HDTV Forum

What is happening in the world of Internet television?

I am writing a paper on the content of video programs distributed via the Internet. This includes both Internet versions of TV broadcasts and films, along with the content created expressly for the Internet, such as the user-generated videos on YouTube and short films distributed by companies like iFilm/Spike. If you are willing to share your insights on where the market is moving in this area, I would greatly appreciate it.

For those who want to know, the paper is for a conference at Columbia University and will probably become a chapter in an edited volume
on digital television.

I would be happy to share copies of the paper and a presentation based on the paper with anyone who requests them.

Jeff Hart

I can think of two things that bear mentioning off the top of my head:

1) Blurring of the line between IPTV and "Internet TV". All video to be found on the internet is not IPTV ... and I wish people would stop calling it that. The commonly accepted definition of IPTV is "delivery of television service via internet protocol". Specifically, video streams sourced from within the same network that is providing network service to the end-users. "Internet TV" is streams sent from OUTSIDE the network (ie the Internet). So receiving videos via RSS is NOT IPTV.

2) Net Neutrality. This goes beyond service providers trying to double dip on bandwidth charges. If ISPs get what they want it will give them an unfair advantage with their IPTV services ... they will legally be able to stiffle any video feeds that are not their own. So Verizon could keep as much bandwidth as it wanted for their FiOS service and trim down available bandwidth for competing services from providers that are NOT the ISP. In short, without Net Neutrality, we are giving ISPs permission to be monopolies.

Hartjeff12,

I agree with miller