(By Rich Bieglmeier) "We will experience more change in the next 18 months in the TV landscape than we did in the past five years" says Blair Westlake, Corporate Vice President, Media & Entertainment Group, Microsoft Corporation.
That change could begin on June 11th, as BGR.com reports that
Apple (
AAPL) will unveil its TV at AAPL's Worldwide Developers Conference. While most anticipate the tech giant will eventually offer a physical TV, first up has to be the gadget that allows the user to connect ‘iTV" to the flat screen already hanging on the wall. And that's what iStock expects developers to see next week.
Already,
Hulu Plus,
ESPN3,
HBO GO,
Netflix (
NFLX),
Amazon.com (
AMZN), cable and satellite TV programming providers offer their subscribers the ability to watch programming from their wireless devices, laptops and PCs. Someday soon, your TV receiver will be portable and you'll be able to plug into any TV anywhere.
Our point of view is confirmed by Nielsen as the ratings company reports "What has emerged in the last four to five years is a simple message: consumers watch their favorite content on the best screen available at that moment."
This inevitable delivery evolution will have a profound impact on video content and its distribution. According to the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, "
Cisco (
CSCO) forecasts that video traffic is poised to grow over 60% of Internet traffic by 2015, with an annual growth rate of 48% for consumer Internet video consumption between 2010 and 2015."
e-market.com reports that "The number of viewers who watch full-length television shows online grew from 41.1 million in 2008 to 72.2 million in 2011."
Steve Jobs reportedly told Brightcove's CEO, Jeremy Allaire, that TV shows and cable providers are nothing but apps. While iStock doesn't have the track record of Mr. Jobs, we are still of the view that content is king.
Those who deliver the content are likely to be king makers. Investors should expect to see agreements between movie/TV studios, cable and satellite providers with the content delivery services like iTunes. Eventually, you'll only pay for what you use.
Anecdotal I know, but this writer has more than 200 DirecTV channels and watches, maybe, 10 of them, the kids another 10, and wife four to five. All the extra channels are useless and leave an unshakeable feeling of wasted money.
As Paul Misener, Vice President for Global Public Policy at Amazon.com, told the Senate Committee," the Web is a "pull" – not "push" – medium, in which consumers choose what content they want, and when. "On demand" is essentially baked into the Web."
Identifying the publicly traded companies that harness this evolution should lead to rich rewards for investors, transformations always do.
Unfortunately,
many key players in the arena are privately held, and you can invest in some through venture capital firms; however,
iStock has identified 23 publicly traded companies that should benefit as the online TV revolution gives birth. (We know it's not an exhaustive list, but one with a focus on online video)
Polycom, Inc. (
PLCM)
Adobe Systems Inc. (
ADBE)
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (
AKAM)
Amazon.com Inc. (
AMZN)
Apple Inc. (
AAPL)
Brightcove, Inc. (
BCOV)
AT&T, Inc. (
T)
Cisco Systems, Inc. (
CSCO)
Facebook, Inc. (FB)
Juniper Networks, Inc. (
JNPR)
L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (
LLL)
Limelight Networks, Inc. (
LLNW)
Microsoft Corporation (
MSFT)
Netflix, Inc. (
NFLX)
Onstream Media Corp. (
ONSM)
Rimage Corporation (
RIMG)
RealNetworks Inc. (
RNWK)
Rovi Corporation (
ROVI)
Google Inc. (
GOOG)
Tata Communications Limited (
TCL)
Verizon Communications Inc. (
VZ)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (
WMT) through VUDU
ViewCast.com Inc. (
VCST)