Internet Video Comes to the Living Room

It's about "over-the-top" video delivery that threatens to disrupt the TV and movie industry because it delivers direct to the living room, bypassing traditional distribution: pay-TV, DVDs and local TV stations.

Recent reports that DVD sales and rentals are down is another sign that millions of consumers want Internet-delivered entertainment and information videos. And, increasingly they want to watch them on their TV sets, not just the PC.

Web sites like YouTube, Hulu and the BBC's iPlayer have already attracted millions of viewers.

The only pending question is how those videos will be delivered to TV sets. Will it be set-top boxes like Apple TV and Netflix's Roku box, which TV sets to the Net? Or, will makers of TV sets and Blu-ray players bypass the separate box and build its functions in?

Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic and others have said this year they'll build into TV sets the Internet connection and Yahoo's Widgets and/or Netflix' online service.

Viewers are changing their video consumption habits as the quantity and quality of video increases. Sites like Hulu.com are reporting impressive numbers of visitors, time spent watching videos and ad dollars.

The report includes a list of the players sorted by their delivery mechanism and their monthly rates. There is also a list of recent content and studio deals that affect this area; plus reports from 'The Online Reporter', the weekly strategy bulletin that tracks Internet video.