YouTube to TV set by Apple TV helps Google to land in the TV industry

The Associated Press reported today that Apple TV user wil be able to access the popular YouTube service on their living room televisions through its video-streaming set-top-box, which is a slim, book-sized device streams movies and songs stored in the user’s iTunes personal library but can’t directly access Internet-based videos. According to Apple Inc., with the impending Apple TV feature, which will be available as a free software update, members of Google Inc.’s YouTube will be able to log on to their YouTube accounts right from their television set. Thousands of the videos on YouTube will be available at launch and more will be added each week until the full YouTube catalog is accessible on Apple TV this fall.
Today's Apple TV, quadrupling its maximum storage capacity with a 160-gigabyte hard drive. will be US$399.

What this means is that Google will now be able to officially get into the TV business, making its purchase of YouTube a good strategic move. More and more broadband/online only video services will join the YouTube and be available to regular TV screen sets. This is what we have discussed in the last chapter of the Webcasting Worldwide book on the future of Webcasting is not limited to the PC screen, but also TV sets and mobile phones. Think about the advertising attractiveness of those videos that will be streamed to regular TV sets to advertisers.

Webcasting go local and local webcasting go national/international

The recent news about CNN's cooperation with Internet Broadcasting is very significant to the webcasting industry. Now CNN's web site is going to show 70 local TV stations' news streams and local TV stations' web site will include CNN's stream means that they bring visitors to one another. No matter users chose to start with a local TV station site or CNN, they can get the same content. The resultant increase in news audience size will definitely boost advertising value to advertisers. Although no details are revealed how the revenue will be shared, it is clear that with CNN dropping premium services, advertising will become the main advertising source for its webcast. Let's see how receptive are advertisers to such double coverage and also the expanded scope of users from local to national/international or from national/international news to local.

Webcasting researchers beware: new research opportunity and redefinition of the audience scope of webcasting.