I've heard that iTunes sells TV episodes (yet I can watch tons of stuff free on iPlayer so this seems pointless and it's usually more expensive than the boxed version!) but do they shift many units? I doubt it somehow. Who really wants a TV experience on their computer? I don't, I prefer the TV experience on my TV. What I could imagine myself doing is purchasing HD content for my Apple TV (which I love) once Apple finally gets their act together and provides the facility for me to hand over my hard earned cash.
It should also come to no surprise then that Brightcove just announced their discontinuation (which in normal English means they will no longer offer) of their Pay Media Functionality. In case you didn't know, Pay Media allowed 'publishers to sell or rent Windows media video titles directly to consumers via a Brightcove player'. According to Brightcove nobody really made use of the feature, and less than 1% of Brighcove customers are affected by the axing of the service. So out of all Brightcove publishers, less than one percent thought they could get punters to pay for a DRM'ed video. No tears shed here then.
And whatever happened to Joost, is anyone still watching that? Apparently it allows me to watch what I want, when I want. Hmmm, somehow that never worked for me and I could find nothing on Joost that I wanted to see...
So what's the deal here then? Do consumers really want to pay and consume video content over the internet? Or do they only like to consume, but not pay? Or maybe, are the offerings which would make consumers open their wallets simply not existent today?
In my opinion it's devices such as the Apple TV that lead the way. Choose, click, pay (now in the US and soon elsewhere), right from the comfort of your sofa, then watch on a nice big screen. I don't want to sitting front of my computer to watch a movie, even if it was free and HD. What matters to the crowd is convenience. The iPlayer experience in the living room would be a winner, hooked up to an easy way to pay. All that's left is for someone to build it.
i quite agree with you, i'm not willing to watch
a movie in front of my PC, the content pulled from the internet will have to find a convenient and an easy way up to th tv screen.
saying that do you think the only way left to monetize your content is via advertising ?
I'm less willing to support a free movie in front of my computer with tons of ads anyway.
Damien,
As for ads, I do hope it's not the only way to monetize this - in that case we truly have the TV experience in its worst possible form.
But what really strikes me is that this whole market segment seems overhyped. If Apple would go about it the right way then the Apple TV could be more successful than the iPhone or iPod. It's simple: give people what they want amd grab a huge chunk out of Sky's offering.
I think pay-per-view is only in its early stages right now.
Do you pay monthly for your cable TV? Satellite?
Most people do.
Internet video distribution will be no different when quality and content (I'm not taking justin.tv here) reaches the key inflection point.
The PC and TV are consolidating. In a few years (2? 4?) (as bandwidth scales) TVs with embedded browsing capabilities will be able to access Internet broadcast channels (Mogulus, Hulu, TVUNetworks, Miro, etc.) The enjoyment of Internet video content won't be constrained by the small PC/laptop screen.
The viewer will have the choice of watching (and paying for) HD content from Internet broadcast channels, satellite networks, cable networks or over the air.
Internet video distribution will allow for real-time interaction between viewers/users, something the satellite, cable and over-the-air networks won't be able to touch.
For that reason, in 10-20 years, IMO, Internet video distribution will reign supreme.
Again, as bandwidth (to the home and in the core) scales and becomes cheaper. And it will.