'No stopping the online video boom'

More accessible technology and maturing business models are opening the floodgates for web video from both professionals and non-professionals, according to experts.

Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of web video provider Brightcove, was the keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Enterprise Forum's Brave New Web conference yesterday. He said the internet is rapidly moving from a "text web" to a "video web", spurred by the dropping costs of producing and hosting video.

High-quality professional video content is going online as media companies develop strategies to use the web as distribution medium, said Allaire.

He added: "We're right on the verge of an inflection point where the quality [of web video] will reach TV quality and the user interface will become a TV-like immersive experience. We're likely to see a flood of quality video on the web that the rights holders have allowed to go online. Within two years, it will be a bigger category."

Unlike traditional entertainment media, however, end-user participation should be a big part of any online media strategy, Allaire said.

Brightcove is developing several "social media" additions to work with its video hosting and distribution system. The new features will allow viewers to submit content and integrate with chat software to allow people to discuss videos online, Allaire said.

But despite the explosion of so-called user-generated content made famous on video-sharing sites such as YouTube, many of the business models for online media are immature, according to a panel on the media industry at the conference.

Niche audiences are developing around the web where people can share videos and podcasts - which has led to a fragmentation of the media industry, more accustomed to dealing with the mass market.

The advertising industry, meanwhile, which spends billions of dollars per year on TV advertising, is very conservative and resistant to try things that are not measured and quantifiable, said Laurie Baird, director of technology partnerships for Turner Broadcasting System.

Alex Laats, CEO of audio and video search company Podzinger said online content needs to be searchable and categorised into channels. Once that happens, online media will be more appealing to both consumers and advertisers.

Laats said: "User-generated content is only important if it's an aggregated community because in the aggregate I can build business models around it. If you can sort content into channels of media, you'd have more growth of online media."

Traditional media companies at least are now dabbling with media that combines both professional and non-professional material.

For example, Baird said Turner Broadcasting recently launched a site called Super Deluxe, which is dedicated to comedy. The idea is to appeal to a niche audience of comedians and comedy fans, allowing people to submit videos and to rate videos.

She said: "It's a cross between Comedy Central and YouTube. For Turner it's a product that ultimately will be launched on video-on-demand, mobile devices, and a bunch of platforms."

Martin LaMonica writes for CNET News.com