Internet video traffic is doubling every 3 to 4 months
From October 2005 to March 2006, the number of Internet users watching video online increased 18 %, while the average viewing time per user rose 18%, according to ComScore. And we mentioned the last week, Internet video traffic is doubling every 3 to 4 months.

Michael Gordon, co-founder and CEO of Limelight Networks, Inc. explains that \"this change in user behavior is being driven by a simple fact: unlike in 1999, Internet delivery of digital media content in 2006 works\".

Emerging from its infancy

“The trends we’re witnessing indicate that online video is emerging from its infancy and entering the mainstream,” said Jack Flanagan, EVP of Comscore Media Metrix. (By the way, look at ComScore stats for July)

Cory Bergman, an industry expert, notes that \"the implication is clear if it wasn’t obvious before: media organizations must 1) pursue user created video as quickly as possible and 2) install YouTube-like functionality in traditional video presentations.\"

Still huge room for the TV networks
We are transitioning from Network to Networked TV, as Shelly Palmer technologist and visionary says. And certainly most of the new Television features disrupt traditional models. The impact will be significant but stay calm.

As Mr. Palmer points out there is still room, huge room I would say, for traditional TV: \"Photography did not put an end to painting, recordings did not replace concerts, web sites did not render newspapers obsolete, home videos did not destroy the movie business and networked television will not destroy network television.\"

President Bush to suffer a digitally manipulated assassination
The UK\'s Channel 4 has produced a movie that opens with the assassination of President Bush by a anti-war sniper in front of a Chicago hotel. They have used special effects to use Bush\'s actual face. It seems to be a shockingly real film, and it is already causing outrage among many Americans.

Death of a President uses digital trickery, archive footage and actors. This drama, which recreates the national paranoia following the murder, will be screened this month at the Toronto Film Festival. Channel 4 hopes to sell the film to US broadcasters but same say that is impossible. So wait until it hits YouTube. For the moment, just we have is the picture of the scene.

CBS launches a channel which will stream games on a subscription basis
Football and other sporting events from dozens of colleges and universities are available live over the Internet through a service launched this Friday. Notre Dame games are free, while other schools will charge $5 to $10 a month for a complete access. This broadband site is called CSTVXXL.com and it is run by CBS\'s CSTV Networks. It contains over 100 channels of college sports live and on-demand, and includes audio and video feeds of games, news conferences, highlights and other features.

Chief executive of CSTV says: \"Fans of large schools no longer have to wait for that single game on broadcast or cable. Millions of fans of smaller schools will have access to live sports for the first time no matter where they live\". The schools often produce material already for broadcast, video scoreboards and other purposes, so getting footage online likely won\'t require a heavy investment by either the schools or CSTV.

CSTVXXL.com will have channels for each of the schools it covers, and those schools will stream games that aren\'t being shown on TV. By the way, Mac users forget about using it. CSTVXXL is only PC-compatible.

Start Up uses military tech to fix low resolution video
Cell phones with video capture capability are increasingly popular, but the image quality is pathetic. Check out this business idea: technology to enhance low resolution video by comparing multiple frames to replace lost pixels. MotionDSP is the creator, and It started off in 1998 as a U.S. military funded project at UC Santa Cruz.

\"Our software re-constructs a high-resolution from low-resolution video nabling mobile phones, webcams, and security cameras to deliver higher-quality video, and enable a viewing experience that is far more satisfying. Take a look at the video demo at the company\'s site. That idea could help broadcaster to transport video files from the field via Internet. Now they are looking for 1 minute in length videos captured by mobile phones or digital cameras for a consumer test.

Video ads segment is the fastest growing online media
A report by research firm eMarketer predicts video advertising will grow 71% this year to $640 million. By 2010, the number is expected to hit $2.3 billion, that is 8 % of the $29.4 billion. Online video is the fastest growing segment of the $16.7 billion Internet advertising market.

According to experts, \"the rapid rise is due to the quick pace at which television networks, traditional marketers and new participants such as YouTube have introduced video onto the Web in past year.\"

Business 2.0 Magazine asked in September issue to dozen of venture capitalists for great startup ideas they would like to back with their money. Among them there are some related to online video business. So Steve Krausz, general partner of U.S. Venture Partner would invest $2 million in a ad site that could offer to major advertisers opportunities to place short trailers in video blogs. The vloggers could receive fees based on impression, clic-throughs, or both. Nothing like this exists yet.

