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or Internet-based TV to be a competitive option, it either needs to be cheaper than cable and satellite or it needs to provide the content that subscribers want in a better way.

For the companies still working on Web TV, it would mean charging less than traditional competitors for a service while paying more than traditional competitors to offer it.

for a Web TV offering to be truly Web TV, it would need to offer all the channels consumers want alongside the "over-the-top" video capabilities like Netflix and Hulu that they associate with Internet viewing.

A key motivation for Amazon is boosting its Prime membership rolls, which may be bolstered by a set-top box.

Streaming video has been an increasing focus for Amazon, which has been racing to distinguish itself from rivals Netflix, Hulu LLC and others with exclusive content deals and a slate of television pilots that are set to become available starting later this year.

Based on the dizzying array of free and paid apps available on Roku devices--from the Yachting Channel to YogaGlo to Trigger Talk TV for gun enthusiasts—it is easy to imagine potential e-commerce tie-ins on an Amazon device.

Significantly, 14% of consumers used their tablets to search for content and engage in social media directly related to the television program they were watching. 

The findings present an opportunity for broadcast and cable networks to interact with consumers much more readily and immediately than they have in the past,

Among devices, the PC/laptop is still the top device used for these “over-the-top” (OTT) services with 65% of respondents using them to watch video content (up from 59% last year). About a third (31%) said they did the same on a mobile phone (up from 24%), while 22% said they used a tablet (up from 14%). Tablets and PCs are the preferred devices to watch longer-form video (such as movies or TV shows), according to the survey. 

Media companies also want to gather and crunch all the data about viewing habits they can to sell to advertisers. The companies receive less high quality data when people watch network programming through an app from Dish Network or DirecTV instead of using their own apps.

"Both sides are paranoid. The operators think that if the programmers can create a one-to-one relationship with the consumer, some day they peel off and become their own HBO," said an executive at a media company involved in content negotiations who was not authorized to talk to the media.

Ad sales on the platforms are still small and hard to estimate, but revenue is expected to grow as more viewing moves to mobile devices

Netflix is banking on getting on cable set-top boxes to hit aggressive growth targets in the next few years — but not every U.S. operator is eager to play ball with a company they view as a rival.

John Malone, whose Liberty Media owns a stake in Charter, has dismissed the notion that MSOs should pair up Netflix. At the company’s annual investor day this month, he said cable operators should team up to create a Netflix-like subscription VOD service, criticizing the industry for being slow to respond to over-the-top competitors.

Longer term, Netflix projects that it can be two or three times larger than HBO’s current linear base — with 60 million to 90 million subs in the U.S. Hitting those numbers would likely require pay TV deals, to reach consumers who don’t want a separate box for streaming Internet video.

traditional scheduled TV is limited by what he called the "tyranny of the grid," or the 21 hours of prime-time programming that get the most viewers. Anything that doesn't fit into that grid gets thrown out

In contrast, internet TV allows audiences to aggregate over time and space, and can afford to curate content that has smaller audiences at any one time.

Netflix originals don't need to be 48 minutes long to fit into a prime-time schedule, and don't need to force cliffhangers that keep viewers in suspense for the next episode, because viewers can "binge" into the next episode right away.

Apple TV could be the shot in the arm needed to finally wake up its mostly dormant advertising business iAd.

The ability to target very specific audiences. Apple has a wealth of first-party data about its customers, due to the fact that they register with their real details when they sign up for Apple ID and iTunes.

Apple should be able to tell who was served an ad and what that individual immediately went on to do afterwards: That could include checking out the advertiser's website on their iPad, or tweeting about the brand via their iPhone. 

YouTube is reportedly in talks with those same networks to stream TV through a paid service called Unplugged that could serve as a Web-based alternative to the cable box.

The moves highlight the massive shift taking place in the TV industry as networks seek to stanch the flow of cord cutters by looking at former adversaries in the tech world to help recapture audiences, particularly younger ones

The plan, which has reportedly been in the works since 2012, would package the four major TV networks with a smattering of cable offerings.

Investors should keep tabs on Verizon's negotiations with Intel to see if Verizon acquires the OnCue Internet-based TV services. If the deal goes through, investors should pay attention to how Verizon plans to use the OnCue services. Bundling OnCue services with Redbox Instant would incentivize subscribers to use Redbox services as a complete TV and movie entertainment package. Outerwall would greatly benefit from such a bundle because more Redbox users translates into expanding revenue. Also, additional offerings under the Redbox name will improve the company brand.

OnCue would be a good addition to Verizon because the company is already in the content business with Redbox Instant and FiOS TV. The question is whether Verizon can negotiate a good deal with Intel. The OnCue service would work well bundled with FiOS and Redbox Instant, or left as a stand-alone product.

The features of this service resemble those of a DVR, but the main difference is every show is recorded and available at any time. The OnCue hardware and services are currently being beta-tested by Intel employees and select users.

But negative comments about the feature continued. A more recent factor was the highly publicized revelations about surveillance activities by the National Security Agency. “What pushed me over the hump was the whole NSA sort of thing,” Huggers says. “I don’t want to go there.”

Not that Intel doesn’t plan to offer plenty of ways to personalize the TV-watching experience. For example, the company cites a Personal Profiles feature that helps switch between individuals using the device, so they have access to relevant content and recommendations. Another option lets users add favorites so they have access to recently watched shows, with the ability to instantly pick up in the program where they left off.

