Internet video is going to take over the world. We want unlimited choice. We want user generated content. We want our TV shows streamed to us. Give us the long tail. Please.
Because we want all of this magnificent video, we want, no we need to be able to hook up our computers to our brand new HDTVs. Of course its not that easy for non techies to get the internet video from the net, through your PC or router to your TV. But thats what we want.
Its exactly why Apple and others are coming out with product after product that transports that magical 100mbs of Youtube, AOL, Revver, Yahoo or whoever's video from your PC to your TV.
So the contrarian in me asked the question: "Should we look at taking the video in the other direction? ". Should we be sourcing video from traditional TV delivery options. Can user generated content be uploaded to cable or satellite companies and then delivered as regular TV to be played back from a settop box or DVR.
Your DVR, whether you know it or not is a PC. It has a hard drive that is probably as big as the hard drive in your PC. The one huge difference between your PC and your DVR is that the DVR has a user interface that is optimized to sort, select and display video content on your TV. In other words, dozens of companies are trying to create add on devices that will somehow make your PC act more like a DVR.
So why not just use the DVR ?
There is absolutely no reason why you couldnt subscribe from your DVR to a CBS "User Generated Content" feed that has the same content as what they offer to their Youtube Subscribers. The difference of course being its in TV or HDTV quality. The content would be delivered through your cable or satellite provider. There is no limit to the number of content providers , large or small that could offer subscriptions.
What about pure user generated content ? What about people's cat, kids and response videos ? Simple.
Comcast, DirecTV, Dish, Time Warner, Charter, Insight, Cox, any cable or satellite provider could easily offer a website that allows users to upload content the same way they upload to Youtube. One key difference is that they wouldnt have to limit the length or encoding quality of the content. Youtube and other sites that make their money selling ads around content, have to limit quality and length of video to minimize file sizes, which inturn minimize their bandwidth costs. Bandwidth costs are so expensive at the volumes Youtube streams, many have questioned their ability to cover those costs even with the constraints.
Traditional TV delivery methods however are multicast , as opposed to internet videos unicast approach to video delivery. In English, that means that the cable and satellite companies could take the uploaded videos and push them out to all DVRs of anyone who has subscribed receive those videos in a single stream. internet video requires 1 stream per person per video.
The user side would be incredibly simple.
If you subscribed to all of CBS videos, you get them. If you subscribed to all of NBCs video, you get them. If you subscribed to all of Universal Music's videos. You get them.
Or you could subscibe to all user uploaded videos that are in the comedy category. Or all user uploaded videos that are in the news category. Or you could subscribe to all the videos uploaded by Mark Cuban, or whoever. Or if your hard drive in your DVR was big enough, you could just subscribe to everything.,
If you subscribe to everything, it would be easy to have software that updated your DVR with just new offerings.
Basically, what would happen is that your DVR would act as your local server and rather than searching for videos on the net, you would search for them on your local DVR.
Of course there are challenges to this approach. It wont be easy to get users who upload things to go to cable and/or satellite sites to upload there instead or in addition to Youtube. So Youtube will probably have more content. This approach works best with content from the major media companies.
Plus there are general advantages to the Youtube approach. One of the cool things about Youtube is that it has so many videos that you can find almost anything. Youtube's current large inventory of videos would be a big advantage
One key advantage the cable/satellite guys would have is with advertising. Whatever advertising DELIVERY methods Youtube, etc used to sell advertising could easily be implemented on a DVR. Like internet video, delivery of ads from a DVR is easily quantifiable and reportable, but of course the quality of the video and the ability to offer long form click through options (if a user clicked for more information, its easier to deliver a quality 1, 2, 5 minute or longer video thats already hosted on a DVR than it is from the net)
Each approach would have its plus and minuses, but if cable and/or satellite decided to dive into the user generated content businessgiving users a choice, things could get interesting.
Computer to TV ? .Shouldn't it be the Other Way ?
Recent Posts
Reader Comments
(Page 2)22. I think HD net should start the ball rolling.
Get things happening Mark!
On a related note.......Are these blogs inspired by the daily conversations you have with your staff regarding ways to improve and expand your businesses, or are they simply ideas floating around in your head?
Either way, you seem to have quite a sense of the big picture for someone who is so busy day to day.
Keep it up....although I know you will.
23. Ijust wanted to tell you personally, I love they way you think. And write, it's very enjoyable to just read your blogs. May I suggest you get a team together and try to get your idea set up on a smaller scale, then see if it takes off. Sounds, to me, like millions.
