EBUSINESS Also in EBUSINESS: Kiddie Kash Wise Load Playing Monopoly Y2K: Time Bandit

The Show Must Go Online

By Adam R. Dell

Remember the promise of 500 channels? Remember the promise of interactive television? The Internet is blowing past these stale conventions and forever changing the way we interact with a box.

This revolution is the result of three interrelated and simultaneously occurring inflection points: the broadband Internet; the birth of interactive content; and the proliferation of Webcasting tools.

National fiber-optic networks, plus last-mile links such as digital subscriber lines (DSL) and cable modems, are enabling fat two-way pipes to the home. This infrastructure, coupled with advances in broadcasting technology such as emerging multicasting standards, is enabling the ubiquitous delivery of multimedia content.

Though sitcoms that include us as part of the story or game shows featuring us as contestants are not quite a reality, we are clearly heading in that direction; the Web will take us there. Early iterations of what's coming can be found at NBC.com, where you can test your knowledge of TV trivia against other fans or play a version of Dungeons and Dragons based on the NBC adventure series The Odyssey. At CBS Sportsline.com, you can participate in fantasy baseball tournaments that will one day likely be played alongside live American League broadcasts.

While today most of us are content to play a hand of gin on Yahoo! Games, tomorrow our appetite for interactive content will be harder to sate. We will want to participate in a multiplayer murder mystery tied to our favorite show, be seen and heard by Oprah's guests, even go to virtual parties in remote locations around the world. Thanks to the broadband Internet, we will be able to.

The frenzy of Internet activity by traditional media companies, such as NBC with CNET and Snap, and Disney with the Go Network, is driven by a realization that the Web's power as a broadcast medium is boundless, and a qualitative difference exists between the interactive content it breeds and the content produced by media monoliths. Interactive media will bring us closer to the narrative and more involvement in its direction. It will forever change not only the way we are entertained, but the way we transmit ideas, convey marketing messages, and learn.

Enabling a billion content producers
The final component of this revolution - the proliferation of Webcasting tools - is the most fundamental, the most empowering. These tools will enable anyone with a PC to broadcast content that rivals what's found on CNN's Crossfire or MTV's The Real World. Along with a browser-enabled set-top box, brought to us by companies such as @Home and AT&T's TCI, this content will reach our living rooms very soon. While Oprah may be on one channel, Bob's Llama Circus will undoubtedly be on another.

Microsoft's FrontPage and homepages at GeoCities are just the first generation of tools that enable consumer-created interactive content. Far more sophisticated programming platforms will enable real-time video feeds, audio chat applets, and sophisticated viewer surveys. These platforms will go far beyond today's work-cams fixed on cubicle-bound employees - they will enable full-scale multimedia production.

In mind-boggling droves, people will Webcast topics of endless diversity. Imagine the number of Truman Shows. Imagine how many Rush Limbaughs will seek a platform of expression. Imagine several million channels of interactive content.

Will broadcast for eyeballs
Infrastructure, technology, and content companies are running fast to stake their claim to this future. Qwest wants to provide the fiber networks, next generation carriers Covad and NorthPoint want to provide the DSL services, and your cable company wants to provide the cable modem services. RealNetworks and Microsoft want to provide the media players and servers, broadcast.com is building the partnerships necessary to own corporate Webcasting, and Worldstream's Talkspot.com and Nullsoft's Shoutcast.com want to provide the programming platforms to the masses.

On the content side, CMP Media and Ziff-Davis seek to become the Webcasting networks of tomorrow, going head-to-head with Bloomberg, CNN, and ABC. The most notable of these Web-centric networks is Pseudo Programs, which produces and broadcasts demographically laser-focused shows such as "Global House," which covers the international house music scene.

As content becomes more demographically focused, it likewise becomes more local. NBC's Interact and CBS's CBS.com are efforts to leverage network brands and content properties on local Websites - and a vehicle to share in the resulting ad revenue. Over time, these sites may become the public access channels of the Internet. Extending this model, vertical portals such as Chemdex may one day offer broadcasting platforms in exchange for eyeballs. Indeed, Bob's Llama Circus may one day be delivered by The Farming Channel - produced and broadcast without cost to the creator or consumer.

The broadband Internet, the interactive content that will fill its pipes, and the tools that will enable do-it-yourself broadcasters will fundamentally change media. Diversity of content, the degree to which it is targeted, and the manner it engages us will forever change our media experience. Sit back - or rather, lean forward and enjoy the show.

Adam R. Dell (adell@crosspointvc.com) is an associate partner with Crosspoint Venture Partners, which holds an equity interest in Worldstream and Covad.