The Year Of The Connected TV

In the midst of a global recession, while most vendors were pushing their value-priced wares at the January 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a small but significant revolution nonetheless took place. TV makers like LG, Samsung, and Sony finally announced connected TV strategies that make consumer sense. Enabled by tools like Yahoo! TV Widgets as well as IP-delivered services from Amazon.com, Blockbuster, and Netflix, the connected TV is finally here to stay. We expect at least a million US homes will have one by the end of 2009, and millions more will roll off production lines in 2010. Despite some fears to the contrary, connecting the TV doesn't cut any existing players out of the picture. Instead, it creates opportunities for content providers, advertisers, retailers, and TV service providers to deepen their relationships with customers by serving their content needs.