Online video is still, relatively speaking, in its infancy. But it growing more popular, and the choices available to viewers are growing. Which could see online video to surpass broadcast TV by 2020, which is only a decade away.

Online Video

As much as those of us who write about online video would like to believe it is an ubiquitous and essential part of people’s lives, that isn’t quite the case yet. At least not a mainstream way, and when compared to traditional broadcast television.

Sure, YouTube is known and used the world over, but the Google site’s content is usually short and sweet. Which is why U.S. viewers currently only watch an average of 22 minutes of online video a week. Which compares to 30 hours of broadcast TV.

Still, things are changing. Slowly for now, but possibly speeding up in the near future.

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SeeSaw has now added premium content to its line-up of online TV content. Which means those willing to pay can now access TV series from the likes of the BBC, MTV, Disney, and Comedy Central.

And a new mainstream TV advertising campaign could help boost viewer numbers considerably.

SeeSaw

When the BBC’s Project Kangaroo went the way of the dodo, Arqiva decided to buy the infrastructure in order to launch its own online video service. They called it SeeSaw and launched it earlier this year after a short period in beta.

SeeSaw is free to watch, with advertising paying for the content and bandwidth. Content from the BBC, Channel 4, and Five is available, but more was always promised, with international (read U.S.) content a must if SeeSaw is going to become the British Hulu.

The first U.S. programming has now arrived but, unfortunately, it’s not free to watch.

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Google TV has been rumored for months, but it’s finally been unveiled by the search giant at Google I/O. Google TV will use the Android operating system and the Chrome browser, and Google is partnering with Sony, Logitech, and Best Buy.

Web TV, Literally

The concept of Web TV has, obviously, been with us for a long time now. Watching video content on the Web via a browser on your PC or Mac is now as ubiquitous as any other form of visual media.

However, while watching video in this way is amazing, the long-dreamed of desire is for Web TV to be transported lock, stock, and barrel to the big-screen television most of us now have in our living rooms. In essence, turning Web TV into a proper laid-back televisual experience.

This move has already begun, with games consoles, set-top boxes (including Apple TV), and Web-connected television sets and Blu-ray players leading the charge. But Google has just entered the fray, and the ante has been upped considerably.

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By the end of May, Best Buy will be offering movies for sale and rental over the Internet under the CinemaNow brand. This puts it on direct collision course with the likes of Apple iTunes, Amazon, and Wal-Mart.

From Physical To Digital

There’s a definite shift away from physical formats such as CDs and DVDs towards digital formats such as MP3s and streaming video. It may not be happening overnight, but it’s slowly but surely becoming a reality.

Music is leading the charge thanks to personal media players and smartphones, and the simplicity of downloading digital tracks. However, video isn’t far behind, with both streaming and to-keep downloads increasing in popularity.

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YouTube is now officially five-years-old, with the site having launched in beta in May 2005. YouTube is celebrating this fact, naturally, and the fact that it is now serving two billion video views a day. Which is an incredible achievement.

YouTube Turns Five

YouTube is now five-years-old. Officially. We here at WebTVWire already celebrated this once back in February, which is actually when the YouTube domain was first registered by co-founders Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. But the launch didn’t occur for a further three months.

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There have been incredible rises to fame attributed to YouTube over the last few years, but Greyson Chance has now blown them all away in terms of going from a zero to a hero in the shortest time.

YouTube Fame

YouTube has made plenty of people famous in the five years since the site was launched.

There are the ordinary people lifted to extraordinary heights after appearing in viral videos. Notables include David after Dentist, JK Wedding Dance, and Judson Laipply with his Evolution Of Dance.

Then there is Susan Boyle, whose appearance on Britain’s Got Talent got uploaded to YouTube, where it spread like wildfire, making her a hit on both sides of the Atlantic and all over the world.

Then there are the two filmmakers whose careers were given a huge lift after short films they’d made appeared on the site, where they were spotted by Hollywood bigwigs.

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Believe it or not, YouTube is one possible route to Hollywood these days. Following in the footsteps of unknown Uruguayan filmmaker Federico Alvarez comes Patrick Jean and his Pixels short.

YouTube Pulling Power

YouTube is much more than clips of cats doing funny things these days. Viral video hits can turn their makers and participants into stars.

Lauren Luke is now an in-demand Hollywood make-up artist, and she got that gig purely from uploading video clips of herself applying make-up to YouTube.

Lucas Cruikshank has not only made a ton of money from his ever-popular Fred character, but there’s also a movie on the way. Not bad for a squeaky kid playing an even squeakier kid.

And best of all was the story at the end of last year which saw Federico Alvarez land a $30 million movie budget on the strength of a $500 short film called Ataque de Panico! which he uploaded to YouTube where his skills were brought to the attention of people in the industry.

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