In a recent Media Post article yesterday, Steve Smith gives another jab at the mobile video industry- Lets Give Mobile Video a little Push.  However, even though I am a mobile guy myself, I have been quite frustrated with the lack of true delivered content online.  Well, I have looked at the $8.99/month on Netflix and I am avidly scouring to find good movies to watch on Hulu, but the world of mainstream movie media going online has yet to begin.  What will it take for this revolution to begin?  We saw the problems that surfaced in the TV industry between National and Syndicated TV over the major upheaval between Conan and Leno, but with broadband now so prevalent, and some shut-down of services such as Limewire and now the debate over Bittorrent, It makes you really wonder why the MPAA and other organizations are not taking this “horse by the reins” and moving forward with a better model for more distributed cross-channel media in the 21st century.  As it is 2010, how much longer will we have to wait to get proper available new titles and shows to be launched multi-platform. We saw how effective cross media distribution started to work for the Olympics in Vancouver 2010, as well as the World Cup 2010.

Will we need to wait for Steve Jobs to bring all of this via the Apple storefront?  Will it become Amazon’s next mission over eBooks? …Or will it take more file-sharing to just get this Industry so antagonistic and pissed off in order to make change?

As we can see in the advertising space, Hulu is clearly leading the charge with Ads served, but I feel for myself that users would be willing to pay for a reliable convenient service, even with some advertising like Hulu.   Look at what Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon has been able to achieve with Amazon and the Kindle.  His goal is to get every book available with a 60sec search and download lead time.  They were able to get 600K titles in 33 months.  It should makes sense that we would be seeing this today for all media.  Where is this real giant to make this happen?  Google’s  Youtube just increased the upload lengths to 10minutes, but we need that one-shop-stop of 100′s of thousands if not Millions of movies…. Will Google Video and Google TV in the end be this answer for bringing this all together?  Well the alignment with the Hardware companies has in someway started to attack right in the gut of it all… Having this possibility from the get go right in the box might push users to drop those media cable payments only for more of these online subscription services?

As I have just relocated 50/50 to New York City, I have been subletting a space and do not have a TV.  It has been refreshing to be able to do everything online, but now and again I would like to kick-back and watch a new movie without having to go out and get the DVD ( or go to the theaters and pay $5 for Popcorn).   When I use Hulu, my choices are rather limited and I seem to be browsing through so much stuff from the 1990′s and older, that my interest level has dropped to zero.   Not much of a catalog for the 21st century.   Here is a snap-shop of what comes up in Action and Adventure titles in Hulu…. not that much leading edge stuff ( good, but not great as far as I know what they could do!)

So I then thought to try Netflix… for the $8.99 a month they do seem to have a bit better selection, but still they advertise with  21 leading titles, but this is really it! … Did not entice me to want to get locked into that payment scheme yet until I can feel that they are on-top of getting the best stuff, all the time.

I guess spending the $10~15 at the movie theater is the only real way to see the latest and greatest.  I beleive having a strategy that works along side the DVD releases could possibly be the way to go.  As Computer screens are getting better and better like true TV sets and TV sets are now becoming computer screens, why not have the same kind of pricing structure for starters that mimics the rental DVD business.   I know Netflix and Hulu guys are working hard at this everyday, but just making the movies available at the same price point would not only eliminate the need for me to either drive to pick up a DVD or even pay for the mail back and forth.   It would not only be convenient and add a bit more liquidity in choice that would most definitely bring more distribution and volume….. and think of how green it would be to not expend all that Gasoline.  I am not sure of the carbon footprint between a video stream and a ride to the local Movie Theater, but I would guess it is much less.  I guess the fear is still too great to digitize everything do to piracy, but is this not happening anyway. Does not take long to rip and upload a DVD that has been hacked these days. If Steve Jobs has shown everybody in the music business and the mobile application world that getting stuff out there in an easy and effective way to consume, users would be willing to pay…. We all know he is driving a low cost structure, but does it have to be so low to begin with. Get the stuff out there at the same standards and see what happens!

I feel that it is about time for not only a “little push” as Steve Smith says, but a ” big push” and gripe from consumers to bring us to the 21st century with all the content online and mobile.

Liz Gannes, published an article on NewTeeVee in 2008 decribing that by 2010 we would see 25% of all traditional TV viewers go Online to watch TV…. so is 25% not enough to kick start this revolution?   We are all waiting…. at least I am.