I"P"TV (P is for Porn)

So where is this all heading? Well think of it this way...there's this whole boat of new technologies floating around and what happens when there are new methods to deliver content? Decentralization of traditional media forces? Well, maybe. Tech companies make a killing in the stock market? Yeah, probably. Porn? Definitely. That's right boys and girls (hey, 50% of the internet porn market is for women), porn is taking the lead in content deliver schemes yet again.

Take XTV for example. These guys give you a box that uses your cable or dsl broadband to deliver 70 channels of porn directly to your TV for $30/month! Yeah you heard me...70 channels. They even offer a free trial! (enter code: ppv100801 to get 2 free pay per view movies with your free trial). I couldn't believe this when I saw it in this month's Maxim magazine, but it makes perfect sense. Microsoft and SBC along with a large handful of companies around the world are trying to get IPTV off the ground and porn takes the lead. This is just like when broadband came about...porn distributors were all over it while the big boys have been trying to figure it out and have started offering content online. I even saw a CNBC interview with the CEO of Vivid video (the largest producer and distriutor of porn) say that he's all over offering video to the mobile broadband space and is even trying to get on the iTunes Music Store! iTunes "After Dark" anyone?

Cable wants IPTV too.

While IPTV has been seen mostly as an invasion of the Telcos into your living room (and a friendly knock on the door to cable and sattelite TV companies), Time Warner, provider of Cable TV services thinks they may like to have IPTV too. They've launched an IPTV Trial in San Diego using PCs with RealPlayer as the delivery mechanism (if all goes well, they plan to switch to set top boxes).

I'm not sure why Time Warner is thinking of moving away from their established cable TV services, but I think it may be so they can actually go beyond the living room with their content. As broadband speeds improve (not just wired, but WiMax, EVDO, as well), TV may be coming to you just about anywhere you go (for better or worse). SBC's initially challenge is to bring TV to your living room over their pipes, but they have to figure that "hey, cable and sattelite operators already do that, why would someone choose our TV service over the established players?" The answer of course is the flexibility afforded to the consumer that comes with delievery over IP. It'd make it even easier to bring TV content along in different formats as you roam the globe. It also provides a way to break away from the established media giants completely and latch on to shows produced by your local professional underwater basketweaving team. The cable and sattelite companies, seeing and probably fearing this shift away from their coveted "exclusive, pre-filtered" content have begun searching in the dark for the golden hammer that will slay the telco monster invading their territory. See? Who said competition is bad?

Anyway, this is all heresay and conjecture on my behalf...if you have a theory, please share!

may have a little something to say about that. The way they see it is people want to watch TV on their PCBlogola » Time Warner Launches IPTV Trial in San Diego

Bloomberg Live TV online

An email discussion group at work pointed me to a free, live stream for Bloomberg TV. Not only is it live, but it works on MSN TV 2 (they even have a 56Kbps stream for those stuck in dialup land). This growing trend of releasing content online leads me to wonder if the coming IPTV revolution won't be much of a revolution after all.

IPTV is a new means of content delivery and adds some neat features, but maybe that's not where the TV revolution is heading. It's starting to look like IPTV is just another delivery medium with the same old content. Sure, it'll have snazzier menus, the ability to preview different channels at the same time, and other incremental evolutions in the TV watching experience, but is it really going to revolutionize TV? Maybe, but I have a different theory.

The medium itself is truly going to become irrelevant. Cable, Sattelite, DSL (IPTV)...it's all going to be irrelevant sooner or later. The content is simply going to go online. Content creators and publishers will be able to bypass the gatekeepers that are the cable, sattelite, IPTV networks and reach their niche markets directly. The Long Tail theory that is about to downsize the music business and pretty much shut down brick and mortar music stores is about to breakdown the walls between those that create content and those that consume it.

Another interesting phenomennon will occur if TV really starts making inroads to the Internet: we'll remove a restrictive dimension of TV content consumption: location. The other restrictive dimension is, of course, time (which Tivo and other PVRs have done away with already. We'll no longer watch TV just at home, the traditional TV watching venue. This phenomenon has been around for ages with portable analog TVs, but adoption has been very marginal due to lack of compelling programming (no cable/sattelite feeds), and cheesy technology that is diffcult to use (ever try to get and keep a signal with one of those things?). What about Portable Media Center devices that came out a couple of years ago? Weren't those supposed to remove the location restriction for TV? Yes, but that didn't work out for similar reasons...the barrier to get from content locked on my PC to roaming free with me on my Portable Media Center was too high in time and cost.

What if we removed those barriers? TV is just there, online. Anyone with a PC and broadband connection can watch whatever, whenever. Those with dialup, well...maybe they can download shows overnight, but I'd have to say that's not going to be an attractive solution for them. Better yet, what if cell phones and other handheld devices could watch these shows? Don't laugh, it's happening in Europe and Asia right now. There are even competing technologies in the space mobile TV space. It's starting to happen here as well, but slowly (as usual). I've tried the Sprint tv broadcasts with some limited success, but overall, it's sucked (the content was just canned 30 second news clips...I want to watch an episode of the Simpsons on my cell phone gosh darnit!).

Combined with wifi, EVDO, and other enabling technologies, we may be on the cusp of something bigger than even the almighty iPod...a truly location-free TV (sorry Sony).

Anyway, to reel it back in, check out all the free Bloomberg goodness streaming live now.

PBS Leading the Way

In yet another wave in the coming sea of change for television and other content, PBS will unveil a TV series called NerdTV obtainable ONLY via the web. You'll be able to download and watch it at your own convenience. Far out! They claim to be the first major broadcaster to do this. I think it's true. The BBC was going to do something akin to this a while back, but I don't think it's materialized yet. The BBC does have their VideoNation site which has tons of little clips (in RealPlayer format, yuck!) so that's kinda nice. But we want the downloadable stuff!

The guys at Rev3 have it absolutely right with their awesome geekery and downloadable shows. The best guys from the old days of TechTV (now gobbled up by G4TV) have banded together to make some cool shows like Systm and thebroken.

At any rate, kudos to PBS for making the leap. Link.

TV Moves to the Internet

In not-so-subtle moves, traditional television content providers are moving to the Internet to distribute their content. It seems that CBS News is going to clips from their newscasts and even plans to break news on the Internet as opposed to waiting for their TV time slot. This is no doubt in lieu of trying to create a 24 hour news channel like CNN, MSNBC, or FOX News (if that can even be called "news"). There was also information about Amazon planning to offer streaming concert videos! Woohoo! I guess even less people will be going to concerts if they can see it for free (or get them free with purchase) at Amazon. Link

SBC forges ahead

Techdirt:SBC Plows Ahead With IPTV, Dares Opponents To Sue

SBC is forging ahead with their hopes of "owning the pipe" for TV eventhough they may get sued quite a few times all over the place. TV is getting more interesting everyday.