Cable and satellite don’t have to fear Internet content cannibalization … yet.  There are still hurdles that have to be overcome before people will entirely abandon their cable or satellite service.  The user experience and bandwidth costs are primary among them.

At ivi we call the traditional TV user experience “alpha-state viewing.”  Users turn on their television and watch whatever is on.  We estimate that traditional television is 90-percent alpha-state viewing.  Interactive viewing and event-based viewing make up the remaining percentage.  Internet television has made strides towards increasing the user experience in interactive and event-based viewing.  However, Internet television has not yet replicated the traditional television experience of: “Let’s see what’s
on!”

Additionally, until the Internet’s transactional delivery model can be turned into a broadcast delivery model, the cost of delivering large scale, broad-appeal video is going to be both cost and bandwidth prohibitive.  The user experience is the ultimate leg up for cable and satellite providers.  Until somebody creates an “alpha-state viewing” experience for Internet TV, users won’t depart cable and satellite in the high volume contemplated in articles like this.

ivi TV was designed to overcome these hurdles. Live Internet TV will be a reality soon.

TV on your PC posted a video this week that I found quite interesting. ivi TV’s particular interests are bringing the traditional TV experience online and  giving viewers more TV choices including free choices. The media obsession with TV vs. Internet is not that interesting to the consumer. I in particular feel like cable/live TV, archived TV, and live online TV (soon to be available through ivi) are all complementary aspects of true consumer choice. It’s not a Hulu vs. “real” TV option; we want the right TV for each of many contexts. So, the things about these mini interviews that stood out for me are:

1. People appreciate the “relax and veg out” nature of TV in a different way than they enjoy a more participatory Internet experience
2. People like having more TV choices
3. People are looking for ways to save money on TV entertainment
4. People spend A LOT of time on their computers. that can mean that they WANT television to be there, too, or it can eman they want a BREAK from the Internet to watch TV.
5. People are very aware that TV is going online in many ways

What would you want to add to te dialogue about current TV habits and attitudes? I’ve embedded the video below, but make sure to enrich the discussion with your comments!