Jim Breyer, partner of Accel Partners says will invest $10 million in a international networking site for indie artists, filmmakers, musicians, authors, designers, and other creative types which would operate as a marketplace, with members buying and selling their own creations as much as they blog, link and post. \"They might be a Chinese student filmmaker with a five-minute film who wants to reach a niche of U.S. users. He could find people willing to buy his films, and maybe a producer willing to bankroll more\", says.

Video mashups online is what is seeking investor Tood Dagres. A web-based service that allows users to combine their own videos with a library of licensable clips and music to create video mashups online. Ths ideal startup should build first a video-editing program that\'s as easy to use with a browser as iMovie is with a Mac. Second is inking enough licensing deals to create a video library big enough to get the concept off the ground. Studios have all this content that they would love to monetize. He has $4 million for a working site and editing software.

Any brilliant solution? Just send your pitch to above emails addresses.



Over 500,000 user have subscribed to a new video channels free software
Take a look to this free Internet TV software. It is called Instant Media (I\'M), and it is pioneered by a Palo Alto\'s startup. Since it was launched in May of 2006, over 500,000 users have subscribed to their free software, which provides access to 550 channels, including programs covering the latest in news, sports, entertainment and technology. I\'M integrates catalog of videos, videocast, audiocasts, and news feeds.

Once the player is installed (only works in Windows XP), consumers can browse an integrated directory of channels, subscribe to their favorite channels, and then continue working on their PC while shows download in the background. New shows appear automatically, and are ready to watch instantly.

Almost half of Internet users watch video once a month

\"Achieving this number of users so quickly demonstrates that I\'M is rapidly growing as the entertainment destination of choice,\" said Andy Leak, CEO of Instant Media. \"The market for online video is exploding, and we have shown that for hundreds of thousands of users, the best destination for on-demand entertainment is right on their desktop using Instant Media to watch full-screen video.\"

According to a study by the Online Publishers Association (OPA), 46 percent of all Internet users watch video at least once a month. The study also found that half of all video viewers return to a specific Web site to find video, and a strong majority of video viewers (58 percent) say they rely on two to five sites.



CNN presents its citizen journalism site but it gets a limited answer
CNN has launched its citizen journalism video site, called CNN Exchange. Critics say that if a gatekeeper like CNN can really make it work a site devoted to user-submitted videos. CNN presents the service in this way:

\"What\'s happening where you are? Is news happening in front of your eyes? Pull out your camera and I-Report it for CNN. Use the form on this page to send files from your computer. Send cell phone video and photos to ireport@cnn.com. \"

Anyone can see that the service has had a very limited answer from the public.



NBC launches user video site
Another user video site from a network, but this time smarter than the one of CNN. It comes from NBC, it is called ItsYourShowTV.com, and it encourages user to submit original video for cash prizes, from $1,000 to $100,000. Some of the winning clips will be aired on NBC with Carson Daly hosting.

The site allows you to download tools such as video, music and sound effect to use in your editing. “We know you like to mix it up so we’re giving out some ingredients,” reads the site. Weekly challenges keeps the user generated content focused.



Only the stubborn determination guarantees the success
Want to succeed in business? \"All the brains and connections in the world won\'t mater unless you also have the bullheaded determination it takes to get things done\", says columnist and Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford University. The don\'t-give-up mentality is the most crucial ingredient to the success. This stubborn determination cannot be learnt in business school.

\"Many MBAs are geared to the intellectual rigors of running a company but can be reluctant to get their hands dirty, believing that smart and connections will open doors so they won\'t need to do the actual work. You need the persistence\", adds. That resilience is crucial.

NBC seeks to profit from the video sharing market
NBC Universal has created a new video syndication service, NBBC (National Broadband Company). It allows website owners to add video to their sites by embedding a customizable NBBC player. Besides NBC, in this venture are Access Hollywood, Break.com, CSTV, About.com, SNL, Forbes, WashingtonPost, A&E and CNET, to name a few. Commercials will be inserted before each video segment, and the revenue will be split among the program\'s creator (30 %), the web site owner (20%) and NBBC (50%).

