Internet-connected TVs accounted for one in every five (21%) television sold in 2010 and sales are expected to more than double over the next three years, according to DisplaySearch, a Californria based research firm. Are cable and satellite companies worried? You bet they are.
The only thing standing in the way of a tidal wave of people dropping their expensive cable and satellite services right now is that television content on the web is still mostly limited to previously aired shows and old movies, most of which no one has ever heard of.
How long do you think it’s going to remain that way? Obviously, the content producers aren’t going to give their programming away for free so chances are watching television over the internet is going to rise somewhat to accommodate them. Netflix just announced it had made an offer to buy Starz television, which it already has a deal with to stream all of its content.
Remember what steaming media did to music and the telephone? Do you buy CDs any more and voice over the internet protocol has wiped out most landline telephone services.
Recently, I dropped my cable company and started watching television over the internet using Netflix, Hulu-plus, Crackle and YouTube as my entertainment of choice. I can also watch the occasional new movie by downloading a movie on demand from Amazon and iTunes.
As soon as I told my cable company I was going to do this, they offered to cut my cable bill by 66%.
Article by David Goldman on CNN.com Money quoted DisplaySearch as saying 45% of those who say they have an Internet-connected TV use that feature. Paul Semenza, senior vice president of NPD Group's DisplaySearch told Goldman that connecting to the internet is being included more and more as a standard feature in high-end sets, but that many buyers aren’t aware that it’s there.
Besides a lack of new content, another reason people haven’t been rushing to access the Internet on TV is because it can be a complicated process. However, I managed to do it without pulling out the rest of my hair so it can’t be that hard. You just have to be patient and read the instructions on the screen. You also have to have access to hi-speed internet and a wi-fi router.
I decided to get my internet connection via a Blu-ray player so I could also watch blu-ray movies. Plus it was a lot cheaper than a television with built in internet capability.
Once Internet television channels figure out how to market their stuff it’s going to get dicey for cable and satellite. Plus there are shows being produced for the internet that you can’t see on cable or satellite.
It’s enough to make you nostalgic for old-fashioned broadcast television that used to free. This is as close to free TV as we’re likely to get and, count on it, it won’t be free for long.
We have Google Television on the horizon following a brief false start. It reportedly is getting an overhaul to make it easier to use. And Vizio just announced it was starting a new internet service for its televisions called VIA plus, which will incorporate Google TV.
Technology already exists that will allow you to see television from anywhere in the world over the Internet. Once those gates open up, watch out. It may be about time to build another cyber super-highway to accommodate the tsunami of streaming video data that’s about to spring loose.
