The Inlet Blog

Sony Offers Video-Downloading
Sony began offering a video-downloading service for its PS3, part of its aim to broaden its audience and grab a piece of the growing content-downloading market.

Microsoft Gives Xbox a Big Push
Netflix will bring 10,000 movies and TV shows to Xbox Live subscribers, doubling the number that had been available previously.

Amazon Plans an Online Store for Movies and TV Shows
Customers of Amazon’s Video on Demand will be able to start watching 40,000 movies and TV programs immediately after ordering, because the content streams.

Google’s YouTube in Lions Gate Film Clips Deal
Lions Gate, home to movies like Oscar winner “Crash,” appears to have an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach towards YouTube.

Babelgum Establishes U.S. Presence
Ethan Podell, Babelgum’s new US President said, “’Babelgum is about delivering programming and communities to those who are not interested in UGC or re-cycled network shows.”

Whichever Screen, People Are Watching
The first in a series of new “3-screen” reports by Nielsen shows an emerging shift toward a video-centric use of the Internet, but not at the expense of TV.

Turner, Yahoo! Sports Enter Content and Advertising Deal
Turner will represent online advertising sales for Yahoo! Sports’ NBA, golf and NASCAR pages; Yahoo will gain access to Turner sports content.

Online-Video Best-Practices Code to Debut
American University came up with a code of best practices to help determine what constitutes fair use of copyrighted content.

Tech Players Push TV-Web Convergence
Sony, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Netflix are investing to develop technologies that will challenge traditional programming distribution. At stake is $64 B in annual advertising revenue.

CNN Gets UGC Foothold with “iReport” Feature
iReport generates a powerful “citizen journalist” opportunity for newshounds and video amateurs to help shape the news, not just passively watch it.

by Neal Page

In a recent conversation with Jupiter’s analyst Bobby Tulsani, I was pleased to hear him sound as bullish on the future of broadband video as I am. He said, “Emulate the TV experience? Sure. But it’s got to be more than that, right? The internet is going to SURPASS the user experience of the TV – with things like interactivity and accessibility to content.”

That’s not a far-fetched concept for people like me who were around in the earliest days of video on the web. At first we did web streaming just because we could. We were technologists (i.e. geeks), and getting video to play over the net was just plain cool. Once successful, our question was, “Yeah, but will anyone ever want to watch this?” The picture was far from pretty, and puny to boot – you could tell it was video, but just barely. In the last 3-5 years, as streaming technology progressed and bandwidth to the home increased, it has become clear that people will indeed watch video online.

Then the question became, “OK, but will they PAY?” The industry still assumes that the TV is King, and web video is the red-haired step child that will always be playing catch-up and generate a meager secondary revenue stream at best, or maybe just be good enough to drive viewers back to the TV set, where they can watch bigger and better and take in all those high-dollar commercials at the same time.

But like me, Bobby apparently sees the PC as a wondrous and compelling entertainment phenomenon in its own right. Thanks to brilliant encoding solutions (and other cool technology) the online picture keeps getting more gorgeous, but quality isn’t the only thing that broadband video has to offer. As Bobby said, accessibility to content is Benefit #1. It is now generally accepted that people are willing to pay for certain niche types of content (“long-tail content”) that they can’t get elsewhere. A more recent but also accepted concept is that of time and place shifting – viewers now want to be in the drivers’ seat, and watch their content on THEIR schedule – not on the networks’. A DVR can give you time shifting. Only a laptop or mobile device can give you place-shifting. Advertising models on-line are effective as well.

Bobby’s second point, about interactivity, is really the kicker. This is where the PC can whip the TV’s butt – can move far BEYOND the user experience of traditional broadcast. Online video enables response, action, engagement – not just the couch potato stare. Combine the interactivity with the accessibility, and you have the wave of the future. Granted, the 10′ couch experience will continue for sure, but IP interactivity and the business models and technologies that support these functionalities will become major driving forces in our industry. This will change the fundamental economics of the media and entertainment industry. Examples are starting to proliferate and I will highlight several in a series of follow-up blogs this month.

In conclusion: while Television remains King of video today, watch closely as internet TV makes a move from second fiddle to the first chair.

A Movie on Your TV at Home, Before You Can Rent It
In an industry first, Sony Pictures’ “Hancock” will be available over the Internet before release on DVD, if the viewer owns a Sony Bravia TV with a Web connection.

Disney.com Breaks Records With “Camp Rock” Online Streaming Event
The online event attracted 863,000 video plays and increased traffic to Disney.com by 37% (6/23/08 vs. 6/22/08).

Google and Creator of ‘Family Guy’ Strike a Deal
In September, Seth MacFarlane will unveil a carefully guarded project called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy,” an animation series exclusively for the Internet.

Technicolor, NBC ink deal
NBC Universal has flipped the Denver-based broadcast distribution center it bought last year, striking a deal with Technicolor, which is taking over international distribution of many of Uni’s channels.

Bayreuth festival offers opera online
Germany’s annual Bayreuth opera festival will be streamed live over the Internet, but the catch is the price - $77.

by Neal Page

Online sports applications are really paving the way for enhanced user-controlled experiences that can surpass that of a standard television experience. Major League Baseball online (MLBAM) is one of the leaders, for sure, but another customer of ours, Cross Media Ventures in the Netherlands, is also taking a swing at it. They are broadcasting Wimbledon online, and as you can see by the snapshot, they have a nice user interface with the consumer in-control of what they would like to watch. (Please don’t ask me to translate the Dutch!)