Still another feature, called Spotlight, integrates recommendations based on what’s trending in social media as well as curating content based on a user’s age, interest and time of watching, the company says.

networks for years have complained that total viewing of their shows isn't being captured by traditional ratings measurements. This is a move to correct that.

decision to expand beyond traditional TV ratings measurement came out of a meeting in New York on Tuesday of the What Nielsen Measures Committee, a group that has been meeting for nearly a year.

By September 2013, when the next TV season begins, Nielsen expects to have in place new hardware and software tools in the nearly 23,000 TV homes it samples. Those measurement systems will capture viewership not just from the 75 percent of homes that rely on cable, satellite and over the air broadcasts but also viewing via devices that deliver video from streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, from so-called over-the-top services and from TV enabled game systems like the X-Box and PlayStation.

56 percent of US tablet owners age 18-34 use their tablet for activities related to the TV program they are watching or for other programming related activities.  This compares to just 41 percent among all tablet owners age 18 and older.

The top three TV-related tablet activities among Millennials are; searching for programing to watch (34 percent), social media engagement related to a TV program (31 percent) and learning more about the program they are viewing (30 percent). Even more tablet owners age 18-34 say they want to use their device in conjunction with TV viewing in the future and social media is a driving factor.

44 percent said they would consider using their device in the future for social media activity related to a TV program making it the number one way this age group wants to engage while watching TV.

About 84% of cord-cutters are “at least somewhat happy with their decision,” while 37% said they’re so happy that they have no plans to ever return to a traditional pay-TV service,

17% of U.S. broadband subscribers surveyed say they once took a pay-TV service but have since left their provider, while 10% say they have never subscribed to pay-TV (the so-called “cord-nevers”), and 74% said they currently take a pay-TV service.

The median time spent each week by pay-TV subs using the service is 12.98 hours. Next is Internet subscription VOD (4.89 hours), free over-the-air TV (4.72 hours), free Internet video (3.49 hours), and owned digital movies and TV shows (3.12 hours).

ost people currently prefer to watch “must-see TV” at the time of broadcast, the signs are that this will soon change.

But there are strong pointers to a not-too-distant future where time-shifting is the default behaviour for most viewers, most of the time, and live viewing is mainly reserved for event TV.

On-demand is seen more as a catch-up facility, with 70 per cent of on-demand users claiming they only use on-demand services to catch up on programmes they have missed. In addition, the availability of on-demand services on other screens is key to many, with 47 per cent of on-demand users stating that they often use on-demand services to watch programmes when they are not in front of a TV set.

The Walt Disney Co. last week unveiled perhaps the most radical tablet-related development, saying that its new Disney Junior series, Sheriff Callie’s Wild West, will stream to tablets before it ever hits the linear feed.

Thus far, the initial viewer-pattern data has been encouraging. “In the past year and a half, we’ve seen video viewing just skyrocket across mobile,” said Beau Teague, Cartoon Network’s senior director of user experience. “Our mobile viewing has surpassed even viewing on the desktop site.”

Some of that has to do with the weirdly obsessive way in which younger children (say, ages 2-8) tend to sample on-demand content. “We definitely see a lot of repeat viewing,” Teague said. “Kids will return to favorite episodes and favorite clips. They’ll seek out whatever the catchphrase was from last night’s episode of Adventure Time.”

SVOD providers are particularly problematic for broadcasters and their advertising partners, because they hurt ad supported television in a number of ways: Consumers with SVOD subscriptions replace time spent watching ad supported television with ad free SVOD watching With so much of online video viewing time spent watching ad free, those quality ad opportunities that are available are more expensive to buy Consumers get a decreased tolerance for advertising as they grow used to seeing content uninterrupted.

U.S. ad agencies spent 2% less on broadcast TV networks in the 4th quarter of 2014 and 16% less on national cable TV. The company also found that, if you exclude the Olympics, broadcast ad revenue would have declined 2% for the full year (it increased 4.1% when the Olympics are included.)

online originals are growing prodigiously and a good proportion of that inventory will provide advertising opportunities. For example, Alex Carloss, YouTube’s head of original programming, announced the site would be funding more original programming in the same way it did in 2012.

The new service, which could launch in the coming months, likely will feature original series and may include licensed programming, these people said. As part of the project, Amazon has held talks with the creators of "Betas," a series about a Silicon Valley startup that Amazon produced last year for Prime, these people said.

The new data Amazon collects about viewers' television or music preferences could allow it to deliver more targeted advertising, including for products available on its retail website. Think Adidas shoe ads alongside Run-D.M.C.'s "MyAdidas" music video.

A new report by Magid Advisors surveyed 2,400 consumers and found that cord cutting is not only on the rise, but it's happening much quicker than industry watchers anticipated.

When asked the reasons why they would consider canceling pay TV service, 77 percent of very likely cord cutters cited over-the-top video as a key factor. Half of respondents said they were satisfied with online streaming options like Netflix and Hulu, while 30 percent said pay TV was too expensive.

In the face of customer losses, cable and satellite TV operators say they’re focusing on higher-value subscribers, willing to sacrifice bargain-hunting consumers who at satisfied with over-the-top video options like Netflix and free broadcast TV.

data clearly shows that cord-cutting is picking up the pace as the cost of cable and satellite TV service continues to climb skyward.