Internet TV is inevitable, cable and free to air are scared

On demand television (internet TV) may be coming to your living room very soon, and will be given a big boost if the NBN (National Broadband Network) is moved ahead by the government. If it does, it’ll be a big win for consumers and content creators.

What is Internet TV? Well you can check out what Google wants it to be here and what Apple want it to be here. Basically the idea is you sit down in your living room, grab your control and decide what you want to watch instead of waiting for it to come on. Online on-demand video is all ready very popular; YouTube is all ready the third most popular website on the internet after only Google and Facebook (source) however with the National Broadband Network being introduced by the Labor Government, in my humble opinion, will completely change the way Australia watches television. In fact, the established players in the industry including cable companies and free-to-air are all ready concerned about the introduction of NBN and what it would mean for their business models. However an on demand television service will be a win for consumers and content creators.

Here is a quick run down of how Google sees online television in the future:

Google TV

• Have your mobile phone work as your remote control device
• Create playlists of shows/videos
• Use your television to surf the web
• Netflix – $8.99 a month gets you access to 40,000 shows and movies on demand, watch as much as you like!

Google TV has partnered with a number of television hardware manufacturers such as Sony

While Google TV has all ready partnered with Sony to create a stand alone television with the technology embedded (image), Apple TV has not and at the moment only offers the Apple TV box which you can attach to your television (image).

Apple TV is not integrated with any television devices and works as a ‘set top box’

All criticism and politics aside, there is a chance the NBN network will be implemented. If it does cable television and free to air are going to suffer if they continue with their traditional business models. Consumers are just not going to want to sit down and wait for their show to start, it’s much more convenient to watch what you want when you want. With online TV the middle man is removed and the audience decides what they want to see at 6pm. This is a win for consumers, you can still watch The Simpsons at 6pm however you will now have the choice to watch a video series from a small production company too. In the end it will lead to more choice.

Fred is an online celebrity with no production team or marketing budget. This video has been seen 31 million times.

So to conclude if NBN does go ahead television as we know it will change and become much cooler. It is inevitable, the question is how long will it take?