What was originaly planned finally happened. Admob, from the beginning of its life, thought of being acquired by Google i.e this was their Exit Strategy.

The question is who’s next now.  Buzz City was in close competition with Admob. Big Internet Giants are going shopping pretty soon into mobile advertising networks.

I believe the future of video consumption on TV will be driven by 3 things:

1. Watching Live content (mainly sports, news, events, TV series, reality show)

2. Access to On-Demand content through recommendations, social networks,from Internet

3. User Experience -a simple, easy and convergent interface, TV, Web & Mobile – and soon to come is the 3D technology (see finepix real 3D)

Of course the device on which you will watch this content will just depend on “where you are” when you want to watch it.

In this post I will focus more on companies aiming at providing video services directly to end users, mostly without going through a Pay-TV provider.

Content focused: Netflix & Blockbuster

Netflix and Blockbuster originally provided DVD rental service.  When moving to the internet they provide two things: an online portal for posting DVDs and an over the top internet video on demand service. When coming from online to your TV set 2 choices are given to the end-users: i.connecting your PC to your TV – ii. get the service from your pay-TV provider or some of companies cited above.

Their asset today is: their library of movies (90k for Blockbuster, 100k for Netflix), their ties with the film industry and  their website and associated tools (social networks, search engine, recommendation engine). Indeed, Netflix made a lot of buzz recently with its contest for improving its online recommendation engine. Blockbuster partenered with 2Wire to launch a Media Point box enabling customer to enjoy its service directly on your TV sets.

Software and User Experience focused: Boxee

Boxee is a free, open-source software platform that integrates personal media with Internet media along with social networking. Boxee is designed for your TV and use of a remote control. To get Boxee on your TV you’ll need to connect your computer to the TV screen. Boxee focuses on providing a well designed “Internet on TV” User Experience.

The future for such a company is to remain a software and integrate as a brand its service into a maximum number of  B2C box/connected TV. Their could also provide a branded/white label service to Pay-TV operators that can generate revenue. A revenue share business model can be created between Boxee / Internet Retailers and Pay-TV operators.

A mix of hardware & software, from DVR to Service: Roku, TiVO, TVBlob & Sling

TV Blob & Roku focuses on providing a Box that connects to the Internet.

TVBlob, a European company, combines in the “TVBlob Box” (in partnership with Telesey) Free To Air services available with the Digital Terrestrial TV and Internet services. They are incorporated in 2009. They have already released a Box, and are performing couple of SW releases since the past months. I think their current challenges will be to sign distribution deals with On-Demand platform and content provider. In Europe there is another player trying to get into that market it is Netgem/Glowria who launched with La Fnac (IT Retailer) a similar service than TV Blob but with a VOD service coming from Glowria. Due to a lack of marketing & aggresive communication few people are aware of this service.

Roku is much more advanced than TV Blob. Roku signed a distribution deal with Netflix, Major Base Ball League & Amazon video. Roku’s Box lets you then watch content from different Internet sources. You are not paying for a monthly subscription but only the hardware price (99$). The business model for the content depends on each sources (subscription for netflix, pay per view…). Tomorrow content providers will be able to provide content to Roku’s clients and get revenue from it…bearing in mind Roku’s team will be able to create an easy payment platform and a quality User-Interface. Today their box looks like “yet anyother box”…  The main drawback of Roku is that it doesnot provide you with live services, or any cable offerings…and that’s what TiVO managed to do.

TiVO started its promotion as a Digital Video Recorder but rapidly move into a Service provider. With your TiVO DVR you are able to:

• record and watch your content
• acess to your stored content from your PC or Mobile Phone
• subscribe to your local cable provider
• access to different library of on demand content & internet content (media, music, video)
• purchase from your TV set – their advertisement says you can buy a pizza from TiVO

TiVO though have some legal issue with Pay-TV operators on DVR patents . We will see how it will affect them in the long run. To me their pricing is a bit high when I look at solution like Roku.  And in addition they do not carry any live content themselves which will be a prejudice for them in the future.

