Google Video is causing the cable industry to learn fast

Posted Jun 30th 2006 2:45PM by Brian White
Filed under: Rumors, Products and Services, Launches, Consumer Experience, Internet, Competitive Strategy, Google (GOOG)

Google Video is quickly -- along with YouTube.com -- turning into a clearinghouse for all kinds of video content, from broadcast television episodes (sometimes illegally uploaded) to amateur videos (not that kind), the question is if more and more consumers will "consume" their video from the computer screen instead of the television screen? With PCs becoming a little more integrated in the home entertainment arena these days (with ultra-slow progress), your PC may join your satellite receiver/DVR/cable box next to your television. When that happens, and you have broadband Internet at your disposal, should cable companies and traditional content producers be scared? If they have not embraced changes, then yes they should.

The good news is that the cable industry generally moves faster than the old telephone industry, which have been having a loud wake-up call due to wireless phones and VoIP services. So, what do the cable companies do to keep subscribers -- and more importantly, subscriber revenues -- at a profitable level? Well, these companies join the online fray of making content available in some fashion on the Internet, that's what.

Soon will be the day when a Comcast customer logs on to www.comcast.com from their television set and selects any and all programming they want -- at a time when they want it -- and the content flows down to the television in front of that subscriber. Tuning into "Channel 206" will become a thing of the past. The "channel" becomes a website with a menu of programming choices and tastes from the content producers that used to be on a "channel" on your cable box. Right now, that lesson is being taught at an alarming pace by both Google Video and YouTube.com.

Tags: GOOG, Google, Google Video, GoogleVideo, You Tube, YouTube, YouTube.com