Internet TV: When, dammit?
Hulu touts about TV anytime, anywhere. But hooking your TV to the Net? Crazy talk!
Funny pages: Hulu offers web video, but doesn't encourage Net TV. Image: Hulu
I had an epiphany early last year when I visited Hulu for an article David Kirkpatrick and I were writing about the unexpectedly successful young venture.
Watching TV shows on Hulu was such a pleasant experience with Hulu that the company should encourage users to connect their PCs to televisions. Technologically it's not a difficult thing to do, but it's not terribly convenient. A PC needs to be near the TV, the remote-control experience isn't good, and so on. I remember Hulu executives smiling kindly at my suggestion but not offering much in the way of feedback.
With hindsight, I see how naive I was.
Hulu's owners are Fox Televion (a unit of News Corp. (NWS)), NBC Universal (controlled by General Electric (GE)), and, more recently, Disney (DIS), which owns ABC. The last thing these media conglomerates want is for their Webby startup to go around encouraging people to watch Internet videos on their TVs.
Technology is not the problem
Internet ads are small potatoes compared with TV spots. Online advertising may be growing, but it doesn't replace the big bucks from broadcast, cable and satellite TV. Hulu talked a good game about doing what was right for consumers, and it did build nice video viewing software on the Web. But when it comes to encourage folks to use Hulu on their TVs? No way.
So as we head into 2010 the long-assumed dream of an "Internet bypass" or "over-the-top video" remains just that, a dream.
Consider:
* Boxee, a startup whose software makes it easy to connect TVs and PCs has been playing a cat-and-mouse game with Hulu for the very reasons described above.
* Apple (AAPL) has had next to no success with Apple TV, a niche product that enables TV viewing of videos in an iTunes playlist — and nothing else.
* Sony (SNE) recently introduced an Internet-enabled TV with the promise of customers being able to purchase a Sony movie. Yet the movie comes with an exorbitant price tag so as to avoid upsetting Wal-Mart, the nation's largest seller of DVDs and therefore an important Sony vendor.
These are all baby steps for something that, technologically at least, seems inevitable. As Richard Greenfield of Pali Capital told The New York Times: “The time when a majority of consumers have Internet-enabled TVs is a long way off. “But it’s moving the ball in the right direction.”
Why does it have to be so hard? That's easy. Incumbent video providers will hold on to their diminishing profit margins as long as possibly can even while saying they are embracing new technology, like Hulu. Introduced eight Bravia models that are Internet-enabled won't solve the problem.
What will?
I currently have my laptop hooked up to my 20in LCD in the bedroom. This is how we watch tv at my house no cable. This is so much online content why pay cable company $70-$80 a month. Most of the major networks have all their shows online and with a netflix account with unlimited streaming thats all the tv we need at my house.
HDMI Baby!!! J in Yuma – you got it right and everyone's going to be migrating to this simple solution someday. its NOT about 'tv' on the internet, its about 'internet' on your tv 
Bye Bye Cableco. Comcast knows this, hence their interest in grabbing hold of the content (NBC Universal)
Internet TV is here already ..and it's not in the hardware of cables or boxes or gizmos and it's not in the expensive "club" subscriptions either.
Remember Skype and it's few lines of code that revolutionized telephony?Expect the same for the coming explosion of Web/TV convergence.
Try watching TV online now with this very basic example of what's to come at http://Telly.tk
Yep, Mac Mini and Hulu is the way to go. Simple, fast, easy, cheap, no monthly fees and full DVR-style viewing including Netflix like Queues and email alerts when your subscribed shows hit your Q. And since the Mini is a full computer, you have iTunes streaming to remote speakers and you can watch the news on CNN, MSNBC etc while you make dinner. I see this as the dish and cable killer.
After being feed up with Traditional cable. I planted a antenna on top of our house and bought a roku. Honestly, it's pretty cool for $9 a month we stream movie and receive new releases in the mail. Until the cable companies play fair, it's not worth there high prices for a bunch of junk.
