netflix Long Term View Nielsen, The Total Audience Report Q Homework #1: Video Critique (Due 9/3 at 9 a.m.) Unit 1: Creating Content 1 Lecture 3 Guest Lecture: Tim Riggs, MediaLab, Using the Language of Video, Part 1 3 Lecture 4 Guest Lecture: Tim Riggs, MediaLab, Using the Language of Video, Part 2 Homework #1 Video Critique Due at 9:30 a.m. 1 Please visit to watch videos and learn more about using D2L. If you run into any problems using Desire2Learn, contact the help desk at: help@colorado.edu or at (303) 735-HELP. 3

4 Homework #2: Create a 30 second video advertisement for ITP or the Future of Video Course (Due 9/10 at 9 a.m.) 8 Lecture 5 Basics in Video Technology Lecture 6 Lecture 7 Lecture 8 Lecture 9 Lecture 10 Simpson, Video Over IP, 2008 (Chapter 1, pp. 1-17) Basics of Video Technology (cont d) Simpson, Video Over IP, 2008 (Chapter 3) Watch Alphabet Soup - Digital Interfaces Homework #2 Due at 9:30 a.m. Digital Compression Techniques Readings Simpson, Video Over IP, 2008 (Chapter 4, pp ) Watch Video Compression as Fast as Possible Watch MPEG Technical Tutorial Digital Television Systems View Alphabet Soup - MPEG Transport Stream Watch Alphabet Soup - Digital Video Technology Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 Homework #3 Midterm Video Presentation Proposal Due at 9 a.m. Distribute Video Lab #1 (Due 9/25) History of Broadcast Television Bruce Owen, The Internet Challenge to Television, Chapter 6. History of Broadcast Television Part II Testimony of Preston Padden Before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, July 24,

5 29 Lecture 11 Video Lab #1 Due Friday, September 25 at 11:59 p.m. Disruptive Technologies and the Cable Model Larissa MacFarquhar, When Giants Fail, What Business Has Learned from Clayton Christensen, The New Yorker, May 2012 Distribute Video Lab #2 (Due 9/30) Oct. 1 Lecture 12 Evolution of Cable Oct. 6 John W. Schoen, How do cable companies make their money? CNBC, April 2015, at Greg Satell, How the Collapse of the Cable Business Model Will Bring a New Era of Television Forbes, Aug at Ben Popper, The Great Unbundling: Cable TV as We Know it is Dying, The Verge, April 2015, at Unit 2: Video Streaming on the Internet Lecture 13 IP Video Networking Basics Required Readings Simpson, Video Over IP, 2008 (Chapter 5, pp ) Oct. 8 Oct. 13 Homework Story Boards for Midterm Presentation Due at 11 a.m. Lecture 14 No Lecture Video Lab #2 Due at 5 p.m. Lecture 15 Video Into IP Packets Simpson, Video Over IP, 2008 (Chapter 6, pp ) 5

6 Oct. 15 Oct. 20 Lecture 16 Midterm Project Presentations Lecture 17 The Emergence of Online Television Waterman, et al, The Economics of Online Television: Revenue Models, Aggregation, and 'TV Everywhere', August 15, 2012 (on D2L) Pierce, All Sports Everything (read and watch videos) at Oct. 22 Oct. 27 Homework Distribute Video Lab #3 (Due 10/29) Lecture 18 The Economics of Online Television (Part II) Unit 3: Emergent Issues of Internet Video Lecture 19 Modern User Interfaces for Video Special Guest Lecturer: Steve Glennon, Principal Architect in Advanced Technology Group Oct Blog posts written by Steve Glennon at Lecture 20 Digital Transition and Incentive Auctions FCC Staff Summary, The Broadcast Television Incentive Auction, 2015 (on D2L) Nov. 3 Video Lab #3 Due at 5 p.m. Lecture 21 Emerging IP Devices Special Guest Lecturer: Steve Glennon, Principal Architect in Advanced Technology Group Nov. 5 One-page Final Project presentation proposal due Distribute Video Lab #4 (Due 11/12) Lecture 22 Digital Content Protection Special Guest Lecturer: Jim Alexander, Director of Engineering, Charter Communications Nagra Kudelsky, The Impact of MovieLabs Enhanced 6

7 Content Protection Specification on Pay-TV Service Providers, Redefining Content Security Series White Paper Series (October, 2015) Nov. 10 Lecture 23 Online Competition: Disaggregation and the Fight for Consumers The Television Industry s Red Wedding Is Here, BuzzFeed News, October 20, 2014 at Distribute Video Lab #5 (Due 11/19) Video Lab #4 Due Nov. 12 Lecture 24 Video Accessibility on the Internet Special Guest Lecturer Blake Reid, Assistant Clinical Professor, Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law & Policy Clinic, Colorado Law School Nov. 17 Lecture 25 Content Distribution Networks Required Readings Ooyala, Global Video Index, Q Conviva, Viewer Experience Report, Q Nov. 19 Lecture 26 Broadband Usage Trends Special Guest Lecturer: Jason Schnitzer, Founder and CEO, Applied Broadband Required Readings Sandvine Global Internet Phenomena Report Latin America & North America (pp. 3-4), May 2015 Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, (pp. 5 [table 1], pp. 9 [Table 10], pp. 11 [Table 14]) Dec. 1 Video Lab #5 Due Story Boards for Final Project Presentation Due at 11 a.m. Lecture 27 Privacy and Tracking Privacy and Tracking in a Post-Cookie World, White Paper by the Interactive Advertising Bureau Scott Gilbertson, W3C's failed Do Not Track crusade 7

8 Dec. 3 Dec. 8 Dec. 10 Dec. 15 tumbles to ad-blockers' Vietnam, The Register, July 29, 2015 at _water/ Lecture 28 Streaming Video and Media Players Simpson, Video Over IP, 2008 (Chapter 8, pp ) Lecture 29 The Future of Video Final Project Presentations Final Exam between 1:30 p.m. 4:00 p.m. University Policies Policy on Academic Honesty. All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (honor@colorado.edu; ). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Additional information regarding the Honor Code policy can be found online and at the Honor Code Office. Religious Obligations. Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. In this class, students with religious obligations that conflict with a test or other assignment should contact the instructor at least two weeks in advance to arrange an alternative time or assignment. See full details at Classroom and Course-Related Behavior. Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, color, culture, religion, creed, politics, veteran s status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. For more information, see the policies on classroom behavior and the student code. Policy on Discrimination and Harassment. The University of Colorado Boulder (CU- Boulder) is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment. CU-Boulder will not tolerate acts of discrimination or harassment based 8

9 upon Protected Classes or related retaliation against or by any employee or student. For purposes of this CU-Boulder policy, "Protected Classes" refers to race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation or political philosophy. Individuals who believe they have been discriminated against should contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) at or the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (OSC) at Information about the OIEC, the above referenced policies, and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be found at the OIEC website. The full policy on discrimination and harassment contains additional information. Students with Disabilities. If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to your professor a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner (for exam accommodations provide your letter at least one week prior to the exam) so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact Disability Services at or by at dsinfo@colorado.edu. If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see Temporary Injuries guidelines under the Quick Links at the Disability Services website and discuss your needs with your professor. 9