Advertisement

News Corp.’s Jon Miller talks about ‘channelization’ of the Web

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

We’ve seen the future of the Web at the Consumer Electronics Show -- and it looks remarkably like TV.

Jon Miller, chief digital officer for News Corp., predicted that a major trend of 2012 will be what he called the ‘channelization’ of the Web.

Advertisement

Online video has been characterized by short bursts of entertainment, lasting just a few minutes. Miller said Google Inc.’s YouTube site is pushing a more programmed approach that more closely resembles TV channels.

‘Clearly, YouTube is trying to drive that in a big way.... Essentially, it means programming that is sequential that you can keep viewing. You have a passive viewing experience,’ Miller said Wednesday at Variety’s Entertainment Summit at CES. ‘You turn it on and it runs. It has continuity, as opposed to watching a three-minute video. It stops, and you sit there.’

YouTube has begun bolstering its video offerings with 100 channels of original programming created by established TV production companies, as well as celebrities such as Madonna and former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal.

Robert Kyncl, vice president of global head of content partnerships at YouTube, will deliver a keynote Thursday, in which he is expected to talk about the opportunity of the Web as a distribution vehicle.

Kyncl’s expected remarks come as consumer electronics manufacturers introduced a new generation of Internet-connected TVs powered by Google TV, software that allows viewers to search for and watch Web video on the big screen in the living room.

RELATED:

Advertisement

CES Preview: Google TV items on tap for Sony, Samsung, Vizio, LG

Google rolling out new version of Google TV

YouTube counting on former Netflix exec to help it turn a profit

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski in Las Vegas

Advertisement