Can someone comment on setting up a Sling Box to watch your your TV anywhere on you PC or high speed enabled cell phones?
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I have this setup.
With my Slingbox Pro, I connect the yellow video output and red and white audio jacks from my cablebox, to the slingbox. You set the supplied IR emitter in front of the cable box, so you can change its channels. Plug the slingbox's network cable to your DSL/Cable modem.
Once you register your slingbox to their website, you are all set. All you do is load their free software on your laptop, which will connect to their website, and will tell your laptop how to connect to your slingbox.
The laptop will see whatever channel the cablebox is tuned to. You will also have a graphic version of your cableboxes remote, which will allow you to change channels just as if you were at home. You can connect the slingbox to virtually any video device, such as DVR, satellite, game machine, etc. The negative is, if you connect the slingbox to your ONLY cablebox, you will be changing the channel on whoever happens to be at home watching tv, so it's best to select a cablebox that others don't normally use.
You can also watch your slingbox using your browser, by going to beta.slingbox.com. If you want to view it using your cell phone, you have to pay $29 for the Windows mobile, palm, or blackberry software. Other then that, there is no fees to watch tv remotely. Also, there is a password, so unauthorized people don't connect to your slingbox. Otherwise, someone could connect to your DVR for example, and delete all your shows.
The only negative is that it doesn't work so well over a WiFi connection in your hotel, because you get really low bandwidth. It works great with an ethernet connection. It's also not very useful if you don't have cable or satellite service at home
I will slove it just let me get going on it and then i will have it set up in no time this should ahve been done long ago by now i can get it set up if and when you are behind me i ahve been working and working on it trying to find a real way to do it!*-
why wait for the old industry players? Forget crappy sites like Hulu and head over to Sidereel.com, surfthechannel.com, superstreamtv.com, etc. There is so much free TV, no one ever needs to pay another cable bill again. Hook up your 42" LCD flat screen, which is just a giant computer monitor, and enjoy!
I laugh at people who still watch crappy old TV, with all the annoying commercials. Once you go to the internet for your TV, you will NEVER go back!
Seems I'm one of the very few TIVO customers left…not mentioned in any of the comments below. I get my Netflix videos, music through Rhapsody, and a host of web videos. I get my HDTV through the over-the-air receivers, so the monthly bill is still far less than cable. TIVO just needs to get better marketing, a few more strategic partners, and an updated interface, and they could come back obscurity.
The main impediment to watching a computer based solution for most people is that fact that you can't get things like encrypted content from your cable provider on your computer. IPTV threatens that and I look forward to it. I have a pretty powerful computer that is more than capable of playing HD content. I watch HD content from Hulu and netflix. Unfortunately, I have no way for getting the HD content from my cable provider (Comcast) as none of that or things like OnDemand would be available. HDCP would also prevent me from running a HDMI cable from my cable box to my computer as it would look at it as a recording device. As far as getting some of this on your TV, the XBox360 and a few other devices let you watch Netflix's "Watch instantly" (similar to OnDemand) content directly on your TV. This content is also playable on your computer. What I would ike to see is the set top box getting replaced (or having the option to replace it) with a addon card for your computer (with the software to run it), so I can go with a media PC based model.
Does anybody realize the concept is not new? I can speak on Time Warner, Comcast, and Cablevision, at least in hypotheticals, on how it already is that way, just highly controled. What this shows is the continued growth in convergent technologies. Everything is moving to TCP/IP based communication. Right now, your cable company can check line quality by "pinging" your digital cable box. Odd that the same word is used in the IT industry. The limit on how many shows you can watch/record at once, the excuse given in bandwidth. All your DVR/cablebox ends up being is a special purpose (probably linux based) computer. Your cell phone? Has an IP address. You have a Verizon or Sprint/Nextel phone with Push to Talk service? It as 2 IP addresses.
