IP Democracy: What's the Term for Putting Video on the Internet?

The New York Times’ Richard Siklos has this analysis of the boom in video, web video to be specific. During the past week we saw Apple unveil its still-doubted iTV unit and NBC launch NBBC, which will syndicate video around the web.

Although like Siklos I’m still not sure just how web video will pay off, I know it will pay off.

The good news — and my second point — is that there’s gold in them there hills. Video delivered over the Internet is clearly shaping up to be an actual business that advertisers are interested in. The broadcasting (netcasting?) of television programs and clips on the Web moves the debate away from Internet-versus-TV because if TV executives put their best material online and get paid for it, the proposition becomes Internet-cum-TV.

Siklos makes a point about the terminology. Do we “broadcast” video over the Internet? Are TV programs “aired” on the web? Does NBBC help web sites “show” videos?

I have the same problem when writing about cable TV — and I worked for the cable industry for a long time. Cable networks were trying hard to distinguish themselves from broadcast networks, therefore cable TV programs were not “broadcast” to viewers. Back then the term “cablecast” was a dreadful alternative and in any event it held political connotations in some circles (e.g. candidates for office “cablecast” their speeches).

We can always accurately say that videos are “transmitted” over the Internet or “distributed” over the Internet but the geek quotient in those words make them, at times, insufferably dry.

Siklos tosses out “netcast” as a possible term of art. To me, this made-up word has the same liability as “cablecast.” It’s a coined phrase that won’t catch on because it sounds forced, like some PR or management consultant made it up. Moreover, it’s perilously close to “webcast” which already has a defined meaning, namely the live or taped audio or video “broadcasting” of an event (usually boring, such as an earnings release analyst call, but sometimes fun, such as the Live 8 concerts ).

I don’t think there is a good term out there yet to refer to the act of putting non-event video on the Internet for viewing on demand. If someone has a good suggestion, I’m all ears.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on September 17, 2006 8:39 AM to IP Democracy