I Want My Yahoo! TV

The Interactive TV revolution€"long on hype, short on execution€"may not be "televised." It will be online instead. Yahoo!'s announcement that it will stream the full Showtime-produced "Fat Actress" is a milestone and ups the ante for Web companies doing video. The Web is starting to take away TV viewers, as well as ad dollars. In the not-too-distant future, it may take the content too.

In the future, I may be watching my favorite show, but the source of that "broadcast" may be a search engine or portal, rather than a traditional cable channel or broadcast network. As a viewer, it won't matter to me what the source of content is. I have no loyalty to NBC or Comcast or HBO. Even though I get my Internet from Comcast, I don't pay attention to their content or their portal advertisers.

I just want to see "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or "Desparate Housewives" when I want to see it.

And there are lots of interesting contextual/directional ad possibilities via the Internet. Notwithstanding "video on demand," cable will be playing hurry-up to match the full range of functionality available online. Also the telcos are seeking to get into TV. Clash of the Titans, eh?