Interest grows in launching HD content online, survey says
Apr 22, 2008 11:04 AM
Interest in launching HD broadband video services among broadcast and cable TV networks, online publishers, sports leagues and social media sites is running high, according to a new survey.
Conducted by market intelligence firm Broadband Directions for Akamai Technologies, the survey revealed that nearly 75 percent of respondents said they have plans to offer HD video content to their online audiences in the next 24 months.
In terms of timing, more than 80 percent of respondents with such plans said they either already offered HD broadband video or intend to introduce it within the next 24 months. Fully half of the respondents said they already offer it or intend to do so within the next 12 months.
While short-form HD content, such as previews and new clips, was being offered by close to half of the respondents, long-form content — including movies, TV episodes and sporting events — was not far behind at 35 percent. One way to interpret the relatively strong interest in long-form is that rights-holders of high-quality video programming (mainly TV networks and film studios), which tend to be highly focused on the user experience, are only now being drawn into broadband because HD is becoming economically and technically possible.
The study identified increases in consumer last-mile bandwidth speeds and penetration, as well as proven premium business models around HD video online, as the business and technical requirements that are most important to broadcasters when making their decision to offer HD video programming online.
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