Increasingly, every time there is an unfortunate tragedy — be it a raging fire or a terrorist attack – we geta torrent of stories heralding the legitimacy of Twitter as a news source. Their core arguments are always the same — that social media tools allow for information to be dispatched far faster than the lumbering old media. 

Indeed, Twitter’s simplicity gives virtually anyone the power to send dispatches from the front line. Traditionally, eyewitness reports would first go through an editorial grinder; now they hit the web as soon as the people that type them up hit the proverbial send key. The question, however, then becomes: How does one make sense of the torrent of information that comes with this immediate media? I first wrote about the “immediate media” phenomenon last year:

This immediate media is information simply adapting to the new methods of distribution. At the turn of the last century, [the] telegraph was used to spread the news. Telephone technologies gave newspapers a new sense of urgency and made distant events a weekly, and for some, a daily affair. Radio broadcasts made news more real time, making it part of our daily life. TV brought news into the living room, [and] made it more personal. Cable and the birth of CNN made news a 24/7 phenomenon.

The Internet in its early version upped the tempo, and with the rise of high-speed, always-on connections, information is now an unending stream. If you follow that thread, then [you] can easily see that with each transformation, technology compressed the news cycle a little, and made distribution a bit more efficient. The more we connect, the more we want to know but in less time.

That idea of the future has arrived much faster than we thought, but as we struggle to make sense of all the readily available information, it’s important also to understand how the role of media outlets has changed. Such a need became especially clear to me over the past few days as I watched the ugliness unfold in Mumbai.

 Since Wednesday afternoon I have been glued to my computer screen — actually three of them — watching the CNN-IBN News and NDTV News feeds, MSNBC and Fox News, Wikipedia, and most importantly, Twitter, for updates on the situation in India. (Check out FLickr for getting visuals that show life after the attacks and how the armed forces are taking action on sea.) 

Despite the tremendous volume of information — and its immediacy — coming from Mumbai via Twitter, getting context about the situation has been a struggle. While a few people have been tweeting firsthand accounts, much of the information has been re-tweets or just rambling, reaction-based tweets. Maybe I was overcome with emotion, but the sheer volume of tweets and lack of clarity only fed my frustration with Twitter. (I’m sure it’s the same kind of frustration people feel with blogs at times as well.)

Over the last 12 months, video on the Internet has essentially turned global news into a local broadcast. Yet even with all the news coming at me from the local Indian channels by way of streaming on the web, no one was offering context, analysis or a comprehensive overview of what was unfolding around them. CNN, MSNBC and others didn’t exactly have a grasp of the situation either, and I was left guessing what was actually happening. It wasn’t until The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times offered up their reports that the whole time line and sequence of events started to make sense. It was only then that the sheer ugliness and audacity, the horror and the madness, hit home. 

And that’s when I realized that the future of media is being split into two streams: one that consists of raw news that comes like a torrent from sources such as Twitter, mobile messages and photos, the other, from old media. The eyewitness dispatches (and photos) via social media are an adjunct to the more established media — which needs to focus on providing analysis, context, and crucially, intelligence — in real time. And yet it is old media — and their next-generation counterparts, the blogs and other Internet outlets — that will have to adapt to this. Of course, the biggest adaption will need to come from the public, those of us who aren’t there ourselves.

In a nation with more than 225 million mobile subscribers, only 1.8 million of them watch broadcast television on their cell phones, according to September data from comScore. But a group of more than 800 broadcasters hopes to change all that — by making mobile TV shows both free and available at the same time they’re shown on oldteevee. To that end, in April 2007 those broadcasters formed the Open Mobile Video Coalition, aimed at establishing a standard for the delivery of mobile TV in the soon-to-be-available digital television spectrum.

