Everyone’s doing it.  It’s the new, old thing.  There’s Apple and Microsoft, Netflix and Amazon, there’s TiVo, Roku, Sony, Sezmi (formerly Building B), Vudu and more.    They’re all bringing some form of video on-demand services over the Internet; rentals and purchases, some even free.  It’s the promise of TV and movies as you like it, when you like it.  Thursday, Amazon became the latest entry into the crowded market.  Technically, though, it’s a re-entry.  

Since 2006, Amazon has offered a video on demand service called Unbox. (more…)

When Netflix first revealed their strategy to bring their streamed video service software to consumer electronics by licensing their software, they promised the licensing partnerships would be broad reaching.  When the next earnings conference calls comes around, executives at the company will be able to say they have kept their word.  After first announcing a deal with LG to tie into consumer electronics (DVD players and Set-Top boxes), then offering a standalone player in partnership with Roku, Netflix is now tackling gaming hardware.

Monday, using the E3 gaming convention in LA as a forum, Netflix revealed a plan to bring their Watch Now on-demand video service to Xbox 360 owners.

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Looking back through centuries of history only a short list of communication technologies have fundamentally changed the way people and societies share information; things like written language, the printing press, the telegraph, the radio, and television.  Each, over years of evolution, utterly disrupted existing practices, pushing aside the antiquated and expanding the depth of possibilities.  Each, in developmental years, had critics predicting there’d be little long term value.    Each also has had champions who eagerly predicted the innovations would drastically reshape the world.

The Internet falls in to the same exclusive club but its functionality and contribution are still evolving.  It will take decades before the breadth of its impact and transformative power are fully understood.  Still, that won’t stop many  from predicting where things will go or how the Internet will continue to shape our world along the way.

Monday, Lehman Brothers took a stab at such a prediction.  Citing the disruptive power of the Internet, and its likelihood of changing business economics in the entertainment industry, they downgraded stock ratings on several companies.  The recent history of the music industry was cited as one partial justification.

The view seemed extreme.  This METUE review takes an in-depth closer look.

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The proposed marriage of Blockbuster and Circuit City always seemed wrong; like two actors that peaked early, fell from favor and were looking for mutual salvation in a questionable, improbable union.  It didn’t make sense.  It didn’t feel right.  The common ground seemed to be troubles not opportunities.   Given that, the odds of one company salvaging the other, of Blockbuster resuscitating the struggling business of Circuit City, seemed small.  Luckily for Blockbuster shareholders, CEO Jim Keyes reached the same conclusion before he walked the company into the Elvis Wedding Chapel and said “I Do.”

Wednesday, Blockbuster officially withdrew its $1.35billion ($6 to $8/share) offer.   All it took was a close inspection of Circuit City’s books.

The review process began in May (more…)

Advertising dollars are the fuel of the Internet but in some segments like online videos, the process of attracting it seems like something from Frankenstein’s lab.  Nobody yet knows the exact chemistry it will take to balance audience acceptance (or tolerance) for advertising against advertiser required metrics for measurement of return on investment.  By best guess, the answer could be a combination of existing tools, or even a business model not yet invented. It’s a crapshoot. Tea Leaves and gambles.

Google with its huge share of search and video traffic (YouTube) has a vested interest in figuring out the how to make it work.  Unlike all but a few companies, Google also has the kind of cash and technical expertise to take on the science project without limitation.  They can afford to fail, repeatedly, than try again until they get it right. 

The latest experiment from Mountain View (more…)

A week ago, at Sony’s annual meeting, Howard Stringer said the company’s top priority was “to restore profitability in [the] television and game businesses;” both of which lost money during the last fiscal year.  Thursday, Sony began to publicly outline their blueprint for making that happen.  At the center of it, a keystone they say, will be networking – connected entertainment appliances.

Sony is planning to spend $16.7b (1.8 trillion Yen) over three years (through March 2011).  The aim will be to become “the leading global provider of networking consumer electronics,” Stringer says.  By the end of the process 90% of Sony’s product categories will have networking and wireless capabilities. 

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At times during the past couple years Internet video sites have seemed like the fad du jour, like another bubble of inflated expectations waiting to burst.  Every few weeks there seemed to be another monstrous financing.  $10m invested here.  $20m gambled there.  Even a pledged $30+ million from time to time.  Super Deluxe. 60 Frames. Joost. Veoh.  Metacafe. Crackle. Revver. Daily Motion. Funny or Die. Hulu. This Just In. Deca.TV – Every week a new company name to add to the lexicon and the watch list. It was all part of the “next new thing.” The big gamble.

Like any new market, especially one with big opportunity, a certain amount of this speculation is understandable.  With billion dollar market opportunity, there is invariably going to be a lot of competition chasing the same trophy.  And unequivocally, all these sites were, and are, chasing just that same predictable future – the migration of television and video programming to a time-shifted, place-shifted, long-tail-wagging world of Internet distribution.

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