Free TV from anywhere streamed to your computer?

Novel ventures promise free video directly over broadband connection to personal computer

Two new Europe-based ventures, Joost and Babelgum have a new vision, that just might revolutionise the way we watch TV. Unlike the recent wave of Internet Protocol Television, high-quality video delivered over phone lines through a set-top box to your television set, these new ventures are offering free video streamed directly over a broadband connection to a PC.

Joost, is offering comedy, sports, music and documentaries, and has recently snatched up a content deal with Viacom, which owns Paramount pictures and networks including MTV and Comedy Central staking out a claim to the mass market.

By contrast, Babelgum, which is testing nine channels including movie trailers, animation, sports and news clips, is going after the niche market by seeking to offer a broad catalog of specific content that potential viewers would have a hard time finding on their own. They plan to develop smart channeling, which would allow viewers to customise videos streamed to their computers.

Both are using peer-to-peer technology. With these ventures still in their infancy, analysts say there is little question that television will continue its reign as the primary source of video news and entertainment for the immediate future. But they predict that soon and estimates vary from three to 15 years these ventures will converge with television in a sort of big bang of media delivery.

8220;Although PC-based content definitely has its own place, normal television will not go away,8221; said Arjang Zadeh, a London-based Internet TV expert for Accenture.

TV8217;s dominance will be supported by the current trend toward high-definition television because 8220;the best way of delivering HDTV content is to go through the normal satellite and cable delivery systems,8221; Zadeh said.

Internet delivery can compete with the quality of satellite or cable television until broadband speeds increase to an average 25 to 30 megabits per second, he added.

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Still, analysts see the market growing. According to iSuppli, the market for TV over the Internet is likely to rise to 2.6 billion by 2010. The revolution is not just technological it8217;s also social, said Francesco Monico, a professor of media at the New Academy of Fine Arts, Milan. As individuals tend toward niche content tailored to their interests, television will loose its social and political power to influence society, he said.