LAS VEGAS -- The broadband revolution that promised to reshape home entertainment has been little more than an act of civil disobedience so far.
At the National Association of Television Programming Executives conference, datacasting company iBlast showed off an alternative broadcast technology using the television airwaves.
Rich media companies have been slowed to a halt, waiting for cable modems and DSL to deliver a mass audience of high-speed users. According to Media Metrix, even the top destination sites aren't drawing enough numbers to create viable business models.
Despite backing from big Hollywood names, Pop.com, Pseudo.com, and the Digital Entertainment Network couldn't survive long enough to wait for faster connections. Still around, but struggling Entertaindom.com draws just 800,000 unique visitors a month and Icebox.com less than 500,000 visitors.
"Remember, cable channels built up slowly," said Gary Adelson, a partner in the EastWest Venture Group. "We're all still waiting for broadband. It's not distributed nearly as quickly as we thought."
Adelson said his company largely has avoided funding content companies because of the bandwidth crunch.
There are no clear signs as to what the critical mass for broadband penetration will have to be to create those models, Adelson said. But when it is reached, changes will occur rapidly.
"You'll see studios pouring a lot of money into the Internet when that happens," he said.
Distribution company iBlast is providing an alternate route around the broadband traffic jam by using television towers to deliver content using the extra bandwidth in the TV spectrum.
Each television broadcaster is given 19.4 MB per second in bandwidth, although stations don't fill the entire space. That allows iBlast an average of 4 MB of bandwidth which it can use to deliver content.
"The Internet has changed from an interactive system to a broadcast system," said iBlast chief technology officer Oliver Luckett. The television signal serves that purpose well since the distribution network is already in place, and (the signal) can penetrate walls."
The company has signed up 246 affiliate stations to participate in its program to deliver rich media files to PCs, game consoles, personal video recorders and other receiving devices over the airwaves. A beta test is running with stations in Los Angeles, San Jose, Calif., San Diego, Phoenix, and Orlando, Fla.
The company has signed exclusive deals with 19 major media companies who own their own towers, including Tribune, Gannett, and Cox.
"The biggest thing about this technology is that people realize they can take a network, hook it to a set-top box, and create a whole new type of entertainment network for viewers," Luckett said.
