Millions of Internet users have discovered the Web is a great place to buy, sell, advertise and even auction merchandise. But something is missing. Despite the abundant trade occurring virtually non-stop on the Internet, almost no branded, high-value content, such as sports, movies, news, information, and training is available. Why? Certainly, an eager audience exists for this programming.

Owners and creators of highly desirable branded material won't migrate to the Internet until they are confident an effective way exists to extract the value they expect to realize from their digital assets. Put another way, branded content owners are looking for safe avenues of delivery as well as a way to generate profit from users. So the key to bringing branded content to the Web lies in giving consumers ready access to high-value content while affording owners an opportunity to create new Internet business models such as pay-per-view and subscriptions that generate e-business revenue effortlessly and seamlessly.

A hungry audience

Thus far sporting events, movies, and even training have been available over the Net only in abbreviated forms. The absence of a secure environment in which to sell valuable content has kept the vast majority of branded content such as full-length movies and sporting events like hockey, basketball, and football games off the Web.

However, companies interested in delivering branded content have cause for optimism. First, audience demand is growing, and indications are they're willing to pay for their viewing, and second, new technologies and new services are making effective management and monetization of branded content a reality.

A recent New York Times report cited a Pricewaterhouse Coopers Consumer Technology survey wherein nine percent of its respondents named viewing live events as a reason for surfing the Web, 11 percent are viewing short films and 24 percent are downloading or streaming music. The report also stated that, "a small but increasing audience is tuning into the Internet for short bursts of entertainment," according to Kevin Carton, global leader of Pricewaterhouse Coopers' Entertainment and Media Practice.

The trend appears to be toward more interest in viewing entertainment over the Net than other conventional formats such as television or stereo equipment. However, until just recently securely broadcasting branded content over the Internet seemed unattainable to many content owners and realizing revenues from the process seemed out of the question.

Technically speaking...

Effectively leveraging rich media sets via the Internet is a multi-faceted initiative that involves ingesting, managing, and publishing high-value digital content. Moreover, given today's available products, services, and solutions, doing it securely and realizing revenue in the process most assuredly are possible. Having a clear vision for where a company is going and what the company wants to achieve are the first steps. The, the basics for making the vision a reality revolve around four fundamental steps.

Step #1: Inventory and manage assets in a way that allows content to be ingested, indexed, accessed, searched, packaged, re-expressed, and re-purposed. Ask the question: What do you want to publish?

Step #2: Determine how consumers will access this content. Reaching a robust market may mean addressing multiple distribution platforms, including PCs, set-top boxes, digital TVs, and wireless devices, as well as aggregating multiple distribution channels capable of reaching wired (56k and broadband) and wireless devices.

Step #3: Ensure that only those who are authorized to consume the content can access and utilize it.

Step #4: Create an avenue to extract a value from it. Develop a collection process that ensures you are getting paid for the content that is being consumed.

Essential to unlocking the value in rich media content is finding the right technology partner to help companies articulate, manage, enhance, and protect the content that will be distributed over the Net. Managing, indexing, and archiving media assets are essential to any program designed to bring content to the Web. Effectively managing the distribution of content across multiple platforms ensures reaching the maximum possible audience. But creating a secure, tamper-resistant shield against unauthorized access and making that shield renewable, persistent, and mobile are keys to generating revenues from content consumers. By securing the content through tamper-resistant software -- software that automatically changes all of the so-called locks and keys if someone tampers with the encryption scheme -- enables content to be monetized through a variety of proven business models such as subscriptions, pay-per-view, or exchange methods like syndication and file sharing.

Technology-driven benefits for the consumer

While content owners can derive new monetary benefits from distributing branded content over the Web, consumers can enjoy a host of new viewing and entertainment options as a result. As one example, consider what Internet technology will offer broadband-equipped NBA basketball fans in the not too distant future. As the NBA envisions it, NBA games delivered using Internet technology will create a new fan experience, one that is more engaging and participatory than traditional television and cable broadcasts. For example, the NBA envisions a day when fans watching an Internet-delivered game (to a PC, a set-top box equipped TV, a digital television, or ultimately a wireless device), will be able to choose which camera shot to view and which announcers to hear. As well, the viewer will be able to call up archival footage or up-to-the-minute player statistics at any time during the game, and seamlessly engage personalized content like customized highlights and interest-driven e-commerce.

This time it's personal

It is the Internet's capacity for interactivity and personalization that differentiates it from any other media content distribution platform. Fully prosecuting the opportunity, Web distribution therefore requires fully exploiting its ability to deliver content that engages and resonates with the user in unprecedented ways. As a result, the winning business models for future Webcasting of branded content will directly reflect consumer demands because particular viewer's interests and behaviors will dictate what he or she sees in the future.

For example, if a pay-per-view or subscribing customer has spent a considerable amount of time watching one specific type of sporting event, that behavior will be tacked and documented, enabling subsequent broadcasts to be customized and personalized for that viewer with, for example, personalized ads for e-commerce products such as sports memorabilia, video collections, tickets to see games in person, or an opportunity to interact with team players on-line.

The personalized, customized business models of the future will create new revenue opportunities for owners of branded content, and generate e-business from hungry consumers who want a choice in what they watch and when they watch it.

Daniel C. Agan is Senior Vice President, Corporate Market Development for Convera Corporation, a new interactive media services company formed by the recent union of Excalibur Technologies with Intel s' Interactive Media Services Division.

On-Line Music Services, by Jagdish Kohli, Ph.D., PacBell Update, January 2001

Music has been characterized as the language of the heart. The medium of music brings out the creative talent of many artists uplifting the human spirit. Recent developments in digital music technologies and on-line delivery networks have a profound impact on the music industry. The Internet as a distribution media will totally transform this industry in the next few years. New and old music will be promoted, marketed, and consumed in different ways by incorporating new business models.

During the past year or so a number of Internet sites have appeared which facilitate the exchange of digital on-line music. Napster is by far the most popular of these sites and is a great MP3 application. It's a peer-to-peer file-sharing program that connects a user directly to a community of music lovers and consumers.

This application takes the hassle out of searching for MP3 music files on the Internet. There are no more broken links, no more slow downloads, and no more busy disorganized FTP sites. While logged on to Napster's server, you are essentially sharing your MP3 "library" with other users. When hundreds of users are connected, you will be able to access the MP3 files in their libraries. Thus Napster brings a large collection of distributed music files to the Napster membership.