This idea came out after NBC noticed that a sketch from Saturday Night Live, Lazy Sunday, became a hit across the Internet. Some people recorded that segment and uploaded it to YouTube and to MySpace. The president of NBC explained at a news conference this week: \"YouTube made a lot of money off it. In the future, when we have a Lazy Sunday clip, NBBC will make a lot of money on it.\" (...) \"If we really want to compete with big aggregators like Yahoo and Google, we need our video in as many places as possible,\" added.

Keeping distance from YouTube\'s user-generated clips

Google has partnered with Viacom and plans to distribute video content with commercials to other sites. AOL will do the same. And many start-up companies with video syndication strategies, like Brightcove, Roo, Revver and Broadband Enterprises, will play in the same field.

NBBC says that they want to work only with established producers, and is not going to allow the programs it distributes (initially, under seven minutes clips) to be inserted on personal blogs or Web pages, although it might work will high-traffic blogs. They want to keep distance from programs created and uploaded by users -YouTube style, which is the hottest trend in online video. It will be interesting to see how this plays out


Spain\'s ruling political party PSOE launches its own broadband TV channel
Spain\'s ruling political party PSOE launched this week its own broadband channel, Psoetv.es . For this project, PSOE hired Narrowstep Inc., a London based Internet TV company, which has a proprietary technology called telvOS. Narrowstep Inc. partnered with a Spanish tech company, Vivocom, for PSOE\'s IPTV channel. They will try to deliver more channels in Spain.

Steve Beaumont, CEO of Narrowstep Inc., said: \"The Internet is a natural platform for broadcast and we\'re going to see an increasing number of IPTV channels across a range of sectors. Consumers are increasingly demanding choice, flexibility and interactivity from their media, and IPTV offers all these things.\" Vivocom Managing Director Raul Cruz-Linacero added: \"It is the natural evolution of Internet users to demand quality video and interactivity in one package. Broadcasters and organizations who are not seriously investigating and implementing IPTV will have major gaps in their communications.\"

One of the first political party broadband channel

Narrowstep\'s telOS system provides the backbone for IPTV for 90+ channels, representing market interests groups from ranging from entertainment, tourism, gaming, sports, and local broadcasters who want to expand their market and remove geographical boundaries to broadcasting.

PSOE\'s video site is one of the first broadband channels dedicated to a political party. The contents of the channel show a professional editing and graphics. The stories are clearly biased, focused into socialist people. (Read this news story in Spanish)

Lonelygirl15 the YouTube phenomenon makes a real appearance
The Internet, or better YouTube, phenomenon Lonelygirl15, also known as Bree, appeared on MTV and NBC. \"It\'s been insane. I\'ve had so much attention given to me that I didn\'t expect\", said on MTV (see video), in an appearance in front of a background with Revver logos (by the way, a YouTube competitor). Jessica Rose, Bree, is a New Zealand-born 19-year old actress struggling to make her way in Hollywood.

She has been presented herself, hiding her real identity, as a rebellious and naive teenage girl who confessed her intimate thoughts, as well as her fights with her conservative religious parents. To the two young filmmakers behind these video clips, the lovely Bree \"is the epicenter of a new form of collaborative online entertainment.\" Unlike most video bloggers, Bree, or Lonelygirl15, has more than 2 million viewers. Lonelygirl15, with its two-three minutes clips, filmed in the past three and a half months in a apartment just using a $150 webcam, has become the second most-subscribed-to channel on YouTube.

The creators thought that fostering the illusion that Bree was real would increase fan support and her huge community dedicated to lonelygirl15. Now she has her home page at LonelyGirl15.com and their creators hope to transform the site into a lucrative franchise or even into a movie project.



Television commercials get a new life on the Internet
Traditional television commercials are finding new life on the web. Sites like YouTube and Google, or specialized ones as AdvertisementAve.com and Adcritic.com, are collecting and archiving those commercials. Some marketers have decide to keep online their own ads, allowing them too to download into handhelds. Take for example Volkswagen, DHL, MasterCard, or Bud Light. It is a way to get much mileage out for the commercials, at a time when consumers use their TiVo or DVR to fast-forward through ads.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, in a New York Times interview advocates \"Net neutrality\", or limiting Internet service providers\' control over information, and talks about the future of Internet TV.

\"We expect to see, very importantly, television streaming over the Internet, which is going to make a very exciting market in television content and maybe entertainment, maybe educational ideas,\" says.



