The future of TV will be on the web
Enthusiasts bet that consumers — particularly affluent, tech-savvy ones who are cable and satellite companies' best customers — will take to Internet video. PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts sales of necessary high-speed connections to rocket past today's 35 million homes to 62 million in 2009( in the US). In recent weeks:
- Scripps, which owns Home & Garden Television (HGTV) and the Food Network, said it will launch 10 Web channels by the end of 2006, beginning with one for kitchen design.
- AOL, which recently served live video from Live 8 concerts, will partner in a joint venture announced Tuesday to offer live music and comedy online, as well as via satellite and other platforms. Also in the Network Live venture: XM Satellite Radio and Anschutz Corp.'s AEG, an arena owner and event promoter.
- At Viacom, cable channel Nickelodeon launched TurboNick, a Web site with episodes of cartoons including SpongeBob SquarePants and Rugrats. Viacom's VH1 also introduced VSpot, which will show the season opener of The Surreal Life before the TV channel.
- CNN ditched its nearly $5-a-month subscription fee to rely on ad support for a site with beefed-up programming. It plans a broader subscription service this fall.
"There's going to be television out the wazoo," CNN/US president Jonathan Klein says. He ran online video service The FeedRoom before CNN hired him last fall.
"It'll be pausable, searchable, with all the customizable on-demand advantages of the Internet. It's a future that's not very far away."
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thro' USA Today
Are there anything for bistro tables?
Posted by: Shawn | June 20, 2007 at 10:16 AM