by Melissa A. Sullivan~ April 25, 2006
TV TECHNOLOGY
Jeremy Allaire, president of Brightcove in Cambridge, Mass., said the promise of Internet TV is "the range of programming and expression of interest in topics and content will be as deep and broad as... the text Web that we have today but expressed in video television."
Allaire spoke to the future of TV on the Web in Monday afternoon's Super Session "Internet TV -- What the New World of Ubiquitous Home Broadband Means for Broadcasters," moderated by Peggy Miles, president of Intervox Communications in Washington, D.C.
Miles called Allaire "a pioneer in Web applications." He founded Brightcove in 2004 with a vision for the transformation of television with the Internet, and leads the company's technology, marketing and business development strategy. Previously he was with a venture capital firm and prior to that was CTO for Macromedia, and helped launch the popular Flash application.
With Internet TV Allaire said, "Specifically we're talking about video and media content that is openly distributed over the public Internet. So this is not what I would call telco TV or IPTV, where its content is distributed over closed or corporate or commercial closed networks. And that content can easily reach personal computers, browsers, television sets and other devices."
He said this movement has been happening over 10 years, but we're really now at a critical point where it's a mainstream opportunity and possibility.
Companies like Brightcove give professionals the opportunity to get their content online and provide advertisers opportunities through their distribution platforms.
WHERE IT'S GOING
Companies can build "channels" where they can offer content online. For example, Shipwreck Central, a niche Web site focuses on shipwreck material. The company provides its extra content, not already licensed out.
Allaire said the audience for Internet TV is there, the usage is there and the advertisers are there, so the business is there.
He said some quality issues need to be addressed, but said the delivery method continues to improve each year and is getting closer to broadcast quality.
Some challenges that face the industry include involving more companies with good brands and content, and figuring out how revenue is going to flow, Allaire said.
"It's a really, obviously, very exciting time for digital media broadly, Internet television specifically. I think that a lot of the information is going to come from entrepreneurs. It's not going to come from large companies; it's going to come from people with great ideas, with passion for content with the ability to master marketing, working on the Internet," he said. "So, I encourage anyone with a great idea around programming and content to pursue it. I think the time is really great for that."
Session sponsor was Limelight Networks.
© 2006 NAB
