Roger McNamee On Video on the Internet

plasticmillion writes "Roger McNamee, venture capitalist and author of The New Normal has just posted the third part of a fascinating series on his blog entitled "Video on the Internet". Here are parts one and two. His basic premise is that media companies are trying to treat the internet as a normal distribution channel like broadcast or DVD, but they need to learn that there are new rules to this game if they are to avoid the errors committed by the music industry. The user comments are also a must read, with luminaries like Marc Andreessen chiming in with their insights."

Comments

Spot On

[ackthpt]

Akimbo believes that the internet offers a way for content owners to bypass middlemen and go directly to consumers. The company envisions its market evolving as blogs have, with a rapid proliferation of content vendors, much experimentation with business models (and content), and ultimately a substantial impact on traditional channels of distribution. I think it's too early to know if Akimbo is right, but not too early to think about the implications of the model.

They've got that right. The bottleneck is still bandwidth into the home, but as that continues to improve, expect little grassroots content to pop-up all over the place. Of course the pr0n industry will obviously be an early adopter, but imagine being able to go out with a video camera with your friends and do your own TV shows, broadcast the local s Jr league soccer match or even your HS football games. Even ambitious people could do up their own Star-Trek shows. Those which demonstrate real promise could probably sell advertising or subcriptions or even sell out, if they have a mind to. Consider how low budget you could do your own Dr. Who.

I think television is already losing to the internet, what'll it look like as the barriers come down to hosting your own shows? Interactive, even.

'i don't like what he said, mod him down, enough negative points and it'll launch a rotton tomato at him!

TV on the Internet

[Acius]

I would love to see TV stations offering their programs over the Internet. I'd even pay for it -- probably a higher rate for recent shows, with discounts if I buy an entire season at once, for example.

I guess a lot of people think that, but my reason's a little different. I'm an American, but most of the TV I watch is in Japanese. It's very hard to get Japanese TV in the U.S., and for most shows there's no way to do it without breaking copyright laws. If I had a legal way of getting shows from other countries, I would be willing to pay a premium for this.

For me, it's not a question of convenience, it's a question of being able to do legally that which I currently cannot.