A Breakthrough Few Months for Portable TV

AOL's successful Webcast of the Live 8 concert last summer opened many eyes to the possibilities of Internet TV, and so did simple demographics. About 35 million homes now have broadband access (compared to 110 million homes with TVs), and about half of those online users say they've watched video online, said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst for the Forrester Group.

Just as importantly, advertisers have warmed to the medium, and realize they can effectively present online commercials not that different from what's already on TV.

Some of the biggest early customers for Internet TV are transplants, Enderle said. They're following sports teams from cities they departed or, if they're immigrants, catching the latest news from the home country.

Comedy Central is using Motherload primarily to showcase stand-up comedians and other short-form comedy that wouldn't necessarily fit on the TV network. It shows highlights of "The Daily Show," but you still have to watch TV to get the full Jon Stewart experience, said Michele Ganeless, Comedy Central's general manager.

Most people don't have the patience to watch more than four or five minutes of Internet programming at a time, she said.

"I think that will change over time," she said. "I think right now, based on my personal experience, the computer isn't necessarily set up in a spot in the home that is comfortable for long-term viewing."

For the most part, Internet TV is still "like the minor leagues," Bernoff said. "It's stuff that wasn't good enough to get on the air, or too short to get on the air."

Likewise, programming on cell phones is in its infancy. But NBC's announcement earlier this month that it is collaborating with Sprint to make Leno's monologue and comic sketches available on the phone is a sign of recognized potential.

Sprint has been the most aggressive in providing programming, working with MobiTV to make a variety of news, sports and comedy programming available on their phones, said Phil Taylor, an analyst for Strategy Analytics Global Wireless Research. About 500,000 people subscribe to a cell phone programming service in the U.S.; market penetration is more advanced overseas.

Just like on laptops, short bites of programming are most popular. So is adult fare, he said. Cell phone video is likely to spread more through convenience than any real consumer pressure, he said, because cable or cell phone companies are likely to bundle this with other services.

"I don't think usage of the mobile phone TVs will come anywhere close to the home television as a principal viewing device," he said. "But the evidence suggests that it's a handy way of spending time when you're waiting two minutes for a bus or for a friend at the bar."

Ultimately, this fall's most far-reaching development may be last Monday's dual announcements by Viacom Inc.'s CBS and NBC that it would begin selling replays of its most popular shows on an on-demand basis through Comcast Corp. and DirecTV Group Inc., respectively.