On Tuesday, members of the OMVC got one step closer to making their dream a reality. The group, in conjunction with the Advanced Television Standards Committee, which was responsible for creating the standard that governs how your TV set receives an HD signal, approved a candidate standard for mobile digital television. In the bureaucratic world of standards-setting, this means the ATSC mobile DTV standard will be the accepted way to deliver mobile broadcast television going forward, although it’s subject to a few additional tweaks. In the real world, this means devices capable of delivering free, mobile TV will come as early 2010.

LG and Samsung, both of which backed the standard, plan to start making devices that will allow for mobile DTV trials next year. After the broadcasters complete the move to digital broadcasting in February 2009, TV stations will start widespread tests of mobile DTV. By early in 2010, according to Anne Schelle, the executive director of the OMVC, consumers should be able to buy such devices off the shelf.

As for the issue of whether or not consumers even want mobile television on tiny screens, Schelle is optimistic. She envisions interactive services and points out that the standard is flexible enough to offer a digital video recorder for time- and place-shifting, if so desired. That level of control would be compelling to broadcasters who see ISPs and even cell phone carriers as standing between them and their viewers. Schelle points out that broadcast television still controls the content people most want to watch, and by delivering that directly to mobile devices broadcasters can satisfy consumers — and by extension, have a better shot at controlling their own destinies.

“I do think there will be a day five years from now where you will be in a restaurant and everyone will pull out their mobile devices and be able to watch a live broadcast of whatever that seminal event of the day is,” Schelle said.

For end users in the U.S. (which is where this mobile broadcast standard will work), that means there will be two ways to watch over-the-air television on the go — via a device that receives the mobile DTV standard or through a carrier’s service built on top of MediaFLO, a Qualcomm technology. While a representative of LG Electronics, which makes phones for carriers that include Qualcomm MediaFLO chips, told me the two services aren’t mutually exclusive, they are competitive. They both want to offer over-the-air broadcast television on mobile devices ranging from phones to laptops to in-car entertainment systems.

But Qualcomm makes money licensing its MediaFLO network to carriers, which charge consumers $15 a month to access the service, while broadcasters plan to have some sort of free offering to anyone who has a device or dongle that can receive the signal. On the other hand, MediaFLO services are available today, while mobile DTV is still a developing standard.

Of course, almost two years after commercial availability of the service, mobile television delivered by MediaFLO is only watched by relatively few. That looks to be changing, however. Matt Milne, SVP of marketing and sales for MediaFLO USA, declined to give out subscriber numbers for the service but said in an email that viewership increased 70 percent in the three months ending September 2008. It’s still possible for MediaFLO to gain more viewers, or for the mobile DTV effort to fail because of a lack of devices or even consumer interest. One way or another, for those keen to tune in to TV on the go, this is a fight worth watching.

Image courtesy of OMVC

In an order released yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission declared certain parts of the New York City cable market competitive, thanks to Verizon offering its FiOS TV in the area. This means the FCC also revokes the ability of the municipal authorities of New York to regulate how Time Warner Cable sets its basic cable rates. So far, it looks like parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan are competitive, if one can envision a duopoly (in areas where Cablevision doesn’t provide service) as real competition. Although I may be too cynical, as I bet that TWC will find it hard to implement tiered bandwidth when going head-to-head for broadband and cable subscribers with Verizon, which has shown no inclination to cap or meter customers. Maybe I should hightail it back to Brooklyn.

Today Qualcomm scored a huge coup for its MediaFLO mobile television service by winning the right to broadcast the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and to create a 27/7 channel devoted to the event. All MediaFLO subscribers will be able to watch the broadcast when it airs on Dec. 3. The fashion show pulled in a television audience last year of 6.5 million, exactly mirroring the number of people who are watching any form of mobile TV, which includes options other than MediaFLO.

But as the February transition to digital television looms, groups such as the National Association of Broadcasters and the Open Mobile Video Coalition (pushing a jointly developed LG and Samsung standard)  are seeking to develop alternate methods to watch TV on the go to avoid being beholden to wireless providers. The OMVC and it’s backers are branching out beyond cellular networks, hoping to install their technology in cars and laptops. Should those efforts succeed, Qualcomm’s investments in MediaFLO won’t pan out.