Posted at 9:18AM on Jan 20th 2007 by Judi Bennett
24. Great article Mark. Keep up the good work.
www.marketbarometer.blogspot.com
Posted at 9:53AM on Jan 20th 2007 by Dr. Michael Roberts
25. Control is a device of the previous generations. It will not work on ours. PC will prevail over TV.
Posted at 12:37PM on Jan 20th 2007 by Gavin the Photographer
26. Mark, when video in camera phones improves, your post will become a reality. And eventually cameras will have HD video in them. That will generate the real explosion in user genterated content and the subsequent demand for content delivered to television.
Then again, by that time, the difference between the computer screen and the television will be blurred even further so it may not make a difference.
27. Obviously, the PC is a great medium, but just like people still like to read real books while they can read them online, people are always going to want to watch TV. The issue is whether or not the things people do on a PC, they'd like to do on a TV. Not too much. It's the content, and the ability to, say, listen to MP3s through a home stereo system (instead of just the PC or an MP3 player).
Posted at 6:33PM on Jan 20th 2007 by basketball training
28. Mark, I am at a loss I can't seem to understand why cable/sat providers haven't done this, I have a Dishnetwork Highdef 921 DishPVR, the hard drive and the cost $1000 when it was new basically make it a computer. So why does it not have internet like a computer I just don't get it. Add a Cat5 hookup and bamm there you go internet.
Posted at 8:22PM on Jan 20th 2007 by david
29. Mark,
Revver.com already has a user generated TV channel concept in the works.
It's called FameTV - the world’s first user-generated content television channel! FameTV is a new channel on the UK’s Sky Digital network. It's only available in the UK for now during the beta tests.
Here’s how it works: If you’ve opted in to the Revver broadcast channel, you might be selected by the fine folks at FameTV to have your video broadcast on FameTV. Here’s where you make money: Every time a viewer votes on their favorite video via SMS, the viewer is charged a fee (if you voted for Taylor Hicks, you’ve done the same thing). Revver gets a portion of the revenue that that SMS vote generates. They split that revenue with you, 50/50, no surprises there. The video maker still owns his content, still can share it with whoever via Revver or wherever you syndicate it, and video maker maintains control.
You can see an example of how Revver works on one of my humor video sites:
http://www.FunnyHomemadeVideos.com
I think as soon as the "Reality TV" wave begins to diminish, you're going to see the next wave beginning in the US, which will be a host of "User Produced Style" TV shows on the major broadcast and cable networks networks.
It'll be quite interesting to see how it all plays out, but if it takes off like it has on the Net, TV will never be the same.
Posted at 2:16AM on Jan 21st 2007 by Kevin - BigTicketDomains.com
31. I think you're on to something there. Except that I'm not sure people like CBS or NBC top picks. I believe they would want more of a personality doing the picking. Jay Leno top picks for example
Posted at 6:50AM on Jan 21st 2007 by Tim Clague
32. Mark, you make a great point here. However, I think the main issue with the future of content distribution is really changing the mindset of media companies that don't want to lose control of their content. I want to view my content how I want to, when I want it, how I want it, where I want it! Media companies don't understand that yet. They want to charge per distribution method, per view, per device or per format etc. Maybe they will catch up, but I won't hold my breath.
If you just consider that it really took a third party company, Apple, to stir things up--and they aren't a media company! Apple really broke the scene wide open with the iTunes Music Store which is by far the most successful online entertainment media distribution company. Now they let you view content, purchased once, on your computer, iPod and TV. The problem here is that it's hardware and software company making the sale. Apple ties their content to their proprietary hardware and software using DRM. I consider this approach an okay start, but nowhere near the end. eMusic.com has a better model for consumers. If they can roll that model out across the board for audio and video we'll be better off as consumers.
Posted at 1:44PM on Jan 21st 2007 by John
33. Imagine what will happen when Broadband over power line technology enters the playing field. You'll have yet another choice, and in the end it will all be integrated in one set of units.
The winner will be the one with the most server storage. Guess who that currently is?
34. Here's the deal. Mark has little ability to get this going, unless he can convice Brian Roberts, Paul Allen, and Glenn Britt to invest even faster in their VOD platforms to allow for this to happen. But, then again, they want to, they just don't have the ability to do so. It's not a money issue, it's a technology issue. Most of the technology that will be available to even consider doing this won't be ready until 2008. Though, in 2008, this will just be licensed shows that networks are willing to pay to have on the cable companies' VOD servers.
I know that VOD is available today, but the ability to monetize it isn't. This is why the technology won't be available until 2008.
