Internet TV: The way of the future! Or so I hope …
Internet! It’s always been trying hard to rid us of the “idiot-box” syndrome, and the good news (or bad news for TV stations) is that the market for Internet TV is estimated to grow by 13.7 per cent US$5.79 billion in 2011 (It was US$422.7 million in 2006), according to a research report from iSupply.We all knew this was coming, didn’t we? The web was always on the growth trajectory of being the most-sought after interactive video library ever! N with more and more people glued to the internet at all hours, Internet TV is big business (I personally stopped watching TV 3 years back, n hook up everything from news to video to music from online). The good news is that the two genres of interactive video that are set to take over are none other than sports and entertainment (a sure shot slap against the now monotonous “strewn-all-over-the-place” news monologues.
Apart from the fact that it poses both challenges and opportunities for companies in the video distribution business, it’s actually, in my opinion, the best boon not in disguise for them.
One of the biggest challenges in my opinion would be the bandwidth requirements for such a phenomenon, with internet in some developing countries still operating at 64 KB capacity! Well, I’m sure if this catches on like wildfire, ISPs would need to offer high-speed internet at rock bottom prices (which is great news for us, what say?). Of course it will take time for it to catch on in terms of quality and easy access, but this one, if successful, will be one of my biggest prayers answered (to limit my interaction with the information dominated techno-worm to the internet). (NiRa)