Anthony Wood: The Future of TV will be Streamed

“There is more innovation now in the world of television than ever before in history.”
With this statement, Roku CEO Anthony Wood began his keynote speech at the TV of Tomorrow Show in San Francisco last week with a recap of the current trends that point to a future where all TV will be streamed. While TV has evolved dramatically over the past 70 years — from the introduction of over-the-air broadcast networks in the 1940s to cable TV and the DVR — the advent of consumer streaming services and platforms,
pioneered by Netflix and Roku in 2008, is driving more change in the way we watch TV than ever before.

Anthony predicts that the future of TV will be streamed. The Internet has created new
and very successful brands like Hulu, Netflix and YouTube. Traditional content providers are beginning to authenticate their content, sending it over the Internet to the TV as well as mobile devices — just look at HBO and EPIX. And in the not too distant future consumers will be able to subscribe to Internet-delivered TV packages featuring favorite top TV networks. Within the next four years, the majority of paid TV programming will be streamed.

A few other key points shared by Anthony in his keynote:

• A Roku streaming player averages about 12 hours of streaming per week, compared to about 35 hours of TV viewing per person per week
• The DVR is dying and will fade away within the next several years; why record when you can stream virtually anything?
• Music and games have claimed a substantial place on the television
• New brands with great content, like Revision3 and Wall Street Journal Live, can be wildly successful with Internet-only distribution

This is a very exciting time for TV and for Roku. Stay tuned!