MaxxoMedia Digital Media and Entertainment Trends

By Mark Levy CEO of MaxxoMedia

The vision of the digital living room has been around a long time. This is where the living room and Internet collide centered around a screen (namely the TV) and information, video, audio, games, and communications all converge. Over the years, attempts have been made to bring this vision to reality mostly with lukewarm results. Anyone remember WebTV?

At a recent gathering just outside of San Francisco, this vision was discussed. The talks centered around three main topics: 1) What will the interfaces to this digital living room look like? 2) When will this vision become a reality? And 3) How will the various parties, from cable operators and content providers to ad agencies, hardware manufacturers and even consumers make money in this new world?

By Ward Triplett and David Frese
McClatchy Newspapers

Some day soon, the television and the personal computer will be nearly indistinguishable.

It’s happening before our eyes. We’re able to time-shift when we watch “Heroes” on our digital video recorders, and we’re sneaking peeks at snippets from last night’s “Colbert Report” on YouTube. To say nothing of downloads for our iPods.

Not one to overlook an audience (or a revenue source), the networks are taking their first steps in streaming video of old episodes of our favorite shows. We took a quick tour of the networks’ sites, and here’s what we found.

But first, a couple of notes: Some of this content is changing daily, so what’s here today may be gone later today. Plus you’ll need a broadband or high-speed connection. And sometimes even that’s not enough to watch the videos uninterrupted.

Continue for a list of current web based TV offerings 

By Michelle Kessler, USA TODAY Fri Feb 2, 6:54 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Jeff Stewart directs an educational technology program at Macon State College in Georgia. But even he was quickly overwhelmed while TV shopping last month.

The sets at his local Sam’s Club all looked nice, but each touted a different alphabet soup of new features, from HDTV to LCD. Stewart didn’t want to make a mistake. He left without buying anything.

That’s not what TV makers want to hear, especially as buyers flock to stores ahead of this Sunday’s Super Bowl. Sony, Samsung and others hope a host of new TV technologies will keep the once-stagnant market growing fast. The latest: “smart” sets that connect to computer networks or the Internet.

But as TV makers rush ever-changing new technologies to the market, they run the risk of confusing and alienating customers.

Read the rest of the article.

The days of the standalone digital video recorder are numbered. (That means you, TiVo.)

Yankee Group analyst Joshua Martin says the standalone DVR product category will cease to exist by 2010, “and its dissolution will result in the end of TiVo as we know it.”

More at Reuters

An article by Alex Woodson of The Hollywood Reporter predicts the trend of US consumers interacting with the web while watching TV, will pick up steam as the 2009 deadline for broadcasters to switch to full digital transmissions approaches. Already there are a number of companies including Jacked and DigWorks aiming to provide new content and services that take full advantage of this multi screen interactivity and multi platform storytelling.

The Hollywood Reporter – NEW YORK — As consumers become more connected to broadband and digital television, they are more likely to become engaged in primetime television programming, according to a report released Thursday by CBS Corp.

According to the report, which was conducted by CBS chief research officer David Poltrack, 30% of the population was “fully connected” by last fall, meaning they have both a broadband and digital television connection at home, up from 22% in fall 2005. The network’s research found that this group, which they describe as “upscale” and “better educated,” is 20% more likely to watch the top 10 primetime programs than the national average. read the rest of the article at HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM