This is the “all video, all the time” edition of The Chaser.
First, we came across stories about how U.S. television viewing has
reached a record household average of eight hours and 11 minutes per
day. Wow. That means the tube is on for more than one-third of the day.
Nielsen Media Research, which conducted the study, also concluded that,
on an individual basis, TV-watching time is four hours and 32 minutes,
slightly higher than the four hours recorded in the Ball State
Univesity media usage study we reported on last week.
Here’s the lede from Reuters:
LOS ANGELES — U.S. TV viewership climbed again last season to a
record household average of eight hours, 11 minutes a day, Nielsen
Media Research reported on Thursday, challenging perceptions that
Americans are watching less than they once did.
The all-time high viewing level posted for
the 2004-05 television season, which ended earlier this month, was up
nearly 3 percent from the previous year and 12.5 percent from a decade
ago, the TV ratings service said.Moreover, Nielsen said the average individual watched four hours and
32 minutes of TV last season, the highest level in 15 years. The
figures include in-home viewing levels for broadcast, cable and
satellite TV during all parts of the day.
However, what put this item on the Chaser radar was Nielsen’s
reporting on the “explosion in the number of available channels.” The
Reuters story continues:
According to Nielsen, the average U.S. home now receives more than 100 channels of programming.
The second video item is an interesting piece from The New York Times about the emerging video search engine companies, including Blinkx, an online search company based in San Francisco. Blinkx does
pretty much what standard search engines do — plows through tons of
data and returns the most relevant information to the user. However,
instead of text, Blinkx searches video clips.
Here are some of the important elements from Bob Tedeschi’s New York Times column on the subject:
A handful of new Internet companies have recently
introduced Web sites that aim to sift through millions of online video
clips and instantly splice them together according to the viewer’s
stated or implied tastes. Right now, that includes a fairly meager
selection of mainstream media selections — and, yes, you sometimes
have to watch it through a subpar Internet connection. But more
network-quality shows are coming online, and Webcasting technology is
fast improving to the point where you can now catch glimpses of what TV
could look like in the not-too-distant future.“You can debate what you should call it, but in the coming
world, it’s going to be a user-controlled environment,” said Allen
Weiner, an analyst with Gartner, a technology consulting firm. “I watch
what I want, when I want.”
Finally, also from the Times, is a story about Jeremy Allaire, the software wizard who helped with the evolution of Macromedia’s Flash system into a video format. Here’s what he has planned:
As with his earlier ventures, Mr. Allaire intends to shake
up an industry — this time, the world of television — by allowing all
types of video producers, from media giants to anyone who has a
camcorder, put their work on the Internet and make money if anyone
watches it.Set in an office building at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Brightcove, [Allaire’s new service], will offer three
interrelated online services. It has tools that let television
producers load their video onto its servers, arrange them into programs
and display them to Internet users. It will help producers charge fees
for their video, if they choose, or sell advertising on their behalf to
insert into the programs. And it will broker deals between video
creators and Web sites that want to display the video, arranging for
the profits from such arrangements to be split any number of ways. […]“We are trying to create a new kind of online media
distribution business that has the scale of Google, an Amazon or an
eBay,” Mr. Allaire, 34, said. Some big companies, including Viacom and
A&E Networks, are already experimenting with Brightcove’s service.
Lots of video stuff going on, so let’s recap: First,
more channels than ever. Second, new ways of searching those extra
channels — first on the Web, but perhaps later on the next generation
of television sets. Third, new ways of creating and distributing
video.
Whew. Lots of video dots to connect as we look to the future.
Oh, one more thing: Reuters is reporting that Apple will annouce a video iPod next week. Link thanks to eWeek.
