[opendtv] Disconnected / As the variety of internet video programming increases and more outlets offer broadcast favorites, cutting ties with cable isn't as hard as it sounds

[Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Disconnected
As the variety of internet video programming increases and more 
outlets offer broadcast favorites, cutting ties with cable isn't as 
hard as it sounds

By Carolyn Y. Johnson , Globe Staff  |  June 8, 2008
The Boston Globe

A few months ago, I abandoned the couch and began spending evenings 
hunched over my laptop watching television.

I won't lie: My desk chair doesn't compare to the couch, the video 
sometimes hiccups at pivotal moments, and I missed everything that 
happened on this season's "Top Chef."

But what began as a simple experiment in testing out online video 
offerings has become a life change. Last week, I broke up with my 
cable company.

I started out with the premise that for all its hype and wacky 
two-minute clips on YouTube, online video would pale in comparison to 
TV. But with broadcast networks, Comcast, and a slew of start-ups 
stepping into the online video market, the Internet is inching 
towards its promise as the ultimate form of on-demand programming.

The number of videos viewed online has increased 60 percent over the 
past year, from 7.2 billion videos in January 2007 to more than 11.5 
billion this March, according to comScore, a digital measurement 
firm. Most of that viewing is short clips. In March, the average 
online video viewed was 2.8 minutes long, and the average viewer 
watched 235 minutes.

But a study by market research and consulting firm Horowitz 
Associates in Larchmont, N.Y., late last year found the number of 
viewers who reported watching full episodes of TV shows in 2007 
doubled from 2006, with 16 percent of high-speed Internet users 
reporting watching online TV on a weekly basis.

...

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/06/08/disconnected/

 
 
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[opendtv] Disconnected / As the variety of internet video programming increases and more outlets offer broadcast favorites, cutting ties with cable isn't as hard as it sounds