The Future of Internet Television

By Tim McGuinness Ph.D. on February 4th, 2008

Enjoying both Internet video and regular TV from the same box is not a far-fetched idea. Despite the dust and confusion from the maneuvering of the major players in telecommunications, the future of Internet TV is getting clearer. In three years, 40% of US consumers will have some way of connecting their TV displays directly or indirectly to the Internet. In five years, 70% will be creating the foundation for a more stable market.

Ironically, the prime beneficiaries of this shift won’t be cable TV companies like Comcast even though they’re the ones pouring billions of dollars into building the high-speed bandwidth infrastructure that’s makes this upheaval so unstoppable. Cable’s traditional business model consists of a pre-packaged deal. Some channels are available a-la-carte for a price usually leaving the customer with limited options. Internet TV, on the other hand, requires too much time to roll out on a broad scale to capitalize on the melding of Internet video with television.

The drivers of the today’s Internet TV revolution are coming from a direction the carriers have failed to foresee. This revolution aims to address the three main areas:

First, Internet connectivity is quietly appearing on most high-end TV sets with the addition of Ethernet jacks by manufacturers. Initial uses of these jacks, for viewing family photos and home videos stored on a personal computer, are effectively opening a pathway between the TV and the Internet via the PC’s broadband connection. From there, new uses will emerge. Exciting new TV features typically migrate over time to lower-cost models, so we expect the number of homes with Ethernet jacks on their TVs to reach at least several million over the next few years.

Next, the emerging hybrid delivery model: free, over-the-air, digital broadcasts combined with on-demand delivery of premium content over a home broadband Internet connection. This mode connects TV and computer via a set-top box.

Finally, video games contribute the most promising of all areas. The latest generation of consoles already offers consumers both Internet access and the ability to display digital content on their TVs. At today’s rapid rate of adoption, we expect there will be 35 million TV-compatible gaming consoles in American homes by 2010, representing about one-third of all households. That is one huge market!

The Microsoft XBox 360 (Microsoft XBox 360 Gaming Console) coupled with XBOX Live already offers Movies and Video On Demand through the console game connected to the Internet. As storage increases on these gaming platforms, more and more of the consumer’s entertainment library will be stored on these devices. Even News.TigerDirect.com offers free videos and programming on demand from Hulu.com.

Exploring these areas and addressing their needs is the basic key for Internet TV to hit big time. Making sure that these areas are well taken care of will ensure mankind’s extreme viewing pleasure as he utilizes various kinds of entertainment all from the same source!

Contributor: Flare Rico, TigerDirect Correspondent

Source: TechNewsWorld