With its Ultra Mobile Broadband 4G wireless effort officially shuttered last week, Qualcomm needs to find another way to mint money. It still has a platform effort in Gobi, MediaFLO is still around, and 3G networks aren’t going anywhere for a while, but Qualcomm built its success on controlling the IP for the widely adopted mobile standard CDMA. It can certainly play in other fields, but without a choke hold on some widely needed intellectual property, its negotiating power and royalty rates will be lessened.

Image from CBS

Some two years ago, it started to become clear: The web was going to change the way we consume video. So in December 2006, in order to closely track and monitor the growth of online video, we launched NewTeeVee. Since then, Liz Gannes and Chris Albrecht have developed deep insights into the online video industry. Today the two of them will get on stage for our second NewTeeVee Live conference, where they will talk to dozens of industry experts, insiders, movers and shakers to help guide the conversation around the future of online video.

Some two years ago, it started to become clear: The web was going to change the way we consume video. So in December 2006, in order to closely track and monitor the growth of online video, we launched NewTeeVee. There we have chronicled the massive influx of venture capital investment into literally hundreds of startups — some of whom dream of being the next YouTube, others that hope to come up with the magic potion for video advertising.

In the process, Liz Gannes and Chris Albrecht have developed deep insights into the online video industry. And they have done a great job of separating the noise from the signal. Today the two of them will get on stage for our second NewTeeVee Live conference, where they will talk to dozens of industry experts, insiders, movers and shakers to help guide the conversation around the future of online video. The world of video finds itself in a pretty awkward place – watching videos on the web has become as natural as sending email.

When recovering from my heart attack, I turned to Hulu to provide on-demand fun. Today, I don’t think twice about spending $20 a month on TV shows from Apple’s iTunes store or $10 for a couple of movies from Jaman. My video-watching habits, while extreme, are precisely what is scaring cable companies into taking the self-destructive and short-sighted approach of imposing metered broadband on their customers. Phone companies are following suit.

Meanwhile, the broader economic downturn and subsequent advertising slowdown is threatening the vibrancy of this business I love so much. Layoffs have started to mar the online studios producing eclectic independent content, and a lack of advertising dollars is poised to plunder the meager treasuries of startups that are finding that the VC spigot has run dry.

But just as when you think the (online video) world is coming to an end, you have companies like Netflix, Blockbuster and others introducing devices that marry the web video to the living room experience, and in the process, inventing a whole new dynamic.

Today we will hear from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who is going to share his vision of the future, while Sling CEO Blake Krikorian is going to talk about the future of our living room in a fireside chat with yours truly.

The success of Hulu has awakened the Hollywood studio system to the possibilities of online video, among them the riches that don’t need to be taxed by cable companies and other gatekeepers. With that in mind, Jason Killar, CEO of Hulu, is going to be sharing his story.

CSI creator and executive producer of the CSI franchise, Anthony Zuiker, seems to have figured out the magic formula for cross-platform storytelling and he is one of our keynote speakers.

The online video industry is transitioning from being a gangly teenager to a grown-up; what remains unclear is exactly how it will evolve. I’m confident that by the end of the day we will have a better sense of what that will involve, allowing Liz, Chris and I to bring you the stories that will help all of us prepare us for this new future. We hope to see you there.

And if you can’t be present in person, we will be streaming the conference, thanks to the efforts of our partners, Ustream. We will also be posting to NewTeeVee Live’s Twitter stream, and will be live-blogging the conference over on NewTeeVee.

Telephone companies pushing television services will gain customers by offering lower prices than cable or satellite providers, according to a survey being presented today by Heavy Reading. The survey, which consisted of about 200 consumer interviews, found that price, more than special interactive features, will dictate which provider consumers turn to. That’s grim news for the telcos, which have been spending heavily to lay fiber and upgrade their networks so they can offer the triple play of voice, video and data in order to better compete with cable companies.

