Online Video and Television

A traditional television is something that has existed for years, and we have used it in the same way for a long time. There have been minor changes at various times, such as the ability to pre-record shows using VCRs or PVRs, the shift from analogue sources to digital sources, HD and 3D content, but in large measure, nothing has really changed since television was developed and distributed. The content is produced and paid for in the same ways, by flat advertisements being displayed throughout the content to help pay for it.

But with the advent of the Internet, everything is changing. It's changing the way we look for content, and it's changing the way we consume content. We expect to have content on our devices, with us wherever we go, or accessible on our TVs as well. We use services like Netflix and Youtube, but the market is only just starting to reflect that. We are starting to get content designed specifically for the new media, streamed online, supported by interactive advertisements, although they still have a ways to go.

There are really two issues with the content. Are we getting what we want? Are they being able to make money to support their content?

I think we are starting to get what we want. We have Youtube exclusive channels, that are designed for Youtube. They take advantage of the ability to embed links in the video. They can tell where we are watching from, so they can localize the links, although they are not doing this much, yet. They give us a forum to voice our opinions through comment feeds.

Are they properly monetizing it, though? I don't think so. I have my channels that I watch on Youtube, and I don't mind sitting through some ads to pay for the content. I understand that they need to be paid for somehow. I don't really think it's a good use of my time, however, to watch ads for companies that are unable to provide services to me. I live in Canada, and I am regularly getting ads for Sprint, for example, which is a mobile phone company available only in the USA. I will never use Sprint, simply because I cannot, so why are they paying for me to watch their ads?

I think we are getting close to the day when there will be shows produced either exclusively online, for example through Youtube, or simultaneously online and on TV. The Internet is going to change the way things are done. It already has changed it, in fact. There already are Internet exclusive shows. Revision3, for example, exclusively distributes their shows online. It looks like that is where the world is headed. So what will we do with our TVs? Well, that's going to be the easiest way to play 4KHD content, which will probably stream from online before anything else.