by: Alain Thys
Tivo just joined forces with the Independent Film Channel to offer broadband users the opportunity of directly downloading currently unaired video footage.
While currently only a trial project, this could be the start of a wide-scale VODcasting (VOD = video on demand) style approach which would connect video & film producers directly to the homes of the consumers interested in their content.
On the non-corporate side of life players like Rocketboom and Tiki Bar TV are also experimenting with video programming for regular and automatic downloading to your PC (via rss). While the production quality in itself still has a bit of an amateuristic feel, they are proving that technically there is no more impediment to directly connect a production studio to your home PC (and by implication TV).
For me this development is much bigger than anything interactive television ever talked about. After all, while you can credibly argue with the fact that people don't want to be "too" interactive in their couch, the VOD argument of being able to see "what I want, when I want it" is harder to dismiss.
Conceptually a future where TV, film and news producers directly reach out to consumers to sell their wares is coming closer. While this probably won't eliminate the need for TV-stations, it will pose some interesting challenges for them as parts of their business will get disintermediated.
Inspired by: Podcastingnews
