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2010: The Year of iTV? — 1/15/2010 9:13 AM

While 2009 has been a rough year for the wider economy, it has actually been an amazing one for companies in digital media.

Online video viewership has been way up, with more and more viewers accessing content on all sorts of devices including netbooks, cell phones, Xboxes, iPods and even portable gaming devices.

This year has also seen the maturation of Netflix’s partnership with Xbox, and the addition of competitor Sony PS3 as a second distribution channel. This has made it even easier for customers to access their content on Netflix at any time they want to watch a movie at home. While the video quality is still wanting and the selection is limited, it’s still a great step.

Also:

Disney gave us a peek at its Keychest initiative, which will bring the studio’s current and classic films to multiple devices.

Best Buy announced a partnership with CinemaNow, that will allow viewers to download premium content and watch it on multiple screens.

Blockbuster revealed plans to provide movies on SD Cards, that would last up to 30 days, in a move the retailer hopes will compete with Redbox.

TV Everywhere, which Time Warner announced over the summer, is a magnificent idea: for a fee, cable operators will give subscribers multi-platform access to whatever is on cable, at any time, from any place, on any device.

This notion has caught fire, with Comcast and other major players announcing their own versions of this exciting platform. I expect that, along with the new initiatives movie studios unleash, 2010 will be the year of TV Everywhere — especially it starts become available to all viewers.

Yes, it has been a big year indeed. So, what should we expect in 2010?

With any luck, cable operators will sort out the significant technical challenges TV Everywhere still presents, so they can actually bring it online “Everywhere.”

Convenience will definitely be a driving force in video innovation. We’ll get even more access to the content we want, whenever and wherever we want it. Do you have your checkbook ready? If not, give your kids the dinkiest cell phones, even if they hate you for it….