With the emerging of the marriage between PC and TV starting to shape, it is going forward in ways that very few could have thought of even 7-8 years ago.
Now you have everyone posting videos on community sites like YouTube.com, along with a large number of independent producers like Mondo Media coming forth. The Internet is becoming a giant, global television network for viewers looking for something different from the endless monotony of mainstream broadcasters.
In the case of Mondo Media, there popular characters "Happy Tree Friends, quietly survived the Internet bust of 2000 and are a growing global phenomenon.
Or as Reuters reports "...this week a little-known British rocker named Sandi Thom signed a record deal with Sony BMG after building an audience by webcasting her own concerts from her basement."
John Evershed, co-founder of Mondo Media says "I still don't think people have a handle on the fact that, for all intents and purposes, we have a TV network working for us, essentially free, that is worldwide."
Mondo Media reports that it shows 16 million, two-minute programs monthly on the Web which have spawned the sale of 750,000 DVDs. The "Tree Friends" Web site, its t-shirts, toys, and cell phone episodes are hot items in more than 20 countries in Asia, Europe, North and South America.
Of course what is really making this all possible is the growing numbers of Internet users with high-speed Internet access which makes the videos viewable on the PCs. That and the younger audiences that are driving this trend who are used to viewing movies and videos on their PCs, laptops and other devices.
Knowing that this is going to be the area of growth in the future the broadcast networks and cable stations are slowly starting to put up offerings on the web also. They need to understand that if all they do is stream the same old content that they have now, they are going to continue to lose this battle.
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