ISP’s in Australia are set to boost the movie download market in Australia by offering unlimited broadband between 8.00pm and 6.00am in an efffort to lure consumers who now have IP enabled TV’s gaming consoles and personal video players that are capable of running full HD movies.
Among the ISP’s already offering unlimited downloads are iiNet and AAPT. At yesterday’s launch of Microsoft’s new movie download service which goes live later this month Microsoft executives said that the demand for movies and video content over a broadband network will force many ISP’s to rethink their broadband packages in Australia.nd 6.00am in an efffort to lure consumers who now have IP enabled TV’s gaming consoles and personal video players
Analysts and researchers are tipping that demand for Internet movies and video content from the likes of Foxtel, The ABC, YouTube as well as vendors like Microsoft, Apple and Sony is set to explode in Australia during the next 18 months.
In the USA where broadband speeds are similar to Australia the number of U.S. broadband households watching premium online content, including movies and TV shows via the Internet, doubled in the last year, according to research group, Parks Associates. Currently over 25 million U.S. broadband households regularly watch full-length TV shows online, while over 20 million watch movies online.
The international research firm reports that the growing popularity of online portals such as Hulu.com owned by Rupurt Murdoch, shows rapid growth in the number of viewers who use the Internet to watch long-tail and premium content. This shift highlights the opportunity for service providers to extend their current pay-TV and video-on-demand services to include online and mobile video features. In fact, providers will have to embrace online video services, including the ability to deliver content across multiple platforms, if they are to remain competitive and attract new subscribers.
The next step, according to Dasari, is for content owners and distributors to come to a consensus on business models so they can monetize consumer interest in online media.
