In an important sense, it’s a fight over the future relationship between the internet and the big set in the home. Google is not the first company to try to bring Web video to the TV. Microsoft Media Center can do it, as can Boxee (an Israeli-US startup). Netflix and Apple TV it stream TV shows and movies, but typically for rental or YouTube, though the forthcoming Apple AirPlay will be able to stream all web video into the TV.
Google’s notion, more sophisticated, is to organize the web choices and present them to you via a search engine. That has the networks (typically the content owners) and cable firms particularly concerned. They have been trying to stop Boxee for a number of years. Google has more clout than Boxee but is still boxed in by some forces, at least for now. But Time Warner, which has been trying to put its programming behind paywalls everywhere (and has spun off its cable firm), sees Google TV as an opportunity.
From Jessica Vascellero, "Time Warner Sees Ally in Web," Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2010.
Sam Schechner and Amir Efrati, "Networks Block Web Programs From Being Viewed on Google TV," Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2010.
Showing posts with label convergence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label convergence. Show all posts
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 20, 2008
College Students Get a Taste of TV's Future
It's a very personalized experience.
-Linor Tal Levav, vice president-content strategy and acquisition, Intercast
In Joe Mandese, "Esurance, MPG Back New Ad-Supported Video Service: Provide Pay TV Series Free To College Kids," Online Media Daily, October 13, 2008
Students at a few leading universities, among them Purdue and Columbia, are part of a test that allows them to watch TV shows from Paramount's subscription network Showtime for free. The programming includes series like Dexter, The Tudors, and Californiacation. They are being made available for free to students who agree to watch ads on a a new online service, Kazam. Kazam is using technology by Intercast, which runs on Internet2, an ultra-high speed service that research universities have implemented on their campuses.
Although from the students' standpoint the service may be a way to get cool programming that would otherwise cost money, Intercast, Kazam and their advertisers see it as a way to use the fastest technology to test the customization of commercials and programs based on data Kazam has about each student. Intercast's Levav says that "The nice thing about our platform is that we serve the ads from storage, so we can serve them in great quality, high-definition, and we can combine features like targeting and interactivity and data feedback." The consequence is that the Kazam service can serve different shows and commercials --"say an episode of "Dexter" for one student, or a Discovery Channel show for another, or even a Sports Illustrated swimsuit special for a third, along with different commercials"--based on "the viewer's profile, their user behavior and the context of when and where they are viewing the content."
Although it seems like simply a way to make money from advertising in a college environment, it's really a test by advertisers, media planners, and technology firm of the TV model for all Americans in the not-too-distant future.
-Linor Tal Levav, vice president-content strategy and acquisition, Intercast
In Joe Mandese, "Esurance, MPG Back New Ad-Supported Video Service: Provide Pay TV Series Free To College Kids," Online Media Daily, October 13, 2008
Students at a few leading universities, among them Purdue and Columbia, are part of a test that allows them to watch TV shows from Paramount's subscription network Showtime for free. The programming includes series like Dexter, The Tudors, and Californiacation. They are being made available for free to students who agree to watch ads on a a new online service, Kazam. Kazam is using technology by Intercast, which runs on Internet2, an ultra-high speed service that research universities have implemented on their campuses.
Although from the students' standpoint the service may be a way to get cool programming that would otherwise cost money, Intercast, Kazam and their advertisers see it as a way to use the fastest technology to test the customization of commercials and programs based on data Kazam has about each student. Intercast's Levav says that "The nice thing about our platform is that we serve the ads from storage, so we can serve them in great quality, high-definition, and we can combine features like targeting and interactivity and data feedback." The consequence is that the Kazam service can serve different shows and commercials --"say an episode of "Dexter" for one student, or a Discovery Channel show for another, or even a Sports Illustrated swimsuit special for a third, along with different commercials"--based on "the viewer's profile, their user behavior and the context of when and where they are viewing the content."
Although it seems like simply a way to make money from advertising in a college environment, it's really a test by advertisers, media planners, and technology firm of the TV model for all Americans in the not-too-distant future.
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