Because we clearly don’t have enough choices when it comes to watching digital content such as movies and television shows, there needs to be yet another vendor coming into this ever crowded space (yes, I’m being sarcastic here). That vendor would be ZillionTV Corporation and the new service is aptly called the ZillionTV service. The concept is pretty simple. Get the ZillionTV set-top box (which will be offered through ISPs – not cable companies mind you), connect it to your high speed Internet connection and to your TV set, and stream personalized digital content direct to your television set.

According to Mitchell Berman, CEO of ZillionTV Corporation, “ZillionTV is building a new television ecosystem grounded in partnerships spanning from powerhouse TV networks and Hollywood studios, to Visa, and major advertisers.” What does this exactly mean? ZillionTV is trying to develop a platform that will make everyone happy – and we really do mean everyone – from content providers (studio houses etc) to advertisers to end users. For content providers, ZillionTV gives them the opportunity to tailor their content to the end users out there. Content providers will be able to fine tune or tailor their content offerings based on information such as geography, demographics and psychographics. This very same information is also particularly useful for advertisers. Let’s face it, advertisers often take risks when they buy ads for specific time slots or TV shows. They never really if consumer they’re trying to target is indeed the one watching the show and advertisement. Plus they never really know what the exact interests are of the viewer. With ZillionTV, advertisers will be able to tap into rich collections of tracking information such as geographic locations, demographics, consumer spending habits, and consumer preferences. Finally, ZillionTV benefits to consumers are in the area of choice. Consumers can choose what they want to watch, when they want to watch it, and how they want to watch it.

The first two make sense of course, but what exactly do I mean by “how they want to watch it?”.

Consumers will have several means to access content on ZillionTV. If you’re cheap like myself, then you can opt for free television content that’s ad-supported (think Hulu.com except probably more ads). Of course, don’t expect all of the content to be available through this medium. If you can’t find the show you want via the ad-supported channel or if you’re not a fan of ads, then you can opt to rent or buy to own the content.  Their major point – you don’t need a subscription for accessing online video content (a little poke at providers such as Netflix but.. then again, Netfix’s Watch Instantly service was an add-on to their existing DVD rental subscription service. You don’t actually pay for the Watch Instantly service per se).

Two major dings for me – All content will be streamed to the ZillionTV set-top box – there’s no concept of saving content to your local drive. This also means you better have a good broadband connection at home. The other ding? Content will be available initially in standard definition only. Come on.. how can you launch a new service not in HD?

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the service/set-top box is actually the Wii-like motion-sensing remote control. Users can wave the remote to navigate the user interface thanks to motion-sensing technology from Hillcrest Labs.

According to PC Magazine, ZillionTV hopes to have 15,000 pieces of content available through the service.  Prices will apparently be comparable with what you’d get via iTunes – $1.99 to $3.99 to rent a TV show or movie and prices around $7.99 to own a show. If you rent something, you’ll have a month to view it but once you do, you have 24 hours to finish.

There are still many unanswered questions of course. Which ISPs will offer the set-top box? How much will the box cost from these vendors (although ZillionTV does mention the box might be free to end users)? What content will be available in the ad-supported model?

Finally, I think ZillionTV is a wait and see service for now. There are just too many existing services and devices that offer similar if not identical services.

About the only interesting feature is the ad-supported content – but one has to wonder how many content providers will opt for this. Our guess is you’ll find a lot of older content available in the ad-supported model (which will be great if you’re into viewing older content). 

If the ad-supported model doesn’t appeal to you and you’re OK with renting or buying content, then one can’t help but wonder why anyone would do this on ZillionTV when they could easily do this on Apple TV, or the Xbox 360. I rent movies on both platforms and I definitely purchase TV shows on both platforms from time to time and I can’t think of a good reason to use ZillionTV or the existing devices. In addition, I can also transfer content purchased on Apple TV to my iPod/iPhone – something that just isn’t possible with ZillionTV.

Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to see ZillionTV succeed – especially with the ad-supported model. Yet, I can’t help but think that ZillionTV isn’t compelling enough of a service right now.

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