SAN FRANCISCO -- Streaming media hasn't yet arrived in the living rooms of America. But when it does, the technology will offer viewers unprecedented control over their news and information.
That was the conclusion of several panelists Monday, the opening day of Streaming Media '98.
"The single most important driver of streaming [media] is that it puts the user in control," said Harry Fuller, news director of ZDTV, an affiliate of Ziff-Davis.
Overextended consumers find themselves working or commuting, grabbing a meal or two in between, Fuller said. They are attracted to media they can watch and listen to on their own schedules, not those set by the major networks.
"That's one of the troubles with television right now, trying to deal with that [time] limitation," Fuller said, and it will one day drive millions of viewers onto the Net.
The panel of streaming-media boosters saw a rosy future for the technology but some issues need to be dealt with first. How and when will streaming media and old media merge? To what degree will advertising drive growth? What content will people want to watch? Will big broadcasters take the lead?
As things stand now, video for the Net has few viewers, and streaming content is still considered an add-on to existing text or broadcast media.
"We're at a very rudimentary level where streaming [media] and TV are complementary," Fuller said. Video and audio clips on a Web site can add depth to articles, interviews, and programming that would otherwise be cut to fit word limits and 20-minute TV slots.
ZDTV's on-air announcers, for example, often point viewers to extra Web-based video that can't be delivered in a half-hour show. The two media thereby boost each other, Fuller said, in an early form of convergence. Since June, ZDTV has increased the number of streams served in a month seventeenfold.
"We use television to drive people to the Web site, and we use the Web site to drive people to the television," Fuller said.
