Yahoo -- "Quoth the Maven, Nevermore ..."

Maven Networks -- killed by Yahoo! after 17 months and $160 million.

We saw this coming ...

... and Yahoo!'s video ambitions remain murky. On the one hand, CEO Carol Bartz recently underscored the fact that Internet video is still in its infancy -- and that Yahoo! needs to invest in video technology because Internet video presents a massive opportunity. And, on the other hand, Maven is no more.

Maven customers -- come to us -- we will take care of you with our new "Sorenson 360" service and the transition will be painless. You are in good hands. We at Sorenson Media have been leaders in Internet video for 14 years -- and we have a strong balance sheet. We have been here innovating ... and we will continue to be here innovating. You need not worry that we will be shut down. And, that is critical when you are entrusting your prized video assets. It also is a substantial differentiator between Sorenson Media and virtually all others in our video publishing space.

Cable's "TV Everywhere" Initiative is Not TV Everywhere -- But, Internet TV Will Be

I recently blogged about Comcast's and Time Warner's recently officially announced "TV Everywhere" initiative -- which is cable's understandable (yet ultimately unrealistic) attempt to reign in the genie of TV over the Internet. "TV Everywhere" is anything but -- since the cable and satellite operators (and, for the most part, the major TV content providers) have interests of self-preservation to keep TV programming "walled in" and not freely available. This is the IPTV view of the world, as opposed to "Internet TV" -- the latter which is, for the time being, represented best by Hulu.

As I have written several times before, the IPTV view of the world -- i.e., TV Everywhere -- will most certainly rule the day for the near term (meaning, the next few years). But, ultimately, Internet TV will win the day, because consumers ultimately will demand it. Put simply, content wants to be freely available over the Internet (which does not mean, however, that consumers will not pay for it in some manner).

A recent compelling perspective on this state of the TV business -- provocatively titled "The TV Business is Toast" -- is offered by Henry Blodget of the Huffington Post. Definitely worth a read.