Verizon Takes Next Step, Putting Online Video in Your Living Room

By Daisy Whitney

Verizon has quietly begun testing a Web-to-TV offering in the more than 1 million homes that have its TV service, marking one of the first trials by a multichannel provider to deliver Internet video directly to the television set.

The project brings the online video destinations YouTube, Break.com, Blip.tv and Veoh to Verizon customers who subscribe to the company’s FiOS TV product. The new service, available across the Verizon FiOS footprint in 13 states, is accessible through the video-on-demand menu on Verizon and is described by those who have seen it as “an elegant solution.”

Verizon hasn’t committed to a commercial launch of the project, but if the test is successful, the phone company likely will integrate the offering into its product suite. The test itself is one of the first by a phone, satellite or cable company to deliver Web video directly to the TV.

Many experts believe online video will only achieve widespread adoption when programming from the likes of YouTube, Break and other popular video destinations is easily accessible on big-screen sets in the living room. The Verizon test could be a step in that direction.

Verizon won’t set a time frame for a broader launch, but the trial kicked off a few weeks ago and should run for at least a few months, said Bobbi Henson, a Verizon spokeswoman. “It is important to develop something like this with a lot of consumer insight and feedback,” she said. “For a long time at Verizon, we made it clear we were interested in giving customers freedom and flexibility to enjoy exciting content anywhere, anytime and on any device.”

“Our goal is to reach people in as many places as we can,” said Keith Richman, CEO of Break Media. He said he was eager to participate in the trial because of the high marks Verizon has been getting from consumers for its TV service. “Given how excited consumers seem to be, it made sense to try.”

He emphasized the experiment is just that—an experiment. “It’s hard to know which one will move the needle.”

But the effort Verizon is making is an important “first attempt” at Web-to-TV convergence from a provider, said Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group.

Mr. Leichtman, who has seen a demonstration of the service, said the Web-to-TV application includes navigation on the left side of the screen, with the Web video site on the right side. The average Verizon FiOS customer has a household income of more than $100,000 and is likely to own a large-screen television, he said, based on his research. The split-screen design works better for a big-screen environment than a direction replication of YouTube or Veoh.com would, he said.

The beta test allows customers to search and play Internet videos on FiOS TV, said Gaude Paez, a Veoh representative.

Cable operators don’t appear to be as far along as Verizon.

Time Warner Cable said next-generation cable set-top boxes will bring Internet video to the TV, but those boxes won’t be rolled out for a few years.

Comcast said it’s a part of broader cable industry efforts to develop Internet applications for TV sets; some of those may begin to roll out later this year or next. The cable operator also said its online video service Fancast.com will add features down the road for consumers to bookmark content online to watch later via video-on-demand on the TV.

The blog Zatznotfunny.com first reported in late July that Verizon was testing an Internet video service.