Long-form internet video vs. short-form internet video:  As a recent article in the New York Times noted, online video  program length is starting to increase beyond the short 1- or 2-minute user-generated YouTube clips we’re used to snacking on from the workplace.  The NY Times piece correctly identifies at least one factor behind the trend: increased bandwidth and video quality.

However, like most coverage of internet video, the article labors under the short-sighted assumption that “internet video” is necessarily a function of the  computer and the web browser (evidently under a similar assumption, another New York Times article was recently able to proclaim that “Putting Network TV on the Internet is Not Disruptive”).

In fact, the computer makes a less than ideal viewing solution for long-form video entertainment – a stopgap solution at best.  The primary reason internet video has remained a short-form medium (and will continue to for a year or two more) is not related to networking technology -  it’s related instead to the lean-forward solitary nature of the computer-based internet video user experience.

Remarkably, though, an entire New York Times article on viewer preferences for internet video program length fails to touch once upon the role that viewing hardware could be playing.

Why is this so important?  Because over the next few years, as televisions and set-top boxes with network interfaces and baked-in internet video functionality come onto the market, viewers will start consuming internet video much as they now consume linear television – for longer periods of time, sure – but more importantly, with tolerance for a more TV-like ad load.   Furthermore, like any internet advertisement, these internet video commercials will be able to be targeted to the viewer.  In short, television ad loads at internet CPM rates – the best of both worlds.

Will it be a bumpy ride?  Yes – I disagree with the New York Times, it’s going to be incredibly disruptive.  Here’s the good news, though: in five years, we’ll all look back and wonder why we didn’t recognize the internet video “monetization riddle” as the temporary issue it was.