Wi-Max network could offer nationwide web TV and movies on phone
Consider this scenario: a broadband wireless nationwide service based on Wi-Max, a more powerful relative of Wi-Fi technology and much cheaper to build and maintain than traditional networks. Clearwire, a Wi-Max service founded by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw and backed by Intel and Motorola, is working on creating that infrastructure.

Clearwire could eventually offer in the future cutting-edge services such as Web-based TV, movies on phone, and VOIP calls. Clearly already offers basic Wi-Max broadband service in Brussels, Dublin, and 27 U.S. metropolitan markets. Its network, operated on a licensed spectrum, has 100,000 subscribers. Challenging Clearwire is Sprint, which expects to spend as much as $3 billion in next two years.



IPTV, still in its infancy, will shake up both television and the web
According to a new report by research firm eMarketer, \"the combination of high-quality video content (both user-generated and professionally professionally produced) with the search and retrieve capability of the Web has the potential to radically disrupt the existing TV model.\"

eMarketer estimates that the number of IPTV-capable households worldwide will climb to 139 million in 2010, up from just 14 million last year. In the U.S., IPTV subscribers numbered just 300,000 last year; by 2010 it is predicted to increase to 8.7 million. Internet Protocol TV is still in its infancy, but has the potential to shake up both television and the web.



Most of the users prefer watch sponsored but free video clips
71% of U.S. Internet video users prefer to watch and download free clips sponsored by pre-roll advertising, while only 23% said they would prefer to pay for ad-free content. This is according to a poll by the AP and AOL. The poll also reports that:

Users prefer shorter videos
20% of those surveyed had downloaded or watched a movie or TV show
54% of U.S. Internet users consume video online
32% of respondents say they watch more video online than they did a year ago
80% say their TV viewing habits remain unchanged

The top video categories were News, at 72 %, and TV or movie clips, at 59 %. \"Video usage is growing faster than most predicted. As more and more Web users adopt broadband, demand for online video of all types, including news, music videos and concerts, TV and movies, sports highlights, and user generated video mash-ups will continue to grow at a very fast pace,\" said AOL Kevin Conroy manager.



Cisco is jumping into an increasingly competitive world of streaming video
Cisco Systems wants to do for businesses what YouTube is doing for the masses. \"A digital media explosion in under way, and business, frankly, is a little bit behind. Increasingly, consumers are driving new trends\", say Martin De Beer, vice president of Cisco. To solve the gap, the company announced this week a digital media package to help corporations record, edit and send streaming video to their employees and others in a simple format.

Cisco\'s Digital Media System includes a Digital Media Encoder, Media Manager, and Video Portal. The solution won\'t be cheap. The price starts a $133,000. For Cisco System\'s the emphasis on multimedia is another step in a plan to revamp the company\'s traditional image as a maker of routers and switches into an all-purpose media and telecommunications network provider.



Al Gore\'s Current TV joins with Yahoo for a broadband channel
Yahoo has created a new online video programming venture with former Vice President Al Gore\'s Current TV, take a look. The service combines professional and user-generated video clips and has four channels. One section, called Current Buzz, features segments related to the news. The other channels cover travel, sports and cars.

Each channel have one professionally produced segment each day, and 8 to 10 segments made by users. Amateur videographers whose clips are chosen for the Internet receive $100, and if a clip is broadcasted on Current\'s television network, the maker receive between $500 and $1,000. Most clips are preceded by a 15 or 30 second commercial.

(To tell the truth, many people cannot plays those clips. Surprisingly, the platform is poorly implemented, and the user reviews are plenty of complaints)



Jajah.com disrupts Skype and others VOIP with a new phone calls service
Dear friends, I cannot hide my excitement after discovering and using Jajah.com, a free web phone calling system which can disrupt telecoms and even existing VOIP services such as Skype. Jajah.com (nice word in Spanish) hits the market with a new level of simplicity: no downloads, headsets or phone adapters.

They got $3 million in funding from Sequoia Capital in 2005, and now they have a million paying customers. For each customer, Jajah is making $10 monthly, and these fees subsidize the free calls. The secret? They have cut deals with many telecoms for access to cheap local last-mile connections, and the long-distance part of the call goes over the Internet.

To get it, you simply use your existing phone; you enter it on Jajah website, and then you enter your the number you wants to call, either local or international. Now you need to have Internet access, but Jajah plans to take the computer out of the call process.