Google owns You Tube. And the word is out that they are "finalizing contracts" with program providers to launch "more than a dozen "channels featuring regularly scheduled content." My source here is an article from The Wall Street Journal and can be found at this link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204422404576593410081464864.html?mod=dist_smartbrief
According to the article's sources You Tube is paying anywhere from "a few hundred thousand to several million" dollars to providers. That sounds pretty serious.
Consider the broadcasting industry. Here's a new competitor, completely unregulated by the FCC (no fines for wardrobe malfunctions) driving up the bidding and increasing the prices for good programming. As if cable hasn't already provided them with enough competition. And You Tube has no technical limitations on how many channels they can provide.
Consider the cable and satellite industries. These two have brought broadcast to the point where if it wants to reach a mass audience, it has to go through cable or satellite. You Tube bypasses everybody. Ah... you may suggest that they are dependent upon the internet provider which is often the cable company. But the cable company will not stay fat and happy when home cable subscriptions decline and home internet service stays stable. Also, You Tube is also already available in the mobile space.
Now you want to talk about the viewing experience. PC's, laptops, these are not exactly viewing stations for a family. However, my 46" flatscreen has a PC input. I'll bet yours does too if you bought it in the past year or two. Plug it in and you're watching the internet on your tv. Don't be surprised if in the future they are also able to receive and display mobile signals. Will all of this be in true HD? Probably not at the start. But you can bet they are working on that just as you read this.
Will You Tube be able to monetize this? Let's count the ways: First of all, they can run commercials if they wish, long and limited, short and frequent, anyway they want. Then they can also, or instead, post display ads around the video player window. Change them as often as they like. Target them to the subject matter of the show. Make them clickable to receive more information after the show. Yes. I think they can monetize this. Oh I'm just scratching the surface here.
Can You Tube (or some similar internet video service) take on the television industry? Doesn't it seem inevitable? I already have a Blu-Ray player with built-in wifi which we use to watch movies from Netflix (or whatever they're calling themselves today) right from the web. No dvd's involved.
Think down the road, after they get an operable business model in place. I can see them going for exclusive rights to sporting events, serial short features available on demand, full length features. I can even see them accepting news programming, maybe from existing news operations but probably not.
It won't happen tomorrow or by this day next year. But I do believe that you will one day be able to add broadcasting and cable tv to the list of industries that have been brought to their knees by the internet, like the postal service, travel agencies, newspapers, phone directories, etc, etc, etc. For now, keep an eye on You Tube.
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