The pitch on the part of telcos is that consumers tired of boring TV delivered by their cable company could switch to a more interactive experience through, such as those offered by AT&T’s  U-verse service or FiOS TV or Verizon. And for the privilege of such an experience, they would pay more. Of course many of those features, such as alternate camera angles and personalized channels, haven’t yet been rolled out. In the meantime, cable companies are offering digital video recorders and interactive services such as Start Over as part of their digital cable packages.

In fact, a survey in September found that consumers weren’t even happy with the current pricing or service being provided by their cable companies — suggesting that undercutting cable companies while providing better service is the key to gaining their business. That being said, many of the consumers in the September survey said they’d be happy to switch to telco TV if the price was right. It looks like that for all the technical innovation, the promise of the triple-play bundle isn’t about service, but about the bargain. Carriers will have to find other ways to boost their bottom lines for the time being.

Yesterday, Ion Media, a broadcaster behind an effort to create a new way to deliver over-the-air broadcast television to mobile phones, announced a successful test of a new mobile digital television standard. Because when you have a laughably small number of mobile television viewers, you may as well try a different standard in hopes that it will succeed where others have failed. The standard, created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, has succeeded in trials at easily delivering broadcast television to mobile phones, using existing spectrum. However, the content won’t be linked back to the Internet — this version of mobile TV turns your phone or other portable devices into a mini-TV.

The ATSC standard will compete with Qualcomm’s MediaFLO technology that AT&T and Verizon use to deliver mobile television to subscribers, but unlike MediaFLO, it doesn’t require a separate network to broadcast the shows. A group of broadcast networks, LG Electronics and Samsung are part of a coalition called the Open Mobile Video Coalition working with the ATSC to create a single standard for delivering mobile television to cell phones and other devices by 2009, when the switch to digital television is complete.

The ATSC plans to formally approve its mobile TV standard later this month. Chips and systems will be available before the end of 2009. Initial offerings are likely to appear in the automotive space. I have tons of questions about this service that I’m trying to get answered and will update y’all if any of the parties gets back to me.

A crappy economy, a momentous election? We excuse you for having other things on your mind. But come Nov. 13, if you’re a fan of online video, we sure hope you’ll plop your butt down in San Francisco for our NewTeeVee Live conference. We’re even doing an election special price of $500 on tickets this week, so buy now. The show is looking to be amazing, with a star-studded cast of speakers and a fascinating list of attendees. Get your ticket here.  The headliners on our schedule are:

• Anthony Zuiker - Executive Producer, TV Show “CSI”
• Reed Hastings - CEO, Netflix
• Jason Kilar - CEO, Hulu
• David Verklin - CEO, Canoe Ventures
• Alexis Rapo - V-P, Digital Media, Disney-ABC Television Group
• Blake Krikorian - CEO, Sling Media
• Tania Yuki - Senior Product Manager, comScore

And our panel topics:

• Live webcasts of major events: The inside story
• Bridging the gap between television and online
• Managed vs. unmanaged content
• The truth about online video advertising
• Last but not least: VCs evaluate the day and the opportunities they see

And appearances by breakout video stars of 2008:

• Michael Buckley of “What the Buck”
• Lucas Cruikshank of “Fred”
• Xeni Jardin of “Boing Boing TV”
• Felicia Day of “The Guild”
• Jay Smooth of “ill doctrine”
• Brian Conley of “Alive in Baghdad”

As we consume more media online, and the web becomes more central to our lives, it’s only natural to want to bring that content into our living rooms. But while I and a few others will watch movies and shows on a laptop, most people want to watch their media on their TV. And if they can surf the web at the same time, more power to them. For some people, this trifecta of the couch, web surfing and movie-watching on a big screen is their version of heaven. If they have an AMD-powered computer running Windows, then they’re in luck.

