VideoNuze Posts

Yesterday’s announcement from CBS that it has formed the CBS Interactive Audience Network, and partnered with AOL, Microsoft, CNET, Comcast, Joost, Bebo, Brightcove, Netvibes, Sling Media and Veoh provides even more discussion material for the Super Session panel I’m moderating, which is coming up on Tuesday, April 17th at NAB 2007 (“The Revolutionizing Impact of Broadband Video”).

Comcast’s acquisition of Fandango is just off the wire, and my quick take is that it’s a winner for both companies.

From Comcast’s perspective, it looks like Fandango is going to anchor a new site named Fancast, which the company announced today as well, which will launch this summer. Comcast has been the sleeping the giant of the broadband video space. Though its Comcast.net traffic has grown strongly, the company has stood by while YouTube, MySpace, Apple, Amazon and others have pioneered new and important ground in delivering video over the open broadband Internet.

This paragraph from the press release was key:

“Fancast, which will launch this summer, will be a national entertainment site where people can search and discover television and movie content, while managing their viewing experience across multiple devices. With Fancast, consumers will be able to search for their favorite shows, movies, actors and actresses, or simply enjoy the video content on the site. Fancast will provide consumers with a place to discover when their favorite shows or movies are "on," and where they can view them via television, video-on-demand, online or on other device.”

My bet is that Fancast is a going to be a video-rich site that will also incorporate assets from E!, which is also a Comcast property. Everyone I speak to at the portals says that entertainment/celebrity-oriented material is their best-viewed video. Comcast has a great shot at defining a new entertainment portal that can also serve content to disparate devices. With Comcast (and other MSOs) now moving in the quad-play direction, thinking about video on screens other than just the TV, is critical. It’s great to see Comcast joining the action.

Last night I watched "Thank You For Smoking" (great movie by the way) courtesy of Amazon Unbox and TiVo. I took advantage of the companies' recent announcement which lets TiVo owners choose to have their Unbox videos delivered directly to their TiVos. The whole experience was seamless - linking my Amazon and TiVo accounts, selecting the movie in Unbox, downloading it, watching it, etc. My only complaint is that it was available for only 24 hours after starting it, which is obviously a studio issue, not an Amazon or TiVo issue. However, for the sheer "video-on-demand" spontaneity of finding a movie while already online, and then watching it shortly after, it's hard to beat this.

David Pogue at the NYTimes had a great article this week extolling all of the innovations the TiVo has come out with. TiVo is the like the little engine that could. Even with cable and satellite operators rolling out DVR capabilities in their set tops, TiVo continues to set the bar for innovation.

Let’s see if the cable and satellite folks keep pace.

I was talking to a reporter earlier today, who asked me if traditional media companies should view broadband video as a threat.

It’s often tempting to think of anything new or any change as being threatening. That’s probably human nature. So it’s perfectly understandable why broadband video is still perceived as a threat by many.

But in fact, broadband is a giant opportunity.

Here’s a great example. CNNMoney.com launched a new Luxury “channel” on its site. This gives CNNMoney a place to grab the attention of high net worth audiences. By showcasing products with glossy video that luxury products companies and retailers want to be next to, CNNMoney is able to tap into new ad dollars in a targeted way. Could Turner have launched a conventional cable channel on “luxury”? Not a chance. There’s no room left on the dial and financing a 24x7 linear network would take big bucks until it eventually got to break-even.

Broadband lets Turner/CNN get into an important new category for a modest amount, leveraging their brand and traffic to generate new revenues.

I keep saying that media companies should view broadband as not only an opportunity, but one of the biggest ones they seen in ages. CNNMoney seems to get it.

Both are great examples of NBC taking modest, yet important steps, in tapping broadband video’s potential to unleash viewers’ passions for these two shows. As many of you who have been reading my newsletters over the last few months, I’ve been critical of the networks’ paucity of broadband-centric interactivity. NBC has a big social networking initiative launching this summer as well.

Stephen Wildstrom, who writes the "Technology and You" column in BusinessWeek echoes a point this week ("AppleTV's Blurry Future") about AppleTV that I made back in my 12/06 e-newsletter ("7 Broadband Video Trends for 2007"). At that time I suggested that for Apple's device to be a real winner, it needed to embrace a content strategy that was open to all broadband video, not just limited to what's available in iTunes.

Wildstrom similarly highlights this point. For now, AppleTV is a niche product, appealing only to those consumers ready to spend $300 to get iTunes video to their TVs. The big win for Apple would be to have a box that is easily capable of playing the 99% of video consumed daily that is not available in iTunes. That's what consumers are craving - an easy way of watching broadband video in the comfort of their living rooms. My guess is Apple knows this and will soon offer this feature as well.