[opendtv] NeTVs Really Are the 'Next Big Thing'

My reaction is, now let's see how royally the TV industry will screw this up.

This quote:

"In fact, some viewers are dropping their cable channel lineups and opting for 
a less-expensive mix of free, over-the-air HDTV programs, Internet video 
channels, and streaming movies from Netflix and Blockbuster's On Demand 
service."

is something the FCC needs to measure, before being so eager to dismantle OTA 
TV.

Screw it up how? Like this:

"Currently, none of these NeTVs or Internet-connected DVRs can access Hulu, 
which is the second-most popular Internet video site. And that's not likely to 
change any time soon as Disney, NBC Universal, and Fox would prefer viewers 
continue to watch their shows on conventional TV channels, preserving audiences 
and advertising revenue.

"Even so, Comcast-the soon-to-be owner of NBC-has already suggested making Hulu 
a subscription service in the near future, in which case implementing a Hulu 
widget might make more sense financially. And viewers might be OK with that: In 
another recent Nielsen broadband video survey, 43 percent of respondents said 
an easy micropayment method would make them more likely to pay for online 
content."

Which glosses over the fact that the majority think it's still a bad idea. And 
the rest are probably the same people who helped get us into this financial 
mess.

Bert

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http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/97522

NeTVs Really Are the 'Next Big Thing'
by Pete Putman, 03.31.2010

DOYLESTOWN, PA.

It was difficult to avoid 3D at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. There 
were numerous demonstrations of direct-view 3D, employing plasma and LCD 
display technology, and projected 3D, shown on LCoS and DLP platforms. Booth 
after booth was stuffed with passive and active shutter glasses. 2D-to-3D 
converters were also popular, as were demonstrations of wireless 3D and 
"hands-free" operation of 3DTV sets.

It's clear that TV manufacturers are pinning their hopes for future TV sales 
growth on stereoscopic imaging. But 3D isn't for everyone, and a lot of the 3D 
content acquisition, post, and delivery chain has yet to be standardized.

For me, the real news at CES was the continued growth of Internet-connected 
TVs, or NeTVs as I've come to call them. A NeTV is simply a conventional LCD or 
plasma HDTV that is also equipped with a wired LAN or 802.11 wireless 
connection, and which has its channel menu populated with Internet 
"widgets"-small icons that take the viewer directly to a broadband video source.

MORE THAN JUST A FAD

NeTVs started to appear a couple of years ago. Using wired Ethernet ports 
exclusively, the viewer could navigate to specialized broadband video and audio 
content from content providers USA Today, Yahoo, and YouTube. Not long after, 
connections to NetFlix (video streaming) and Amazon (digital downloads) were 
added.

It quickly became apparent that NeTVs were more than just a fad. Parks 
Associate predicted that over 400,000 of them would be sold by the end of 
December 2009, but my sources within TV manufacturing companies put the figure 
much higher-well over 1 million. In fact, research firm iSuppli claimed that 
over 27 percent of all new TVs purchased this past January had Internet 
connections, and they predict that by 2013, more than 85 million will be in use 
worldwide.

So, who's watching? Nielsen Online reported in January that nearly 138 million 
Americans watched some sort of online video in December of 2009, an increase of 
10 percent over the previous year. And those viewers streamed more than 10.8 
billion videos, up 11 percent from 2008.

Why are NeTVs so popular? For one thing, they open up a big new world of 
Internet video viewing experiences at no additional cost to the viewer, aside 
from Netflix membership or Amazon program purchase fees. All you need is a 
broadband connection, and you're in business! And Internet video supplements 
existing cable and terrestrial HD and SD channels.

In fact, some viewers are dropping their cable channel lineups and opting for a 
less-expensive mix of free, over-the-air HDTV programs, Internet video 
channels, and streaming movies from Netflix and Blockbuster's On Demand service.

CORD-CUTTING

This paradigm, popularly known as "cord cutting," currently represents a very 
small number of households and is largely motivated by economic concerns. But 
it caught the attention of cable giant Comcast, which recently launched "watch 
anywhere" Internet versions of its conventional channel packages for 
subscribers.

Interest in viewing Web video has also been driven by Ethernet-equipped Blu-ray 
players from Samsung, Sony, and LG, along with TiVo's HD and Premiere DVRs. The 
most popular sites for viewing on these devices are YouTube (no surprise there) 
and Netflix, where standard definition video content can be streamed in real 
time.

TiVo's DVRs enable digital downloads of true HD movies and TV shows, using 
1080p resolution and H.264 encoding. Vudu, another purveyor of HD movies and TV 
programs over broadband, was recently acquired by Wal-Mart as the retail giant 
shifts its focus away from packaged DVD sales to downloads and streaming.

At CES, Samsung announced their version of a TV widget "app store," where 
customers will be able to download content apps for Samsung TVs, Blu-ray 
players, and home theater systems via the company's Internet@TV - Content 
Service.

Not to be outdone, LG introduced the first Blu-ray disc player equipped with a 
DVR, which can download HD movies from Vudu and other Web video services. Vizio 
and Sony are also bundling widgets on 2010 TVs and BD players.

Currently, none of these NeTVs or Internet-connected DVRs can access Hulu, 
which is the second-most popular Internet video site. And that's not likely to 
change any time soon as Disney, NBC Universal, and Fox would prefer viewers 
continue to watch their shows on conventional TV channels, preserving audiences 
and advertising revenue.

Even so, Comcast-the soon-to-be owner of NBC-has already suggested making Hulu 
a subscription service in the near future, in which case implementing a Hulu 
widget might make more sense financially. And viewers might be OK with that: In 
another recent Nielsen broadband video survey, 43 percent of respondents said 
an easy micropayment method would make them more likely to pay for online 
content.

BEYOND OPTICAL

There are other market impacts. The steady decline in sales of packaged media 
(DVDs) over the past five years is being accelerated by NeTVs and video 
streaming, which is precisely why Wal-Mart and Best Buy are shrinking retail 
floor space for optical discs and shifting their focus to streaming and 
downloads.

How do NeTVs affect traditional over-the-air broadcasting? It's hard to say. 
But in a paper I presented at the 2009 SMPTE Tech Expo, I suggested that savvy 
DTV stations should be developing and offering their own content widgets as a 
way to keep viewers on-channel. A breaking news story might only get three or 
four minutes of coverage at 11 p.m., but viewers could easily click on that 
station's widget and go to the associated Web site for more details on the 
story.

The station widget could also provide a return path "ping" for more accurate 
audience measurement, a "Holy Grail" for station GMs. Combined with return 
paths on the nascent ATSC-MH services, DTV stations could then present a more 
compelling case to advertisers while providing a rich, cross-platform media 
experience that cable and direct-broadcast satellite companies would surely 
envy.

NeTVs could also serve as a platform to download content and then sideload it 
to mobile devices, such as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android. Most new TVs 
are equipped with USB ports and many have provisions for connecting flash 
memory, ostensibly to view photos and listen to MP3 audio files. It wouldn't 
take much to make those connections run in the opposite direction.

And NeTVs will have an impact on CableLabs' tru2way integrated cable box system 
that has been shown intermittently at CES the past few years. Not a single TV 
manufacturer is building tru2way into any of their 2010 models. Instead, 
they're concentrating on implementing 802.11n connectivity, which will fuel 
even more demand for these products. (As for 3D, it too can be delivered over 
broadband connections to NeTVs and Blu-ray players.)

In retrospect, Bill Gates had it all wrong: People don't want to watch TV on 
their computers-they just want to watch Internet video on their TVs, (and 
Blu-ray players, and DVRs, and mobile phones, and gaming consoles...)
 
 
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