Interesting Web-to-TV Video Streaming Study

In-Stat, a global market research and intelligence business has an interesting new report out titled Web-to-TV Video Streaming Services Will Drive Nearly $3 Billion in Revenue by 2013.

Maybe you've heard the term Web-to-TV and maybe you have not - it's a generic term that involves watching web content on a television. Online video continues to grow from popular sites like YouTube, Flickr, Vimeo , Hulu, Blip.tv, Joost and the old-media standbys like NBC and CNN. Naturally people are not just going to want to watch on their computer screens and television manufacturers have quickly realized this. Companies like Samsung and Sony are building sets that connect directly to the web, allowing viewers to watch Internet video without attaching a PC to their TV.

In addition, Microsoft XBox 360 owners can now purchase Internet videos from Netflix and AppleTV owners can do the same thing using iTunes.

In a press release about the In-Stat report, analyst Keith Nissen is quoted:

Once Web-to-TV video becomes simple and convenient, mass consumer adoption will follow quite rapidly. Our primary research shows that users want a variety of their consumer devices to enable a web-to-TV video experience.

Here's some interesting findings from in the report and listed in the press release:

• Over 40% of young adult US households view Internet video on the TV at least once per month.
• Revenue from Web-to-TV streaming services will grow to $2.9 billion in 2013.
• Within five years, the number of US broadband households viewing Web-to-TV content will grow to 24 million.
• Already, 29% of US 25 to 34 year olds with game consoles use the devices to watch streaming video off the Internet.
• In five years, there will be 7.4 million US broadband households that use media center PCs for streaming Web-to-TV content.
• TV networks and pay TV operators currently view online TV as additive to pay TV services, but Web-to-TV will ultimately force a complete restructuring of today’s video services.
• Video content will be optimized for broadcast or Web-to-TV based on content type.

Easy access, potentially infinite availability and any place, any time or any where - it's not just broadcast video, on-demand and pay-per-view on you television set anymore.

Comcast's Fancast

I've been meaning to write about Fancast for a while. Fancast is an upcoming Comcast product (this summer) that, according to the website:

" With Fancast, you will be able to search for your favorite shows, movies, actors, or simply enjoy videos on the site. Fancast will provide you with a place to discover when your favorite shows or movies are on, and where you can watch them via television, video on demand, online or on other devices".

On April 11, Comcast purchased Fandango, an online advance movie ticket sale site and it looks like Comcast will be using Fandango to list Fancast shows. Mike Sachoff, a staff writer for webpronews.com, quoted Amy Banse, President of Comcast Interactive Media:

"Adding Fandango to Comcast Interactive Media and creating Fancast.com will enable us to leverage our combined assets to offer consumers an outstanding entertainment experience."

AppleTV, XBox Live, Tivo, your favorite network dot com, etc, etc..... and the list goes on.... any place, anywhere, any time......