"Free" Internet TV could replace cable, satellite, DSL delivery

Box offers free TV via Net   ZillionTV is selling a set-top box that plugs into your television set and delivers programs over the Internet By Vito Pilieci   By Vito Pilieci, Canwest News ServiceMarch 9, 2009 Zillion TV will let you watch television over the internet at no extra cost.

Local TV stations, already reeling from the recession and the public's changing habits, are about to get another hard kick from the Internet -- and national networks, cable and satellite TV companies also could feel the pain.

Last week, a small American company called ZillionTV was launched with the support of almost every major content producer in the United States -- including Disney (which owns ABC), NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Television, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros.

ZillionTV is selling a set-top box that replaces a digital cable box or satellite receiver. The box plugs into a TV set and delivers programming, on-demand, over the Internet -- free.

The box costs $100 US, but there are no monthly fees. The TV programs have ads, just like conventional broadcast TV. Viewers would not need a cable or satellite subscription to watch television.

"ZillionTV is building a new television ecosystem," said Mitchell Berman, chief executive of ZillionTV Corp. "Consumers can access an expansive collection of entertainment when and how they want."

Several similar devices already have been released, but none has collected the industry support that ZillionTV has, and that's a clear signal that American broadcasters and producers believe TV over the Internet is ready for prime time.

ZillionTV has its eyes on Canada, as part of its international expansion plans.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is scrambling to review regulations that require broadcast networks to carry specified amounts of Canadian content, and whether those regulations should apply -- or even could apply -- to international companies using the Internet to distribute their programming. The CRTC will resume hearings on the issues Monday in Gatineau, Que.

"This situation is very urgent," said Steve Waddell, national executive director of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. "These things move at lightning speed and unless we respond very quickly, in our view, the future will be lost."

Devices like ZillionTV's box are emerging at an accelerated pace around the world. The BBC will roll out set top boxes to all of its customers in the United Kingdom in January 2010. Sony announced earlier this week that the first of its new television sets -- with Internet connections built in -- are now in stores.

The rapidly changing landscape comes at a time when broadcasters, content producers and even regulators agree that the conventional broadcasting system is "broken." Local TV stations are struggling to survive and money for Canadian programming is scarce.

National broadcasters are hurting as new online sources of entertainment and news take away advertisers, a situation only exacerbated by the recession.

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