Online video is still, relatively speaking, in its infancy. But it growing more popular, and the choices available to viewers are growing. Which could see online video to surpass broadcast TV by 2020, which is only a decade away.
Online Video
As much as those of us who write about online video would like to believe it is an ubiquitous and essential part of people’s lives, that isn’t quite the case yet. At least not a mainstream way, and when compared to traditional broadcast television.
Sure, YouTube is known and used the world over, but the Google site’s content is usually short and sweet. Which is why U.S. viewers currently only watch an average of 22 minutes of online video a week. Which compares to 30 hours of broadcast TV.
Still, things are changing. Slowly for now, but possibly speeding up in the near future.
In The Year 2020
According to a TDG report titled The Economics of Over-the-Top TV Delivery: How Television Networks Can Shift to Online Content Delivery, the next decade will see online video and broadcast TV change places.
TDG believes online viewing will rise to around two hours a day, all at the expense of broadcast TV. And the main reason for this will be the blurring of the edges created by connected TV platforms such as Google TV, Project Canvas, and all the others.
Connected TV Platforms
There are a multitude of connected TV platforms on the way. Including the newly-unveiled Google TV, the BBC’s Project Canvas, DivX TV, Vudu, and Boxee. And it’s estimated that half of all new TV sets sold in 2013 will be capable of connecting to the Internet, an essential element for these platforms to succeed.
With this in mind, it would seem highly likely that it’s these platforms that are going to drive online video into the mainstream. A fair proportion of people will buy a new TV over the next ten years, and they will likely connect their TVs to the Web in order to access online video.
As TDG explains, there will then be a blurring of the lines, with the idea of broadcast TV and online video being somewhat merged. In essence, you’ll be watching content on the TV in your living room, regardless of its origin.
Conclusions
The ultimate point of this report is to show how broadcasters can prevent being sidelined and left out of pocket by the shift to online video. In essence, they need to embrace the new medium, testing and eventually settling on a way of drawing revenue from it.
[Via NewTeeVee]
