Savvy content publishers are celebrating the announcement of what may be a potentially lucrative revenue stream. Yesterday morning, net television provider Boxee wrote about its plans to launch an upcoming payment platform. Content partners will have a chance to offer pay-per-view and subscription media as one click purchases from the remote.
For now, it’s natural that both Boxee and PayPal’s partnership with Philips for IPTV monetization focus on music and video content purchases as these are the materials that these mediums have traditionally yielded. However, we also know that there’s a world of possibilities for one-touch remote purchasing. As envisioned in this PayPal developer API promotion, web television can give rise to an entirely new shopping environment.
Others may laugh at the idea of a luxury purchase made via TV, but when I saw this video at the PayPal X Conference, I was floored. My first thought concerned Oprah’s Book Club. Through the sheer popularity of Oprah Winfrey, every book featured in the Harpo Book Club is already a New York Times best seller. Now imagine what the sales would look like with one-touch purchasing.
While PayPal and Boxee-based purchases are inevitable for the coming year, the future may also hold the possibility of direct-to-carrier phone purchases as more developers look to the iPhone and mobile handsets to act as TV remotes. Regardless of who owns the platform, startups may have much to gain from these new advances.
In late December we asked the question – Will 2010 be the year of net tv shopping integration? With the recent Boxee announcement, the ability to monetize from the home entertainment center is becoming even more of a reality for those who simply couldn’t close deals in traditional television. If you’re planning on getting involved in IPTV monetization, let us the route you’re taking in the comments below.