As far as the the Advertising is concerned, nothing is stopping commercials from being in the feeds from the internet. What will happen is what happend to the dot com industry. Companies like Hulu will be bought out by someone like Time Warner, and the cable service providers will migrate to TCP/IP on demand broadcasting. (the comparison is to online only retailors that have been minimized when in-store retailors hopped online. Hence the only major survivors that I can think of is Amazon and Ebay.)
My TV has a monitor cable input, so I plugged my computer in to try it out. After a month or so I canceled my cable TV service, maxed out my internet connection, and signed up with Netflix. I've got all the TV and movies I want, whenever I want them, and am paying $50/month less. I use a wireless KB/mouse from the coffee table. I'll never go back!
My Sling Box gives me all my TV programming, including my DVR content, on my computer anytime I want it. Simple to use, reasonably priced. No rocket science here.
I use a Apple Mac Mini and have it connected to my LCD TV; use a wireless mouse & keyboard as a remote.
That's my Internet TV, which saves me the cost of pricey useless Cable TV. That's my solution!
I have enjoyed watching HD video over the internet. NFL.com provides a rewind service where you watch any game 24 hours after in occurs. Video is great with my front projector on a 92 inch screen. The games are edited: no commercials, no timeouts, no halftime, only football.
I'm assuming this article is ignoring the fact that you can spend 15 bucks and get two (sometimes one) simple cables and hook a laptop/desktop to your TV?
This ultimately leads to being able to view anything that you can get on your computer on your TV (quality limited by source/bandwidth).
I was surprised that I made it down 10 comments before I saw an Apple nut attack the article. I say this all the time, just because consumers are morons and will buy anything doesn't mean its always a good product (See Also: Pet Rock, Snuggie, and Law Degrees). Apple TV is worthless, just leave it alone until they actually do something with it.
'Combining computers and TV's is simply not practical because pirated movies are easily available via p2p's(users would not even need to burn the movie to watch it), many families prefer to use television and internet at the same time, and the structure of this proposal may end in television shows with sidebar ads or internet sites with an increasing amount of full-screen commercials.'
Most tech savy people don't burn the pirated movies today, they just stream them to their HD TV's via a PS3 or an Xbox 360 or ethernet enabled BD player. Hard Media (CD's DVD's etc) are a thing of the past. HD Digital Content is of the present age, easily streamable and highly mobile
Until (and if) the internet has the bandwith to allow HD video, I'm not that interested in sourcing video from my laptop. I've connected the laptop to my HD projector and trust me, it's not watchable. On a smaller (standard def) TV, it would be watchable, but lacking greatly compared to HD.
Combining computers and TV's is simply not practical because pirated movies are easily available via p2p's(users would not even need to burn the movie to watch it), many families prefer to use television and internet at the same time, and the structure of this proposal may end in television shows with sidebar ads or internet sites with an increasing amount of full-screen commercials.
I completely disagree that connecting your PC/Mac to a TV is "no big deal"(tm). For techies, maybe it's not (I would argue it was more hassle than they realize or admit–compared to hooking up a cable box). I can't even imagine my parents trying to deal with that. Most off-the-shelf PCs do not ship with the necessary hardware or software to do this easily, and once it IS connected, actually using it is another animal altogether. The quality of service and cost has to FAR outweigh the hassle involved in making it work–and currently it does not.
Can someone comment on setting up a Sling Box to watch your your TV anywhere on you PC or high speed enabled cell phones?
I built an MCE 2005 machine almost five years ago. I can surf the web, do email, instant messaging, fragging, etc, all from my couch with a wireless KB and mouse.
My MCE machine also serves as my DVD player, with full DTS glory over my sound system.
And I can watch TV too! Live TV can be paused and timeshifted, and I can record an entire season of (enter reality TV show name here) with one programming entry.
And yes, I tried Hulu with my HT. I was surprised at the level of visual quality it provided. Granted, I'm still using old-school FD Trinitron, but still…
Connecting PC to TV is not difficult. But wouldn't it be fantastic to have a better mouse so you don't have to drag one across the couch. Well check out the award winning Loop in-air mouse – super cool. Available at Amazon and http://www.hillcrestlabs.com/loop
The model is all wrong. When I had cable I would fast forward through ALL commercials. Now on Hulu, I watch up to 5 FULL commercials. Buy ad space on Hulu while it's still cheap.