I met on Friday with Brent Barry, a PC gaming strategist over at AMD, to get a demo of the AMD Live Explorer software running on a Windows PC and a Sony television. The demo was hardwired, but a consumer could also use a Wii or an Xbox console (both contain AMD chips from the ATI graphics division) to wirelessly send the information from the PC to the console hooked into the television. Since this only works on AMD-powered PCs, most of the market (notably Mac users) are out of luck, but anyone else can download the software for free. It seems similar to the functionality of the ZvBox, but doesn’t require the extra hardware. For a quick tour of the software and why visual computing is becoming so important, check out the video.

Don’t let the ghouls today or the uncertainty of next Tuesday scare you from securing your ticket to NewTeeVee Live! Today is the very last day of our “late bird” special, so step right up and buy your ticket now.

Come meet the senior executives from ABC, FOX, Netflix, Hulu, Disney, Lucasfilm, Comcast, YouTube, Sling Media, Level 3, Microsoft, and more who are driving the decisions that affect the future of online video. Hear from the producers of hit shows “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “HEROES” as they discuss how online video is changing the art of storytelling.

We’ll also have the breakout video stars from online shows “Fred,” “The Guild,” “What the Buck,” “Boing Boing TV,” “Alive in Baghdad” and “Ill Doctrine” talking about how they are making a living on the web.

Hope to see you there!

Comcast, the largest cable provider in the U.S. reported earnings today as did Qwest, the No. 3 telco provider. Comcast watched its earnings rise by 33 percent.  Qwest saw sales drop and announced it will layoff 1,200 people. Between these two earnings releases, there are large differences that show how bundles help boost communications services and how landline voice access is waning.

Comcast saw its sales rise 10 percent to $8.55 billion for the third quarter of the year, which led to adjusted earnings of $691 million. It also had an average revenue per user (ARPU) of $110.71, up 9 percent from the same quarter last year, driven by bundling and the fact that video service is generally more expensive than voice and broadband. Comcast has more video subscribers than voice and data combined, but 22 percent of its customers take a voice, data and video bundle. Its broadband subscribers grew by 11 percent and its voice subscribers by 9 percent. But voice is slowing, and Comcast only added 483,000 subscribers, who are paying a lower monthly rate than during previous quarters.

Qwest, on the other hand, reported revenue of $3.4 billion, down 2 percent from the third quarter the year prior, and earnings of $151 million, compared with $2.1 billion the year prior. However, in 2007 it reported a loss before taxes of $84 million, but saw a $2.15 billion benefit that pushed its earnings so high. Consumer ARPU grew 6 percent to $56, up from $53 for the same period last year, but that figure obviously lags behind the cable giant. Qwest saw its video subscribers increase by 25 percent, but from a small base number. Broadband growth was 11 percent to 2.8 million customers and landlines dropped 10 percent to 8 million from 8.9 million. What we are seeing between these two communications companies is the power of bundles and the slow decline of landlines.

Have you seen the line-up for next month’s NewTeeVee Live conference? You might have heard that the CEOs of Hulu and Netflix are coming, and also the creator of CSI. True! But did you know that we’ve also got a guy who brags that he’s still actively funding digital media deals — including a new one just last week? That would be Richard Wolpert, managing director of The Mail Room Fund, an investment partnership of William Morris Agency, AT&T, Accel and Venrock.

Another highlight should be David Verklin, who’s making one of his first public appearances since being named the CEO of Canoe Ventures, the joint addressable advertising project of the nation’s largest cable companies. Talk about friends in high places.

We’ve also got Alex Withers, managing director of digital media for the USGA. His team put on the biggest single day of live-streaming sports that we know of this year, delivering more than 2 million streams to more than half a million concurrent users who tuned in to watch Tiger Woods’ down-to-the-wire playoff victory at the U.S. Open. And that was on a Monday!

And for stats nerds like me (and anyone looking to prove their content is worth paying for), we have Tania Yuki of comScore, who will be launching some new online video measurement techniques that will lead to very helpful things like reporting on premium and UGC content separately, and tracking syndication and viral traffic.

Also, today is the last day to apply for our NewTeeVee News section, so if you have a major announcement burning a hole in your pocket, let us know about it and we’ll see if we can get you on the schedule.

