The big problem with online video and television programming isn’t now a lack of availability or choice, but more about the pricing of such services.

Internet television offerings have surged over the past year, but the pricing scheme, can turn out quite costly if viewers are paying $2 to $3 per episode of a show, and therefore turn off a lot of potential customers.

Not to mention the fact that, as we have seen with Google, purchased videos may not be yours to keep forever.

Now, aiming to keep its pricing strategy more in line with traditional television, SyncTV is a new TV download service running in private beta.

Premium Channels On Per Channel Subscription

It will offer users access to premium television channels on a per-channel subscription basis rather than the per-episode or per-season methods currently in use among popular video services such as iTunes and Amazon Unbox.

Don’t mistake it for an unchanged, online version of television though, because beyond the pricing, the features of SyncTV are more along the lines of the TiVo/DVR revolution of recent years.

SyncTV President John Gildred stated in an interview:

“This is going to allow you to download any episode of any show on that channel any time you want,”

“And you will have a whole catalog of all the shows under that channel for a really small price of just a couple of dollars per month.” 

No Pricing Set, But We’re Hopeful

No exact price has been specified, but wouldn’t it be great to have access to any episode of any show on your favorite channel (such as Showtime) at any time by paying $2 a month, instead of $2 for each video. 

It is even an advantage over current premium channel offers from cable/satellite providers, which require viewers to subscribe to a bundle of channels at a much higher monthly price… often $10 per month and above.

Open Standards & Open Source

What seems most promising about SyncTV already is the fact that the company is focusing on open standards and an open platform. The purpose of this is to invite any consumer electronics company to create a product that in turn will be able to be tightly integrated into the SyncTV interface. 

Gildred expressed a positive attitude about the expansion of SyncTV from its current limitation to a Windows/Mac/Linux-compatible desktop client into a service that allows videos to be viewed directly on television sets as well as shared among the computers and media devices of a user, although it could be late 2008 before we begin seeing products with integration.

Pioneer Electronics

If indeed SyncTV does take off and spread, the most likely scenario is that future gear from Pioneer Electronics will be the first to use the platform, as SyncTV was directly launched as a spin-off of research development there, which has been taking place over the last two years.

Gildred continued:

“We are absolutely passionate about giving consumers the highest-quality, best-value and most flexible TV download service available anywhere. We really hope that our users will agree that we have achieved that,”

“This beta period will allow us to fine-tune the system and get feedback on how we can improve the user experience. We are going to be listening carefully to what our users are saying so we can give them the service they want and need.”

Conclusions

This is just the beginning for SyncTV, and if users accept the subscription models in the works (various prices for various channels) then SyncTV definitely has the chance to become a household name.

Imagine buying a TV with a ‘SyncTV-compatible’ logo, turning it on, and having instant access to every program on every channel you subscribe to (without an external set-top box). 

That may soon be reality, but first try out the private beta.

Michael Garrett is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com

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