2008 will be the “year of Web TV”, claims Babelgum CEO

December 17, 2007 – 2008 will be the year of Internet TV, according to Valerio Zingarelli, CEO of Internet TV platform Babelgum, as many more companies are expected to enter the Web TV market, lured by a potentially vast audience both in the UK and worldwide.

Nearly 21mn people in the UK visited a TV-, video- or movie-related website in September of this year, up 28% from the previous year, according to recent research from Nielsen Online.  Online video services are available to each of the 12mn broadband households in the UK, and 300mn worldwide.

Zingarelli believes that the intense competition round the corner for Internet TV companies will lead to “greater innovation and a substantial increase in service quality for viewers.”  The executive continues: “Whilst traditional TV platforms such as cable and broadcast TV still serve a large audience, those viewers unwilling to wear the strait-jacket linear TV offerings put to them are seeking new ways of accessing content tailored to their specific taste, whether it be sport, news or entertainment…  It is this greater control, and choice, which will see Internet TV take its place as a conventional platform alongside broadcast TV in 2008 and beyond.”