Competing in Web TV just got harder

On April 2 I will be moderating two panels on UPDATE’s conference on Web TV at the University of Southern Denmark. It’s something I’m looking forward to, as Web TV is a space in which a lot of stuff is happening. You can sign up for the conference here.

The discussions at the conference are going to be interesting. Because besides Web TV being a somewhat foreign thing for most media companies - and a thing a lot of them are finding it hard to really grasp - the competion is fierce. And it just became worse.

Yes, YouTube is once again the T-Rex planning to clear the forest. The online video giant and their mothership Google is planning to do live video streaming on YouTube. Imagine: The biggest video destination site on the planet as a point of reference for live broadcasted events from all over the globe - and from your very own neighbourhood. Good luck competing with that. Especially if YouTube ties in a monetization model for the contributing users.

On top of that services like Qik.com makes it possible for ordinary people to videostream live to a blog or a website just using their camera phone. And Amazon is offering user generated video hosting AND monetization of same.  So it’s going to be a struggle. And media companies better equip themselves with lots of ammo in order to win this war.