Couch potatoes are becoming a thing of the past as today’s television viewing experience becomes more and more interactive. According to a recent survey by In-Stat, consumers demand an increasing amount of choice and control when it comes to content. In-Stat analyst Michael Inouye shares his thoughts on the changing nature of online video and the unbundling of the television experience as a whole.

TV learns to run.

The networks controlled what, when and where you saw the content. You wanted to see the new movie, you went to the theater. Your favorite shows are aired at certain days and times of the week -- if you missed it too bad. VHS was successful because that gave consumers some control over when they watched content just like the PVRs or TiVos of the world. Recording is just the first step where control is relinquished to the user. This affords them the opportunity to watch their show when they want and even to skip the commercials. Yes, it is recorded and after the fact but like most things you have to take small steps before you walk and run.

How the Internet changed the game.

What the Internet has done is further unbundled the TV viewing experience. Part of the allure of YouTube was the ability to draw up just about any video you wanted to be viewed in small "bite sized" pieces. If there was a particularly funny part of a show or late night show you could simply search for it and watch that piece -- instead of recording it and then fast forwarding/rewinding to find it. This was another layer of control afforded today's viewers. The new fingerprinting technology announced by YouTube might put a damper on this, however, at least for YouTube.

Consumers control the outcome.

This doesn't mean we've taken a step back. Consumers in the end will control the outcome, irrespective of what transpires between the likes of Google/YouTube, Viacom, et al. Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. are cognizant of this, and these actions are more attempts to take the role of this portal or nexus of video than a means to squelch online video. NBC and Fox, for instance, are working on their site Hulu.com, which will reportedly allow users to share video. If I were to guess, I would surmise these videos will be "packaged" in a way that would allow them to receive the advertising metrics in order to realize the revenue no matter where the video travels -- akin to Revver or Blip.tv. This still gives consumers the ability to share the content and view it when/where/how they want to.

The search to move forward.

As we move forward, the search process will become refined. Companies like Joost may or may not assume a dominant role, but in general I see all of these facets to online video/entertainment to some degree centralizing to allow users to get their online video from one source. Not necessarily one company owning or controlling everything, but instead, say, Comcast could create a "central repository" that allowed their broadband uses to get and share any video from the net. The process has to be streamlined and made easier, still many users frequent more than four sites for videos. The players within the value chain will still be there -- their roles, however, will just have adapted to meet the consumers' changing demands.