A mix of hardware, software and content focused: AppleTV

The AppleTV has the main advantages of Apple strategy: software, hardware & design to create a beautiful and stable product combining it with iTunes. It is important to note that Apple managed to sign a distribution agreement with all the major content providers with its proprietary security solution. Making this device the most comprehensive in terms of offering in the market. But AppleTV is not a success due to a pricing problem and I guess a lack of usability. Apple is working on it and will release a new version of an upgrade of this device as the market is getting more mature.

As a conclusion I think that we will see more of these companies trying their luck into reaching out directly to end-users leveraging from the IP connection. I am a strong believer of such devices (Applet TV, TiVO, Roku, TVBlob…) to me combining the capability of free to air and the internet is the perfect equation. In addition, if I am able to watch my stored content (PC, Hard Drive…) on my TV that will be even better. In terms of mobility, being able to access the content will be the key in order to create a continuous video experience.

The company is giving nothing, telling followers @SkyMobile that they should keep an eye on the iTunes store in a coupe of weeks for more details.

Sky already released 3 iPhone apps : Sky News, Sky Sports Live Cricket and a Sky+ PVR remote.

Maybe we will see an app for booking or VOD Catalog app…let’s keep an eye on the app store.

The Sky Player is: “the home of Sky TV – but online. For anyone. Hundreds of Sky Movies plus loads of top TV titles. Available right now. You don’t even need a Sky dish! Want more information?” That is how they advertize it…at least on their website.

Doesn’t this sound like a defensive move to you…

An article from the NyTimes talked about the future of Sling Media and its flag-ship product: the Sling Box.

The editor starts by a glimpse on what could be heaven for a TV fan:

Technology evangelists and television aficionados want all their TV on the Web, and they are tired of waiting for Internet companies and content owners to make it happen.

But such an entertainment nirvana already exists — at least for owners of a silver and black gadget called the Slingbox.

Why Sling Box was created? The basic need covered by the SlingBox was the ability to watch your favourite content anywhere i.e watching the NFL/NHL finals when abroad, outside of your home or in another country. And I knew some Americans living in Singapore using Sling Boxes of friends in the US to watch their favorite sports events.

Sling Box’s strength lies on its ability of letting users watch the content “they paid for” anywhere: concept of “place-shifting” or “slinging”.  This product was designed from a Broadcast industry perspective.The slingbox is connected to your cable box and to the Internet. The web was used as a network of pipes.

Then, Sling Media developed along the years, a set of services enabling users:

• to have multiple sreens in-house – ubiquitous
• to record, store and stream content – anytime
• to watch their content on multiple devices PC, TV, Mobile – anydevices

For information, Sling was acquired in 2007 by EchoStar, the satellite TV firm that then split into two public companies: the consumer TV business Dish Networks, and the Echostar Corporation, which owns Sling.

EchoStar’s plan looks pretty amibitious. At this moment, Cable and Sat Operators are struggling to keep their existing revenue, in some cases are losing money due to restructuration and increasing competition vs the Internet. Operators are seeking ways to broadcast their content online to their “right”-owned users.

But don’t we already sling? Most people I know do sling…however they do not have a slingbox.  I am able to watch all of my favourite shows on the web, whether if I pay for it or not. And I am able to watch these shows on my TV thanks to my VGA/RCA cable.

What I lack of, though, is an easy interface able to give me access to an online video store and play it on any of my device. And that’s what Sling Media created a few months ago.

There is a trend from content provider through Hulu.com (their newly desktop player), Online Retailer (Fnac.com in Spain, France), Manufacturers (Apple, to a lesser extent Archos), TV Operators (Orange, BskyB, DirectTV) and Broadcaster to create an online video store able to stream to the web and to the TV thanks to a type of hardware. And tomorrow to even more devices: mids, pmps, netbooks…

A tremendous shift is happening in our industry. Content providers not only offer a service of TV but are more and more trying to provide an experience of entertainment. Thus implying converged services.

I started using twitter recently and I found that sometimes there are overflows…