TVs Get Smart - Would you believe?...

Kicking off 2012, CES has wrapped and what stood out? The TV - who knew?


Yes phones are smart and the mobile spectrum is exploding but it was the TV that grabbed the most attention at the year's CES Las Vegas.  What does this mean for Internet Broadcasting?  Everything!


For many the initial launch of GoogleTV in October 2010, came and went with without much attention.  That is unless you were in the industry at which point it was a significant event.  Both in it's launch and more poignantly in it's lack of success.  Content providers dropped like flies leaving the new platform with little more than a grandiose hardware interface for YouTube.  Then Logitech a major partner along with Sony announced it was abandoning their support for the Logitech Revue, the device running GoogleTV.  What would come next?  Google known to drop initiatives that failed to catch (Wave, Buzz etc.) was holding the cards close to the vest.  The company again under the helm of co-founder Larry Page, was focused on getting "social".  Google+ was making noise and attempting to lure users from Facebook to the concept of "Circles".  Android OS was passing Apples's iOS as the leading phone platform.  Chrome browser in 2011 edged into the # 2 slot and of course Google maintained it's supremacy as the search engine, "just google it".  So industry watchers have kept a close eye on GoogleTV to see what might transpire.  According to GoogleTV product manager Rishi Chandra, "Android is going to be a successful operating system on TV's"





Last year the fad was 3-D TVs.  Really more of a gimmick than a technical leap forward.  Who knows, 3-D may play a significant role at some point but not before we merge the TV and the computer.  It is this convergence that was the underlying message as manufacturers rolled out their latest.


Samsung made a serious impression with the newest OLED models.
LG wins best of CES with the a 55" model 55EM9600 
Sony lead the way by introducing the OLED prototype in 2009, this year it was Crystal LED  
While the obvious attention is on what we see from these new sets, reading between the lines and noting this announcement, where LG will feature GoogleTV in new products, it is the year that TV's GET SMART.  Topping it all off was Google's announcement at CES, Next version of GoogleTV releases in 2012.


What this means for all those wishing to become their own media broadcast companies, is the technology has come full circle.  From streaming to desktops to HTML5 based applications that play video on 7" phone screens and the larger tablets, we have come back to the in home "couch potato" experience, the passive TV viewing experience.  With new sets embedded with computer chips, the TV will have the ability to seamlessly switch between BluRay, Cable and Internet channels.  This is not the exclusive domain of GoogleTV by any means, Apple is said to be launching a new TV, it may not be this year but they will not be left behind in this new gold rush.  Microsoft is desperately trying to be relevant, it will all depend on the success of Windows 8.  Then there is Facebook.  Would you put anything past these guys? 


All in all, this is the year to stake your claim in the billion channel universe.  How many viewers do you need to make your channel successful?  Not many.  So long as you have content that an audience is interested in and cannot find elsewhere, you are all set.  The domain of the giant broadcasting corporation still rules the roost, but where they cannot compete is in local media, amateur sports and entertainment and even home town news.  The time is now, get your camera, computer and start shooting!

Video is Evolving -- Don't Get Left Behind 11/15/2011

Video was it, is still it and always will be it.  From the the first time a kid sat in front of a screen and the movement and sound caught their eye, they were hooked.  It doesn't matter how it gets delivered, cable, DVD, download, or stream the viewer is insatiable.

I liked this article in MediaPost, it presents interesting facts surrounding use of video.

MediaPost Publications Video is Evolving -- Don't Get Left Behind 11/15/2011:

It is critical to recognize that just putting a video on a web site or in a blog is not good enough any more.  With so much to choose from and limited time (even with mobile devices now giving us even more access), the viewer wants to be compelled.  Audiences expect more and we can give it to them.  We all have something to say, the key is to not suck while saying it.  Become your own broadcast media company.  Put up your own broadcast antenna so to speak.  Make your point relevant, honest and poignant.  Your audience will find you.

Flash - Today's 8-Track Tape Player

For some of those reading this the reference to 8-track tape will not even resonate.  8-track was a technology that came and went because it was only a temporary solution and never really that good.  There was no point in fighting it, if you invested heavily in 8-track tape media (as some have invested today in Flash media) you were going to be left with the hefty cost of  replacing your media and hardware (in today's case streaming infrastructure).

Flash advocates and those heavily invested in the plug-in are dragging their heals and fighting a similar yet inevitable battle as the 8-track generation.  Flash was a temporary solution to what is now a 10 year old problem.  Flash was okay, looked cool and solved some challenges but

Going, going... Silverlight

The writing has been on the wall for some time. Microsoft Silverlight was nothing more than a reactive response to Adobe's Flash. As Flash will ultimately go, Silverlight already has. Get over it! We no longer use Morse code either.

Microsoft, in order to have any place in the evolving "cloud based" Internet, have more or less left Silverlight for dead as their latest OS Microsoft 8 is presented to developers.

The frustrated pro Silverlight Developers, flooded and flamed MSFT Silverlight forums.

I can appreciate the frustration that these developers are experiencing but it's over boys and girls.  Time to move on and realize that the future is HTML5.

This also means Flash is history.  Although Adobe is putting up a good fight, they cannot stave off the inevitable memetic transformation that is video without plugins.

Heeeeeeere's WebM!

With Larry Page (co-founder, Google) replacing Eric Schmidt, all eyes are on the company to see what new culture Page may bring. Perhaps the most recent push of WebM is an indication. 

Internet Broadcasting: A Look Forward into 2011 and Beyond

In an interview with Streaming Media magazine, I was asked for my observations, trends and predictions based on the current state and future status of the Streaming media industry.  In this article, among other issues, we discussed how models shift from free (ad supported) to pay based content.  By conditioning an online audience that highly specific content is a good value proposition, thus smaller content producers have aided the larger aggregators like Hulu and Netflix in gaining market share.  The article supports some fascinating findings from comScore for example, "Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed like the fact that it is easy to discover new shows by finding them online; 13% just plain prefer the online viewing experience, and 9% either don’t have a TV or, if they do, don’t subscribe to cable or satellite".

As forecast - Big Media Comes Looking for Little Media Content

Not to sound smug... no I take that back. I am a bit smug on this one.
Your content matters and you should become your own broadcast media company.  
I have been advocating this for some time now, advising my clients that the time to begin broadcasting online is now!  Get a jump on the learning curve.  Perfect your production techniques, work on better lighting and audio.  Try different camera angles, etc.  As you do this, you will be considerably ahead of others who are surely to follow.  The logic I have used and claimed was based on the trends that were and still are clearly evident.  Internet and Television are melding.  Digital channels and 24 hour specialty networks need original content.  This has now escalated to the giants of TV, The Networks.