Cable TV To Dominate Net-Via-TV Services - Study
August 4, 1998
MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., Newsbytes via
NewsEdge Corporation : The cable television industry
will lead the charge to theInternet-on-TV service market,
even though few cable TV operators offer such services
today, SRI Consulting said.
The Internet-on-TV report, part of SRI's Advanced
Digital Media ongoing subscription service, shows that
fewer than 500,000 customers currently subscribe to a
Net-on-TV service. Of that number, most subscribe to
Microsoft Corp.'s WebTV Networks service in the US.
But SRI predicts a boom is coming, with the total number
of subscribers worldwide projected to grow to 12 million
by 2002. Of those customers, 60 percent will still use a
dial-up service to access Net-on-TV.
After 2002, cable TV-based services will catch up and
surpass dial-up services, SRI said. Cable TV enjoys
several advantages over other Internet delivery services,
SRI said, including the ability to spread the cost of set-
top boxes across several revenue-generating services,
including digital TV; relationships with TV programmers,
who can help develop Internet-on-TV entertainment
content that targets TV audiences rather than simply
reformatting Web pages designed for PCs; and access to
greater bandwidth, allowing cable TV operators to speed
up downloads and potentially offers new applications
using high-quality sound and video.
SRI's study also notes that most subscribers will expect
Internet-on-TV service to be more like an extension or
feature of regular television service than merely a new
way to access today's Internet. Also, areas with
competitive cable TV industries like the US, UK, Canada
and France will see the highest overall penetration of
Internet-on-TV service.
Other factors that will tend to boost the market for
Internet-on-TV are high overall Internet use and low cost
for making local phone calls for dial-up access, SRI
added.
Reported By Newsbytes News Network:
newsbytes.com .
(19980803/Press Contacts: David Rader or Paul Di Senso,
SRI Consulting, 650-859- 2348; Phil Gomes, The Weber
Group, 650-463-8611. Reader Contacts: Steve Baughman,
650-859-2365, Ed Christie, 650-859-2400, or Charles
Stancomb, 44-181- 686-5555, all of SRI Consulting
/WIRES ONLINE, BUSINESS/)
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