Once this all gets up and running, you might see networks such as CurrentTV take advantage of the VOD platforms and (pay to) place user generated content on them in hopes they will be viral (?), ehem, popular enough to gain an audience and monetize it through a pre-roll or some other type of ad.
Though, I forgot to mention the Telcos. They might be able to get to market with this concept a little quicker than Cable, but then again, they don't have the subscriber base yet to make a huge impact.
35. How to Load Balance a Web Site on Multiple Geographic Datacenters... Cheaply!. This article explains how to geographically distribute a web site for $100 or less per month, including web hosting, geo-ip services, and DNS services.
Posted at 2:57AM on Jan 22nd 2007 by Cheap books
36. "One key advantage the cable/satellite guys would have is with advertising. Whatever advertising DELIVERY methods Youtube, etc used to sell advertising could easily be implemented on a DVR. Like internet video, delivery of ads from a DVR is easily quantifiable and reportable, but of course the quality of the video and the ability to offer long form click through options (if a user clicked for more information, its easier to deliver a quality 1, 2, 5 minute or longer video thats already hosted on a DVR than it is from the net)."
You lost me on this last paragraph.
I know that compared to regular TV click through rate measurements are much more than they ever had in regular TV, but compared to the user actions you can get from the PC world, DVR advertising is far, far behind ads on the PC. It
True: requesting more info on a DVR might be important and measurable, but the tracking stops there. The user was interested in the next minute of video. He might be a hotter prospect...so what?? The user can't act on the advertising beyond watching the extra minute, and this is not what advertisers want (at least not those coming from the PC to the TV world). They want people to go to a site, subscribe to something, or spend time playing a little stupid game, they want people INTERACTING with the brand, ACTIVELLY. And that's what's missing in the TV world + DVR you mention. Would advertisers really be in awe? Would it really be sooo much better to know CTR compared to not knowing CTR? Hmmmm.... not so much. CTR just tells you that your ad doesn't suck, it doesn't tell you how good it is, as it stops measuring the further steps of the sales funnel.
I think they would only be in awe if we could convert this action/interest into more concrete user actions, and then we have head back to the PC world, because no one in their mind will write anything down or type while sitting on the couch. Either we will have a device that captures stuff from the DVR back to the PC or we wont advance a lot in this advertisement + DVR thing. There is a link missing that faciliates action. Of course all this I said would be a waste of time if DVR's and ads started having functionality such as "send more info to my email" or something like this. But the interaction that is so needed for a tracking point of view needs to happen on the PC, period.
I know: you DO have the click fraud thing going on, but that's a whole new discussion.
I tell you what will happen and what will decrease TV ads ROI even further: very very soon Google will release a cost per ACTION engine. Instead of paying when people click on your stuff, you will pay a bit when people click on your ad, a bit more when people subscribe to your cast or feed, a bit more when people play a little game, or even more when you put something in your shopping cart, and the full fare when you actually buy. Advertisers will pay google as you go: all software parts are there and Google would be idiot NOT to make this.
Advertisers will know exactly where the bottleneck is in the sales process, collecting feedback and generating mouth to mouth will be ever easier. And that is killer stuff to have, that you simply cannot have with your DVR scenario, not at least the way you said it...
So, will this DVR thing happens? Yes. Will it be killer for advertisers? NOT AT ALL!
TV ads ROI will continue to decrease...
Posted at 4:33AM on Jan 22nd 2007 by Henrique Valle
37. Suggest Mark talk to Tivo - They have been hawking this DVR idea for a year or more. The DVR is the HD Series 3 and the service is called TivoCast.
Posted at 8:47AM on Jan 22nd 2007 by John Garrison
39. One question that many here have is that the content on youtube is so low-fi why would you want to see it bigger on your TV? I would suggest you go to www.reeltime.com and check out a trailer. The quality is virtually DVD quality. I personally don't think the general public cares about anything else but-Is it easy? Can I get it now? Does it look good? With more choice coming the consumer's way Mark your are still in 'the catbird seat' so to speak due to HDTV. No matter which way the content is delivered the ultimate viewing would be on an HDTV screen.
Posted at 1:12PM on Jan 22nd 2007 by E.L.
40. current.tv
Mavs #1 :/ Sorry i'm an ohio boy
Posted at 1:54PM on Jan 22nd 2007 by nick righter
Add your comments
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry: inappropriate or purely promotional comments may be removed. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.
21. Honeslty, if you ask me human wants never take a break, they always look forward in development and betterment of quality in all ways, so basically, no matter how far we go, it will be the same like always when it comes to wants.
Posted at 4:04AM on Jan 20th 2007 by Dedicated Hosting