Somehow amidst watching his Mavericks squeak out a respectable series against Golden State, Mark Cuban has had the time to write insightful commentary about the revolution in advertising brought on by the recent Comcast/Yahoo deal. The specific point Cuban makes is that Comcast can entirely bypass the Internet with this set-up, which also means bypassing an advertising world that Google already clearly owns.
Apparently when Comcast transmits video from Comcast.net to its own high-speed data subscribers, that transmission takes place over its own, quality-controlled network. I didn’t know that. I’ve been keenly aware of the advantages operators have with their networks compared to the free-and-clear Internet (quality assurance, bandwidth control, etc.), but I was not aware that operators were already using those networks to deliver video to PCs.
Beyond the advertising world, this could have huge implications for video delivery in general. Operators are already suspending broadband accounts for users that exceed certain bandwidth limits and many have raised net neutrality concerns. If P2P video really takes off, operators could theoretically suspend accounts for excessive bandwidth usage and drive customers to their own video alternatives, streamlined to meet their own requirements.
Assuming that scenario didn’t happen, operators can still control the video delivery market simply by making their offerings more compelling — better quality video, HD video. Operators have a tremendous advantage in the networks they’ve built and continue to control.