LG announced a new TV with the ability to stream movies from NetFlix without a set-top box. Essentially, the TV comes with an Ethernet connection and Linux operating system to run applications and stream content right to the TV.

Other TV manufacturers, like Sony, have said they will include Ethernet ports into their sets, but this is the first time that any application has been enabled directly into a TV set.

According to Gizmodo, the TV sets will cost about $200 to $300 more than similar TVs without NetFlix streaming. That’s rather interesting since you can buy the Roku NetFlix Player for $99. I imagine the disparity is because Roku is taking a loss on every Roku box they sell, and are making money from NetFlix somehow.

The other downside is that the LG TV sets will probably not have Wi-Fi. If that’s the case, you’ll need to run an Ethernet cable into your living room and connect it to your TV. (Actually, I’ve already done this because of the set-top box clutter, but that’s another story.)  The Roku box comes with an Ethernet port, but also comes with Wi-Fi.  If you’re into high quality video, you should probably connect with the Ethernet cable, because quality via Wi-Fi isn’t as good. There’s a longer start buffer, and seeking to different parts of the show is also very slow.

In effect, the only advantage to these broadband enabled TVs is avoiding another set-top box. That’s a noble goal, but it’s not very compelling or earth-shattering to most users. Another box vs. another $300 for your TV.

GigaOm has a post about Broadband TV, as he calls it, but he’s looking at it from NetFlix’s point of view.  And he makes a pretty good point about NetFlix. First of all, NetFlix already has the main ingredients to success as a primary VOD supplier. They have agreements with Hollywood, and they also have the technology to deliver movies over broadband connections.  Plus there’s the stand-alone Roku NetFLix Player box, and now broadband TVs.  So NetFlix needs to weather the storm now, and wait until the world (and technology) catches on to Internet-delivered entertainment into the home.

Eventually, I believe all HDTVs will be broadband enabled, so this is a good start.It’s a good bet that set-top boxes will disappear eventually, but not for a very long time.  Hopefully, future HDTVs will have broadband connections and an open source TV platform for running and creating applications. Imagine what creative applications we can experience on our TV screens. Imagine all the Internet companies that would rush to create applications. There would be Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, Google–anything on the web delivered to the TV. Think about the iPhone App model, except on the TV screen.

Interesting eh?

According to research from Leichtman Research Group, 25% of U.S. households have at least 1 DVR. Over 30% have at least two DVRs. The research company polled 1,300 households in the U.S. (and apparently has been doing these surveys for the last seven years).

Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group said that the number of US households with DVRs has essentially doubled in the past two years and it “will likely double again over the next four years.”

“DVRs, along with on-demand, continue to change the way that many people watch TV. LRG forecasts that DVR and on-demand’s share of total TV viewing time in the U.S. will increase from about 6% today to 16% at the end of 2012.”

• 87% of DVR owners said they would recommend the DVR to a friend.
• On a scale of 1-10, 81% of owners rate their DVR 8-10 with 45% assigning it a perfect 10.
• 35% of DVR owners feel that they spend more time watching programs recorded on their DVR than regularly scheduled programs.
• 45% of DVR owners record five or fewer programs per week.
• 68% of digital cable subscribers say that they have used VOD–with 85% of this group having used VOD in the past month.
• 42% of VOD users are more likely to keep digital cable because of on-demand.

Bonus: For those still reading, you can download the PDF from the company here.  (PDF)

I know that DVRs are great. But can they save relationships? That’s what a survey of DVR users claims, according to lots and lots of articles on the Internet. The survey also said that 80% of U.S. respondents said they can’t live without their DVRs.

The survey was released by NDS, a company that focuses on securing broadcast TV content and providing DVR technology to satellite TV broadcasters. (As a side note, NDS is a subsidiary owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.)

Apparently NDS paid a UK company called Consumer Analysis Group to conduct this survey. Although the results of this survey doesn’t come from an independent research and analysis firm, CAG seems to be a fairly typical firm that does consumer surveys. Apparently, NDS wanted to generate a press release about DVRs. Of course NDS benefits from the headlines generated about the survey results because they are a provider of DVR technology.

CAG Survey Picture

NDS said that Consumer Analysis Group polled of 1,012 people aged 18-70 years old who use DVRs in four countries. Each country had about 250 respondents each: UK (256), US (252), Italy (251) and Australia (253). The survey was conducted “using a mix of phone, street and online interviews.” Everything sounds good except for the part that says “street interviews”. Sounds kind of low-tech. (Here’s a picture from the CAG website, of someone seemingly using this low-tech survey approach. I wonder how many people they had to qualify in that actually used DVRs.)

Anyway, the results are interesting because they illuminate what lots of DVR users and analysts know already. It also points to what the future of TV may look like, as more and more people experience DVRs and TV on-demand.  As an analyst and DVR expert, I certainly enjoy these types of surveys, and I’ll have to read the entire report soon and report what I find.

In the mean time, some factoids I lifted from the press release:

Americans rank the DVR as the third most indispensable household item (62%), after the washing machine (97%) and the microwave oven (86%)

Americans rank the DVR as the second most essential household technology item they can’t live without (81%), beaten only by the mobile phone (92%)

3 out of 4 respondents with partners say that having a DVR makes for a happier home life

Bonus: Press Release here. Actual report PDF here.

Note to NDS: Indispensable is misspelled in the press release.

The CEO of Hulu said that Internet video ads should be short, in order to be effective. Hulu is that new online video venture by NBC and News Corp. that’s trying to take on iTunes and YouTube by bringing TV content to the web.

Speaking at a keynote presentation at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s last week, Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu said that advertisers shouldn’t re-purpose the same 30-second TV spots on the Internet.

This isn’t new. I think most new media advertisers know that online video ads should be kept short. I mean, most Internet video content is short (about 2.6 minutes) so it makes sense to have even shorter video ads.

Hulu, of course is going for longer content–30 minute sitcoms and hour-long dramas, for example. So it’s a different universe than what YouTube is working with.

Plus Hulu is still trying to get their advertising and revenue opportunities nailed down while still in beta. Currently, Hulu is testing overlay advertising and short video ads running one ad during a natural commercial break. That’s in line with what other content providers, like ABC.com and NBC.com are already doing with their TV shows online.

Interestingly, Kilar said that Hulu isn’t competing with YouTube, since they’re not doing user-generated content. However, YouTube isnt’ all user-generated content. Just last week HBO announced it was putting up entire episodes of its new series, In Treatment, on YouTube for free. Anyone can go on and watch the first five or so episodes of the show or catch up to missed episodes, even if they aren’t HBO subscribers.

It seems like Hollywood is finally getting it. Put your content on the web or people will get it illegally via BitTorrent. They are fully experimenting with this new delivery model: put your content on the Internet, get audiences however you can and see what happens.

Technorati Tags: HBO, In Treatment, Hulu, Internet video, YouTube, advertising, TV on the Internet

The combination of Internet advertising, Internet TV, mobile ads, game advertising and IPTV advertising will generate $41 billion in revenues by 2011, says research firm MultiMedia Intelligence.

In 2007, new media advertising will generate about $18 billion worldwide, which means ad revenues will more than double in five years.

The company says that three new categories–Internet TV, IPTV and mobile TV–will make up about 20% of media ad dollars in 2011. So far, advertising in these nascent media is pretty low.

Technorati Tags: IPTV, research, advertising, TV, DVR, new media, mobile TV