2004 and maybe 2005 was the Year of VOIP but it has become so yesterday now that 2006 has become the Year of Video. ABC's decision to offer free access to popular shows such as Desperate Housewives and Lost. It's a brilliant decision because ABC is seizing an opportunity in a new business market where the technology and economics are far from crystallized. If ABC doesn't take the initiative, it risks being left behind given how quickly the TV 2.0 market is moving. I mean, who could have imagined last that year that video would become so prevalent and popular on the Web? If that was the case, YouTube would have been aggressively financed right out of the gate in February 2005 rather than waiting until last week to raise $8-million. Whether it's the proliferation of residential broadband service or the video-enabled iPod or the embrace of online distribution by content producers such as Walt Disney, video distribution beyond the "old-style" television is exploding. While people are excited about the Internet's potential to deliver TV to PCs, iPods, wireless devices, etc., it should also be pointed out the couch potato is far from going extinct. In fact, the couch potato is becoming more empowered with monster-size screen televisions, video-on-demand and IP-TV. I think what we're experiencing is a paradigm shift (love that phrase!) in the consumption of television in that there are increasing ways to distribute and watch video.
  As far as voices from the blogosphere, Mathew Ingram raises some good questions about ABC's decision such as how does it affect its relationship with network affiliates, and how does it affect DVD sales through retailers such as Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, Jeff Jarvis bluntly sums it up when he opines that "the force of change on the Internet is so great that the networks are facing a choice of pissing them [distribution partners such as cablecos, network affiliates, retailers] or dying."
Tags: TV, ABC