In2TV sets the scene for future content distribution

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3 May 2006 News

AOL, something of a latecomer to the world of video-on-demand (VOD), recently launched a free VOD service, specialising in reruns of classic television show episodes from the Warner catalogue, along with a smattering of clips for current and new shows.

This broadband video service called In2TV, is browser-based, and requires Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6 and Windows Media Player 10, with Javascript, ActiveX and cookies enabled.

According to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com), the In2TV (www.aol.com/in2tv) business model is surprisingly similar to traditional TV broadcasting: episodes are bracketed with video ads (at present shorter than standard television ads), and static ads adorn the web page. Given the outstanding questions about the amount of content most users want to access on their computers as opposed to their TV sets, it says that AOL appears to be co-marketing the service with Intel's Viiv technology, ads for which appear on most pages of the site.

Michael Arden, ABI Research's principal broadband and multimedia research analyst says, "The AOL model shows that VOD is moving beyond a movies-on-demand framework as users get more comfortable with the technology. Eventually, all programming will be offered in an on-demand environment, and this is a first, significant step in that direction."

Shows can be viewed in a small window or full-screen, but even with a fast broadband connection, resolution and dynamic range do seem to suffer slightly at the full-screen setting, he says. For those who demand more, AOL offers its free enhanced 'Hi-Q' streaming format plugin, which claims to deliver DVD quality at full frame rates.

"In2TV's content, pricing, and easy availability on the Internet makes it a good experiment in how content will be distributed in the future," adds Arden. "The AOL offering is a preview of how Internet companies will aggregate content to become portals for video programming."

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