You wrote, "Apple (AAPL) has had next to no success with Apple TV, a niche product that enables TV viewing of videos in an iTunes playlist — and nothing else."
"Next to no success" in Apple terms perhaps, but other manufacturers would be overjoyed: Apple has sold *millions* of Apple TV units. And by the way–Apple TV does MUCH more than what you mentioned. How about getting clue before you write about something?
That's interesting. And now litl (www.litl.com) has come out with a computer which is a blend of a computer and television.
It's just early.
The internet has only had the capability itself to deliver video for five years, and we're in a market that has been so low barrier, there's virtually no experience among alot of people trying to lead companies in categories.
It's not Hollywood preventing it from proliferating but lack of knowledge of the internet as a platform and how to migrate audience to do things over it.
Well I sorta have TV via the internet. I just bought a slingbox Pro HD and it shoots my home satellite through the internet and slingbox has software for a laptop and I can watch my TV any place I get internet in HD. I also got the software for my iPhone to watch it on my iphone but has to be via wifi, not 3G as of yet. hopefully 3G will happen with the iphone.
works great!
Allio is the best solution. They offer 32" and 42" HDTVs with an integrated PC. I have had mine for about a year. I saw that they just released new models, including a quad. Mine has buit-in wifi. I stream Hulu about as often as I watch DirectTV now. I can see a future where I cancel my DirectTV subsription (after football season is over of course).
My Mac Mini does the trick for me, I dropped cable and then FIOS 2 years ago and I never regretted it. Hulu, MLB, NFL, NetFlix, and other net savvy content works for me.
You can buy remotes for computers so get one of them and get a Windows 7 system and you can pull up Internet TV through media center which was just released with Windows 7. Also I use Slingbox alot for streaming HD content to my laptop anywhere in the world and it works great. Even used it over a Verizon Mifi and it worked enough for me to see an NFL game I could not get from where I was at the time. Sling box is the best for streaming your cable box over the net, by far.
I agree with many of you about using your PC. I consider myself to be a "techy" in some ways, but I am in my 20s and do not have a huge budget. I just bought a media PC back in 2007 and have it sitting in my basement connected via DVI-HDMI to my 60" 1080P TV. I use an analog sound cable to connect to my 5.1 receiver, and it works great. I know it's an initial investment, but buying a magical box seems to be counterintuitive when you can just use the wireless keyboard and mouse option. I keep mine discreetly under my coffee table when not in use, and it doesn't look tacky. Oh, well. Just my two cents.
Just a few weeks ago Hulu labs released Hulu Desktop for Linux. You can attach a linux desktop or notebook to your TV with an HDMI cable and use a Microsoft Media Center compatible remote control to queue up streaming internet video.
This article is a bit out of date with regard to Hulu.
It is just a matter of time, and money, before this becomes a reality. Remember the snuggie? I remember thinking this was the dumbest thing I had ever seen and it would never sell. Boy was I wrong. If the products are out there and people start using them then this will resolve itself. Look at just how many products are available for the iPhone. The cable companies will deal with competition as they always have. Look at FIOS. Watching TV across the internet will help the cable companies sell more internet.
This type of TV already exists, just search for Alliotv on google, i have one, its 42 inch screen, comes with keyboard and mouse and blu ray player.
A lot of viewers are frustrated by the proliferation of commercials on broadcast TV. I believe once it becomes easier to view internet material on a TV., viewers will move in this direction. I know I will.
I think Microsoft's Xbox 360 Video Game Console is slowly sneaking into this niche market but offering some of the best results. The combination of Microsoft's own Zune Marketplace which now offers 1080p streaming, Netflix, LastFM Internet Radio, Twitter, MSNBC videos, and Facebook access is making it much more palatable and easy for consumers to use it as a "Do Everything" device in the livingroom. All of this was just added to the console through free software updates in the last year. I am not a fan of Mircosoft but the Xbox 360 is something they have done very, very well.
