National cable TV set-top boxes will be upgraded and upgraded, and governance work will be completed by the end of next year

TV "doll" fees refer to the basic service fees paid by users when purchasing a TV or connecting to a cable TV network. When purchasing paid channels, on-demand services, or other value-added services, users also face problems such as multiple charging items and endless charging patterns. The combination of various fee items, like Russian dolls, is also known as TV "dolls" charging. Since more than a month of carrying out the work of regulating the charging and complex operation of TV "dolls", "watching live streaming on startup" has become a reality in many pilot areas.

Multiple charging items, complex remote control operation, and elderly people calling it "difficult to watch TV"

Recently, the State Administration of Radio and Television, in collaboration with relevant units such as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration of Market Regulation, held a mobilization and deployment meeting to address the complex charging and operation of TV "dolls", requiring pilot work and special rectification to be carried out by the end of this year.

Some elderly people say, "Watching TV is boring, watching TV is difficult." Open a certain network TV set-top box, which not only allows you to watch live TV broadcasts, but also collects a large amount of film and television resources from major internet companies' video platforms. Except for some of these contents that are free, a large part of them need to be recharged as members to watch.

Testing with a gold member of a certain internet video platform with an annual fee of 258 yuan, it will be found that this level of membership can only be used on mobile phones, tablets, and computer pages. To use it on TV, an additional 50 cents per day is required to upgrade the membership.

For the problem of TV "dolls" charging, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has carried out research on cable TV, IPTV and Internet TV covering the whole country. Seven pilot units, including Beijing Gehua Cable, Shanghai Mobile IPTV, Galaxy Internet plus Xiaomi TV, Huashu+Hisense TV, have been selected to reduce film and television charging packages, achieve consumption transparency, and increase the supply of high-quality free content through pilot governance. At present, preliminary results have been achieved. This round of pilot plan will end at the end of October this year, and after that, centralized rectification will be carried out nationwide. It is expected that by the end of this year, the overall fee package for television across the country will be reduced by more than 40%.

Switching on and off multiple times with the remote control requires a maximum of 11 steps to locate the live streaming entrance

During the interview, the reporter found that many smart TV and set-top box designs have varying degrees of operational complexity issues. When users turn on the TV, they need to operate many steps on the remote control, and even switch multiple times to find the live TV channel they want to watch, which seriously affects the viewing experience.

Sheng Zhifan, Vice President of the Broadcasting and Television Science Research Institute of the State Administration of Radio and Television, said that it is difficult to find an entrance to watch live broadcasts on TV screens now, and users often have to go through a series of operations. We have calculated that it takes up to 11 steps to find the entrance to watch the live broadcast.

He introduced that some smart TVs default to their own interactive page when turned on, and even if users install a cable TV set-top box, switching to TV viewing mode still requires complex operations.

After pilot governance in Beijing, Shandong and other places, watching TV is easier

According to the deployment of the State Administration of Radio and Television, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration of Market Regulation and other relevant units, to manage the complex work of charging and operating TV "dolls", it is necessary to vigorously improve the user experience of watching TV when starting up by the end of this year, and basically achieve the goal of watching live TV channels when cable TV and IPTV start up.

At present, pilot governance work has been carried out in multiple places such as Beijing and Shandong.

Beijing is a pilot area for the regulation of TV "dolls" charging and complex operation. Currently, more than 5 million Gehua cable users in Beijing have achieved "live streaming on startup". Zhejiang Huashu Media Company has basically completed the design, development, and finalization of 4K intelligent terminals and high-definition terminal products, and automatically enters the full screen live streaming interface without operation after 20 seconds of startup. Shanghai, Guangdong, and Shandong have upgraded nearly 5 million existing terminals to achieve "live streaming on startup".

Mr. Ma, who lives in Haidian District, Beijing, said that he recently opened his own Gehua Cable TV and found that the startup interface had changed. If he wants to watch live TV, he only needs to press the "OK" or "Exit" button on the remote control, or wait for a moment, and the TV will switch to the full screen live channel.