I am so excited for it I wish I could just sit in the audience all day and watch. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what you can do if you bought your ticket.

While we’re close to finalizing our line-up of speakers and presentations for NewTeeVee Live, there is another way your company can get in front of conference participants: the NewTeeVee News session, where we will present a selection of the most interesting major announcements and product launches in the online video space. Will your company have significant video-related news in mid-November? Let us know!

Chosen companies can expect to present from a special morning segment on the main conference stage, have their announcements distributed to attending press, and see coverage of their news on NewTeeVee.com and GigaOM.com. We will be judging submissions based on relative newsworthiness, quality and variety.

Rest assured that we will keep your pending announcement completely confidential; even the names of those chosen won’t be publicly released beforehand. However, we do need as much information as you’re able to provide in order for us to make an informed decision. The deadline to apply is Oct. 24; presenters will be chosen by Oct. 29; the conference is Nov. 13. So please submit today!

AT&T plans to sell its triple-play U-verse services through more than 600 Circuit City and  Wal-Mart retail stores beginning this month. There are a few things about this plan that just don’t make sense. First, the choice of stores, namely the floundering Circuit City, is perplexing. Why not a more successful electronics retailer such as Best Buy, which already is stocking the iPhone and working to sell other services contracts? Update: AT&T got back to me to say that they do sell U-verse in Best Buy.

The other odd thing about this announcement is the idea that consumers will go to a retail location to learn about their broadband, voice and video services rather than through a traditional television, mailing or online ad campaign. Essentially this is another, potentially more interactive form of advertising, which could be a good thing given the current cable attack ads around HD channel delivery and what qualifies as a fiber network. However, the strategy looks expensive, and it seems to indicate that AT&T is having a hard time signing up the 1 million U-verse subscribers it says it will have by the end of the year.

Ready for a little Friday humor? Well there’s this British carrier called BT that’s spending £10 billion ($17 billion) to build out an all-IP network that would handle the massive influx of converged data, voice and video traffic coming over the next few years on one network. They’ve been trashed and mocked, as so many visionaries often are, but they’ve kept on building, with the goal of finishing the network by 2011. Only they apparently didn’t build it to talk to the next-generation protocols, which is like spending £10 billion for a machine that translates spoken Latin.

BT told a high-speed broadband provider in the UK that it doesn’t support IPv6, which is a protocol backed by the Internet Engineering Task Force. There are all sorts of dire warnings explaining how as more devices connect to the Internet (like your digital picture frame or thermostat), we’re going to run out of IP addresses to give them. That means we need to upgrade to IPv6 before we’re forced to share IP addresses or take other measures. This requires a big effort from equipment vendors and site owners who have to build and host IPv6 sites. With the doomsday predictions saying IPv6 IPv4 addresses will run out some time in 2012, it would appear that the BT 21 Century Network will be finished just in time to become obsolete.

While I worry about buying gadgets there are plenty of people out there worried about buying far more important things like food and gas, which means that TV offerings such as those from AT&T, Comcast and Verizon might see the effects of the struggling economy. Daniel Amir, a director and semiconductor analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, seems to think so. In a note on IPTV chip maker Sigma Designs, he maintained a hold on the stock, citing a European slowdown in IPTV growth and fears that AT&T’s IPTV deployments will slow.

From the note:

However, we are increasingly concerned by the possibility of AT&T missing its annual projection of 1M subs, and believe that unit expectations will need to be reduced further in light of the macroeconomic environment. We believe it is more likely that AT&T will reach 30K subs per week by year-end, rather than 40K.

So far AT&T has signed up 549,000 U-verse subscribers, and we’ll get the latest update on Oct. 22 when it reports its earnings. I wouldn’t be surprised if subscriptions did slow, given how quickly DSL subscriptions and even land lines have fallen. It’s a lot harder to convince a customer to switch over to a service when you no longer have a toehold in their home.