Media Wonk

No disc - January 8, 2007

CES: With each passing press conference here, Internet-delivered video--in both standard and high-def--gets closer to the TV screen, leaping the great living room divide that separates the PC from the TV set.
Starz! Encore's Internet VOD service Vongo announced a deal with Microsoft to bring Vonger downloads to the Xbox 360, and thence to the TV, or to a TV-connected PC running the upcoming Vista operating system.
Microsoft separately announced its new IPTV platform for the Xbox, which can deliver TV, games, movies and voice.
VOD provider Akimbo announced a deal with AT&T's Homezone to deliver video content, including HD, to the phone giant's new set-top boxes.
Fujitsu has seen a steady stream of broadcast execs come by to see a demo of the equipment maker's new system for streaming HD over the Internet at relatively low bit rates.
And the beat goes on.
None of this is new in principle, of course. People have been talking about streaming video over the Internet since there's been an Internet.
But the growing drumbeat should still serve as a notable sign of the times for the studios still clinging to the packaged media business.
DVD sales in 2006 held more or less steady, according to most analysts and studios. But if you take TV product out, sales actually fell about 5%. They're forecast to fall further this year.
TV content, owever is the keeping the DVD business afloat at the moment, is the stuff most likely to be streamed.
And, with the  1-terabyte hard drive designed for set-top boxes introduced here by Hitachi, consumers will soon be able to store a heck of a lot of streamed video permanently in a set-top box.
That's an ominous sign for sales of DVD boxed sets.

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