Video Services Evolution – Part 1 of 5

Reed Hastings explains how the Web Will Surpass TV in the Race to the Ultimate Consumer Experience

In opening this presentation, Mr. Hastings tells us to look at how TV and the web have innovated around customer needs and wants.  The race to the ultimate consumer experience in integrated and personalized video services has no finish line, at least not in the next few years.  No one believes that expectations will come to a halt.  Thus, the race never ends, though each of us will get to cheer the progress and moan the mis-steps of our favorite horse.

Mr. Hastings is betting on the Internet to gain ground over TV, as he is quick to point out the strides that have been made in:

• Instant watching on devices of choice
• New Streaming options
• Multiple points of Entry
• Search
• Personalization
• Discovery

He sees the web as the ultimate winner, differentiating the approaches of the "fixed" standard television model versus that of the web in terms of their convergence toward an integrated and on-demand personalized experience. It is to this degree that we can articulate what the end game is as well as why the web is the ultimate winner, while recognizing why neither side can get there in the next few years.

His roadmap for this assessment is structured as follows:

• Part 2 of 5 - Appraising Standard TV 
• Part 3 of 5 - Appraising Online Video
• Part 4 of 5 - What, Where, When, and How
• Part 5 of 5 - Medium Term Event Horizon in Video Services

Look and listen to these four sections, and let me know if you think that Reed Hastings is on the right track.  Thanks.