Seattle-based GridNetworks launched an update to their GridCast TV service today. It enables content owners get their Internet video onto TVs, via existing in-home UPnP devices, including the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3.
They’re financially backed by Comcast, Cisco, and Panorama Capital. The management team includes the co-founders of Internap (Tony Naughtin and Chris Wheeler), as well as the Chief Architect of RealNetworks’ Real Broadcast Network (Jeff Payne).
GridCast says viewers can prepare their computers to receive GridCast content with a couple clicks. Streaming applications such as Flash Video or Windows Media (DRM) can provide full-screen viewing with full player controls and no interruptions.
UPnP-enabled set top boxes (including the Xbox360 and PlayStation3) take the show to the living room, allowing “lean-back” remote control with true HD video and surround sound capability.
In related news, last Thursday, Sony launched the open beta for Home – a 3-D virtual world that anyone who owns a PlayStation 3 can visit for free.
Colin Dixon in a report for TDG, a market planning and research firm, says the opportunity available to video content distributors who can reach gaming console audiences will be significant:
- Approximately 190 million households will use a next-generation game console by 2012;
- 80% of these households—148 million—will have this console connected to the Internet; and
- 75% of connected-console households—more than 110 million—will use console-based video services at least a couple times each week.
PS3 sales are being impacted by lower demand for HD televisions says GamesIndustry.biz. This, along with the price disparity – the cheapest 360 model, at $199, is half the cost of a $399 PS3 – are combining to stymie PS3 sales this holiday season, according to reports.
Meanwhile, the bean counters at the NPD Group report Nintendo’s Wii console outsold the rival Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 combined for the ninth straight month. It sold 2 million units in the U.S. alone last month, a record tally for the month of November—and more than double the 981,000 Wiis adopted during the same period last year.
Bestselling hardware in the U.S. for November 2008:
- Nintendo Wii — 2.04 million systems sold
- Nintendo DS — 1.57 million
- Xbox 360 — 836,000
- PlayStation Portable — 421,000
- PlayStation 3 — 378,000
- PlayStation 2 — 206,000
Top 10 bestselling videogames in the U.S. for November 2008:
- Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360) — 1.56 million copies sold
- Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360) — 1.41 million
- Wii Play with Wii Remote — 796,000
- Wii Fit with Wii Balance Board — 697,000
- Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel — 637,000
- Call of Duty: World at War (PS3) — 597,000
- Guitar Hero World Tour (Wii) — 475,000
- Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360) — 410,000
- Resistance 2 (PS3) — 385,000
- Wii Music — 297,000
ComScore’s October 2008 data show that U.S. Internet users viewed 13.5 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 45 percent versus year ago.
In October, Google Sites once again ranked as the top U.S. video property with nearly 5.4 billion videos viewed (representing a 40 percent share of all videos viewed), with YouTube.com accounting for more than 98 percent of all videos viewed at the property.
Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 520 million videos (3.8 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 363 million (2.7 percent), and Viacom Digital with 305 million (2.3 percent). Hulu, a joint venture of NBC and Fox featuring full-length broadcast TV programs, ranked sixth with 235 million videos viewed (1.7 percent).
Other notable findings from October 2008 include:
- 77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
- The average online video viewer watched 274 minutes of video.
- More than 80 percent of the 18-34 year olds watched online video, higher than any other age segment. The average 18-34 year old online video viewer watched 4.8 hours of video during the month, also ranking above all other age segments.
