The convergence of television and the Web just keeps on coming. Public relations opportunities open up, too, and no more so than for smaller companies, not-for-profits, and political candidates. Perhaps even bloggers can benefit.
Today's Wall Street Journal reports [subscription required] that during the new year, TV sets with improved capabilities to access content on the Web will hit the market. The new products are on show at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
For smaller companies (and political candidates), the ability to put a message on the Web, including audio or video content, and then have it viewed or heard on a consumer's TV set presents an oppotunity that was hitherto reserved only big companies with top-dollar advertising budgets.
When local cable network advertising became available, smaller companies (and political candidates) benefited from a low-cost opportunity to become exposed to a large local audience.
The Internet on TV takes this a step further, permitting all equipped homes to access Web content at a time of the viewer's choosing, rather than waiting for a commercial on cable. P.R. tactics can drive viewers to watch or read content on a website from the comfort of their living room or bedroom.
2006 already looks like an exciting year!
Update, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006: We forgot to post some exceprts from the WSJ article.
While cable and satellite TV services offer hundreds of channels and up to thousands of video-on-demand choices, the amount of content available on the Web is virtually limitless.
"We're going to see in 2006 and 2007 a much more well-established Internet access into televisions," says Peter Weedfald, who heads the consumer-electronics business in the U.S. for Samsung Electronics Inc.
For consumers, this could mean instant access to hard-to-find content, such as films in foreign languages and old TV shows, as well as on-demand episodes of prime-time fare that networks like NBC have started to make available. Starz Entertainment Group LLC announced today an Internet-based movie-subscription service called Vongo that will offer users unlimited access to more than 1,000 movies and other programs for $9.99 a month.
But the trend is a threat to some entrenched players, such as cable operators.
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