This article is not very useful. The reason watching Hulu on a television set is not advertised is that the cable/satellite companies don't want people to cancel their television channel subscriptions. Most new televisions have HDMI and it is not difficult to get a computer with HDMI output. Some televisions have SVGA inputs or DVI inputs. You can use adapters in some cases. BTW, there is not much distinction between a television and a computer monitor anymore. Many are LCD or LED. The distinction is really just "made up" like the distinction between a laptops and netbooks. Laptops are moving toward portable without sacrificing power and netbooks are moving toward power without sacrificing portability. They are going to the same destination. Anyway, that's unrelaed. A wireless keyboard and mouse work fine. If you are waiting for the time when all you have to do is buy a $300 box that you simply plug in, go straight to hulu, and operate with an infrared remote control, then enjoy your wait. Until then, I don't mind typing http://www.hulu.com or http://www.youtube.com in my web browser with a keyboard then selecting a video with my mouse on my computer monitor which also happens to be a television.
I just don't understand why people even bother with all these specialized devices to connect the TV to the web. Spend $500 to get a basic PC w/ wireless modem and keyboard/mouse. It will do everything these special device can do and more. Some models are not much bigger or even smaller than the PS3/XBox 360 and they don't even have to look ugly. My Dell's shiny black case matches quite well with my 46 inch Samsung LCD TV.
Concerning remotes
When I plug in my macbook to my LCD, I use a app I downloaded on my iPhone that acts as a trackpad & keyboard to control my laptop. This also works for PCs.
You can also spend some $ and buy a wireless keyboard & mouse (logitech has a built-in trackpad on 1 of their keyboards)
Of course it can be set up using readily available technology. That's exactly why the article specifically points out, in no uncertain terms, that technology is NOT the issue.
I personally have been using a desktop computer as my DVR and main source of TV/movie viewing on my television for years now.. And it's a very smooth process once it's set up. The issue isn't possibility, it's probability. Getting IT professionals, or even just general tech fans, to use this kind of setup is simple. The target audience, which remains elusive, is the huge majority of tv consumers who still have to call the cable guy to install the box.
The people who aren't technologically advanced enough to install their cable box (which is a huge subset of the population) are obviously not going to set up a desktop to use an ATI Remote Wonder to control their media, much less run S-Video, or even VGA cabling to their new TVs.. Like the man says; technology is NOT the hurdle. Convenience is – and not just regular convenience, but the level of convenience that is almost insulting in its simplicity. That's the only kind that can be marketed on the scale needed to compete.
Who says its hard to connect a PC to a tv?
I connect a 30 foot HDMI cable directly from my laptop to a 42" HDTV and use a media center remote to navigate hulu desktop on the TV. Works great …
I cut off that $70 a month cable bill years ago.
Why should anyone have to pay for channels that are free over the air?
You're already paying a price by the inclusion of commercials.
I see this topic every few months. It's not that complicated. Any computer with any video/audio inputs can be made to receive any internet programming, NOW.
The output on my iMac uses a HD15 (SVGA) and 3.5mm audio. I ran a 75 ft triple-shielded AV cable going up the wall (inside), in the attic, down to the TV. My wireless keyboard and mouse transmit 30 ft around one corner from the computer location to the living room. Anything I can see or manipulate on the computer monitor, I can do the same thing on my 42" TV.
I've got a great signal and resolution. No wireless interference hassles.
What will solve the problem? Money. They (Incumbent video providers/media conglomerates) must make as much or more money via the Internet.. Jobs solved (mostly) the music industry's woes with iTunes and the iPod.. I don't see Apple TV being the savior in this situation, but whatever it is that will do it, will need to make "them" money, and lots of it… Then we'll (consumers) have what we want without any "Cat and mouse" games.
Generally these are all not a success because they are a rip-off and until the price comes down they won't be taken seriously.
