Interviews with Digital Media Thought Leaders

Third Generation Television: Second Catalyst

Podcast Video | Posted by Phil Leigh on January 19, 2009

If you would like to learn how the growing abundance of popular TV shows and movies at ad-supported websites is acting as a catalyst to mass market adoption of Internet-Video-to-the-TV, this video is for you.

Last week’s show discussed the concept of a “Media Controller” as the first catalyst that is driving the adoption of Third Generation Television. The initial version of a “Media Controller” is the commonly available laptop computer. In such a configuration, the TV functions as a giant monitor for the Internet-connected laptop thereby enabling users to watch Internet Video in a lean-back experience with remote mouse and keyboard.

The second catalyst is the growing abundance of TV shows and movies at ad-supported websites that are free to the viewer. For example, the major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) are posting many current and previously popular TV shows at places like www.hulu.com and on their own websites. Other websites like Veoh.com provide indexes that link to legitimately available TV shows and movies on the Net.

While a number of services (e.g. Amazon-Video-on-Demand) and appliance makers (e.g. Xbox) are starting to provide a “Walled Garden” of Internet-Video-to-the-TV, ultimately consumers will not be satisfied with limited access. Most have been surfing the Web for over ten years and will come to view a “Walled Garden” as a “Walled Prison”. Additionally, most of the movies and TV shows available from Amazon-Video-on-Demand, iTunes, CinemaNow, Xbox, and similar services require the consumer to pay a rental or purchase fee. Instead consumers are likely to have a decided preference for the free viewing of ad-supported websites and will only pay to rent or purchase recently-released motion pictures that are otherwise unavailable for free viewing.

Broadcast networks lead the way with TV shows on the Net because, unlike the Cable Networks (e.g. ESPN), they do not get paid “carry fees” by the CATV and Satellite TV operators. However, some of the Cable Networks are also placing shows on the Web. For example, Comedy Central offers both The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. Cable Network shows are likely to become even more evident on the Net in the future because many Cable Networks are dissatisfied with the level of “carry fees” as evidenced by the recent dispute between Time Warner Cable and Viacom.