Mr. Ma, a resident of Beijing, said, "I think this is much more convenient than before. It turned out to be too cumbersome, especially for us elderly people. I also had to have two remote control boards." Mr. Ma's operation was simpler than before, because the "minimalist TV" system piloted by Gehua Cable in Beijing displays more than half of the live TV channel on the startup page. Users only need to press the "OK" or "Exit" button on the remote control, You can enter the full screen mode of the live TV channel. Even without any button operation, the TV will automatically enter full screen live mode after 20 seconds. In addition, users can also set the system settings to "Start up and enter live streaming", which allows them to directly enter full screen live streaming without going through the main page when starting up.

Dong Yuan, Assistant General Manager of Gehua Cable, introduced that the access to live streaming channels has been greatly simplified. In the process of browsing other pages, and even playing and watching back, using the new remote control to "watch TV with one click", you can enter the service state of full screen live streaming with one click, making it more convenient for everyone to watch TV itself. Let watching TV return to minimalism and the function of watching TV itself.

In addition, in order to standardize fees, Gehua Cable's "minimalist TV" not only reduces the fee package for paid products, but also displays a unified list of subscribed members in the TV business hall section of the startup homepage, fully displaying the amount and expiration time of all members subscribed by TV users, making their consumption entries clear and visible.

In Hunan, China Radio and Television Hunan Company launched a free content zone to help silver haired people achieve "freedom to watch TV"; In Shanghai, Shanghai Mobile IPTV has optimized the charging page by clearly marking the paid programs, adding a single pay zone entrance, a free zone entrance, and a channel live streaming review entrance

Nearly 200 million cable TV set-top boxes nationwide will be upgraded or replaced one after another

According to statistics, the number of cable TV set-top boxes in China has reached nearly 200 million, with a variety of models and versions. In this governance work, upgrades and replacements need to be gradually completed.

Wan Tao, Deputy General Manager of China Radio and Television Network Co., Ltd., introduced that the key difficulty in simplifying TV operation is the software upgrade of set-top boxes. Currently, there are basically problems with inconsistent technical standards and complex model versions of set-top boxes in cable TV networks. Currently, there are approximately 300 models, which require a longer research and testing time. Some set-top boxes have been running on the internet for 10 years and do not have the ability to upgrade software. Therefore, it is necessary to coordinate the replacement of the entire machine. According to the deployment of upgrading and upgrading cable TV set-top boxes, China Radio and Television is expected to complete the pilot project by the end of October this year and fully complete the governance work by the end of 2024.

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Three TV network access methods: Cable TV IPTVOTT

In addition to cable TV ports, this governance work also includes IPTV and OTT internet TV, and all three major network access ports need to be comprehensively investigated and rectified.

Buying a TV is like buying a mobile phone, and when you buy it back, you usually first need to "connect" it to the internet. At present, there are three widely used TV viewing methods in China, namely cable TV, IPTV, and OTT.

Cable TV can provide programs from over 100 live television channels of China Central Radio and Television Corporation and provincial, municipal, and county television stations. In addition to live streaming channels, it also has the functions of watching on-demand and watching back.

IPTV, also known as Interactive Network Television, is responsible for program transmission by well-known companies such as China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile. The viewing fees in some regions are included in the broadband package fees. IPTV can also watch live TV broadcasts, on-demand broadcasts, replays, as well as online shopping, online games, etc., which can be said to have a strong sense of network. The services provided by operators in different regions are different, and some IPTVs in certain regions are temporarily unable to provide all live TV channels.

OTT is internet television. As long as users connect to the broadband network, they can listen to and watch programs through the application software on the smart TV. For example, many TV manufacturers launch boxes that belong to OTT services. Open OTT internet TV, and various film and television content is very rich, including free and paid ones, where you can get what you need for on-demand playback.

The regulation of TV "dolls" charges and operations is complex, requiring the joint participation of the broadcasting and communication industries, as well as television manufacturers, internet video platforms, and other parties.

Compiled by: Chen Xin Source: Xinhua News Agency, CCTV News Client, People's Daily