AppleTV wants you to buy the box for hundereds of dollars, then you have to buy the show ala carte? I'm sorry, but I can watch ABC for free over the air.. why would I pay for a season pass for $30+? The Sony internet tv is outrageously expensive. Why would I pay $1800 for a 40" tv, when I can get the same Sony without the internet for $800?
Also, by still using IR remotes, the response slow and it makes the user experience painful.
but you can access internet content with network devices like PS3, Xbox 360, and a few Blue-Ray players. Is it full access to the web, No. But with software updates I don't see why we can't use these devices like "web TV" boxes, in the near term.
Internet TV? Now!
The latest LG TVs allow direct access to Netflix, whose selection of streaming movies and TV show collections is far superior to Hulu.
As soon I purchase an LG I'll be cancelling my Comcast TV cable subscription.
The prospects for internet TV are crippled by US policies that are stunting the growth of high speed internet connectivity. HD over internet is extremely bandwidth intensive and most people just do not have the service levels needed to carry one HD channel, let alone the three that most experts say is needed for a typical home.
You'd think with a college education in English the writer could come up with a title that doesn't have a curse word in it.
That's easy: a pirate, just like what happened to the music download. Corporations won't give up the status quo without a credible external threat. Pirate downloading forced companies to find a cheap, convenient and acceptable way. Pirate TV broadcasting, probably by simply feeding network fare into the net via hidden servers, will eventually force the networks to do it legally.
Pleze chek you're grammr and spealing…for christs sake this is CNN, how could mistakes that a 9 yr old would catch slip through?
"Incumbent video providers will hold on to their diminishing profit margins as long as they possibly can." Haven't I heard this before? Yes, it was called the music industry. I ditched my television and cable and watch pretty much everything on-line. Letterman, The Office, the news, you suckers pay, I get it for free. Am I a genius? No, but I'm definitely way ahead of the curve. See you soon in the future. Oh, and one more thing…heard of that little hobby Apple TV? Well, once upon a time there was something called an IPod. Will the end of the story be quite as profitable? Doubt that others will let Apple get that big of a lead in this arena but I wouldn't put it past them.
Besides Boxee there is also PlayOn, which lets you stream Hulu (along with many other sites) to an Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii. It isn't as easy as it could be, but it does mean you don't have to hook up your computer directly to the TV.
Also, why no mention of TiVo? It seems like one of the best contenders to bring internet TV to the living room.
Also PS3 used to have the ability to watch Hulu on your TV before Hulu blocked users from watching through the PS3 browser.
I disagree that it hasn't caught on. It may be dominated by techno-geeks, but Internet TV is growing in use. When I got my AppleTV I canceled my cable subscription and never looked back. I think the author is underestimating the install base.
The content providers want to own everything that derives from it. As a result they don't want to share their content over anyone's distribution system (internet) that they don't control and can't make money on. Until a network and/or provider does this all on their own and does it in a nice format internet TV will be a novelty. The real go between here would be a la cart pricing that would free the bundled systems of selling and lead to the creation of a free flowing distribution channel. Will it happen, yes. Will it happen soon, no. You can thank our friends in Washington for that.
You missed the most significant and easiest ways to get Internet TV. How about Netflix, Fancast or even NBC.com. Netflix has hardware to connect to a TV. Sure you need a $9 subscription, that includes DVD rentals, but still much cheaper than cable. The others require a high speed Internet connection,Comcast in the case of Fancast, and a PC connected to your TV but as you mention not a big deal. Fancast uses Hulu by the way.
So I think Internet TV has arrived, the question is how will it grow. Will it become subscription bases, individual show purchases or remain free with increased advertising.
I can never understand why people pay a cable company $70 a month and are happy to sit though commercials. Internet tv is the future.
Television viewing was linear until the invention of the digital video recorder. A person had fit tv into his or her schedule.
The DVR allowed non-linear viewing of tv shows. Record what you want and watch it when you want.
Now internet tv is the next advancement. You no longer have to record a tv show. You can watch tv shows any time you want, any where you have access to a internet connection.