USA Today writes that most major media companies are realizing that as the internet is more and more plugged into TVs and not just computers, consumers may want get their news, entertainment and sports from the web, on demand, instead of conventional TV offered by a cable, satellite, or phone company. "There's going to be television out the wazoo," says CNN/US president Jonathan Klein, who ran online video service The FeedRoom until last fall. "It'll be pausable, searchable, with all the customizable on-demand advantages of the internet. It's a future that's not very far away."

Some pundits say that as total web adspend soars to a forecast $17.2 billion in 2009, from $11.5 billion this year, video services could survive on ad sales alone. Internet video's ad sweet spot is specialized-interest programming, and companies that want to reach specific groups often pay about three times the per-viewer rate they pay on cable, writes USA Today.

"We're right at the cusp" of the internet TV revolution, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Tom Wolzien is quoted as saying. "I have talked about this with multiple network presidents and multiple of their big-time producers. All of them are thinking about this."

Powerhouses such as ABC, ESPN, CBS, Fox News, MTV, the BBC, Telemundo and Major League Baseball are already investing in subscription and ad-supported ventures offering TV-like video online.