Internet TV - The future of television?

In the near future, you will be free to choose your favorite channels and watch them on your own broadcast schedule instead of watching classic TV.

That day is not far away. Slowly but surely, the content being broadcast via cable and satellite networks will officially air on the mass Internet.

Technically speaking, all the necessary elements to be able to deliver high-quality video from the Net directly to viewers have been sufficient. A series of new software has been developed, which ensures the quality of " Sony-like " Internet video images.

The giants like Microsoft or Linksys of Cisco System are also racing, launching new products that allow watching Internet videos on TV, not just on the computer screen. Search engines such as Google also jumped on. In June, Google launched a new Web video search service, allowing you to use keywords to scour the company's hundreds of thousands of video clips.

However, the paradox is that content providers are too shy about the idea of ​​opening an Internet TV channel. For example, the new website that launched Comedy Central's MotherLoad only offers a few clips of programs, instead of all the programs currently broadcast on its cable TV channel.

Even to MTV, the famous " pioneer " TV channel also hesitated. What are they worried about? Mostly the risk of losing the brand, if only through Google, the public can also access TV shows or music clips directly.

Explaining this, analysts believe that, of course, program producers always want to reach the public as directly as possible. They always want to cut off the middle position (the cable and satellite networks). But the basic principles of economics (production, distribution and consumption) are even more negligible.

Many cable and phone companies such as Verizon and SBC have also found that customers want more interactive content. They began to offer on-demand television programs, allowing the public to download movies whenever they wanted.

Comcast, the largest cable company in the United States, announced last Wednesday that it will add its on-demand movie library to 250 sets monthly without adding subscription fees. As a result, the company's customers will be able to select up to 800 movies each month. The service is particularly popular in the United States, with the number of on-demand downloads surpassing 1 billion this year, compared with 567 million last year.

"The traditional TV market will not die. We will see many models coexist and evolve. The popularity of broadband, and the improvements in digital rights management will boost suppliers. more content to the Web, but always there, customers still want to pay subscriptions to watch favorite TV channels "- Kontiki Director said.