The Broadcasting Website

Over the next 5 or so years, the impact of Interactive, big bandwidth Broadband IP will define a new type of Web format. The Text and Audio media industries, with lower bandwidth, have already started to feel the impact what with Blog and Pod proliferation and the advertising they are hijacking, and it would be naïve to think that video will not be next.

The “Broadcast Website” will then move to centre stage and be the conduit by which video and audio media is self provisioned, searched, selected, distributed, consumed and discussed over whatever device the user chooses, where they choose, and when they choose.

This is quite a shift in the role of the website.

The evolution of the lower bandwidth on-line Audio world is a leading indicator of many of the trends that will occur in the video broadcasting world. Take pop music for eg. The iTunes model showed that unbundled music, priced reasonably, and served at high enough quality was actually attractive enough for most customers to forgo pirated music.

In fact, the iTunes value chain exhibits many of the Web 2.0 principles, with the exception of not being an Open system - Users can input their own graphics and playlists, search the database for songs, upload and assemble their own content add metadata such as ratings to them, see what others are also listening to, chat to other users, and consume on the move. It is a pay per listen model, but sponsorship models and ad clips are also being used now by others. Pandora is using social networking to unprecedented levels to define personalised music channels. And every step you take, they’ll be watching you…analytics are everywhere.

Roll this forward into a Video WebWorld......

For starters, YouTube is the new Napster, Apple is trying to do for video what it did for music, and Web 1.0 groovers such as Yahoo, MSN et al now look like the Old Guard caught napping. There is truly nothing new under the sun....

But don't just look at the Media websites......a broadband, video capable web changes it for Everything. Cars, Clothes, Travel - anything where the Experience is important - had better get Video capable fast. Even "dull" industries like banking, insurance an so on will need to be video savvy.

I suspect that these websites will also be consumed via the TV soon, it is a small step to connect the Laptop to the TV - IPTV or no IPTV (I'm consuming YouTube on my TV now - check out the MyPCTV articles on this site). These services are potentially going to look a lot more like TV channels, and will need some of their capabilities like EPGs to function properly.

How will the Quadruple play impact the video website...I don't know about you but I have yet to feel the urge to call the vendor on eBay, and I am no way interested in being called by the punters if I'm flogging something! Email will do nicely thank you.

However I can imagine a more formal organisation will have to attach interactive capability to its sales support and customer service. I do think the relationship may well be video rather than VoIP as such. And another the expected level of interactivity will be high. There is a small company I know that has used webcams and broadband so that customers coming in to stores can put damaged products on the store webcam for experts back at base to assess what needs to be done to repair/replace the product. Small innovations like these will transform the expected customer relationship experience. And what happens when we all have webcams at home?

I think the Video Web 2.0 will be a very, very interesting place.