The Future of Television, Revision3 Launches

Kevin Hosted on Zooomr

Note: to view my SmartSet of photos from last night's Revision3 launch party click here.

Well those that have read this blog for a while know that I have written a lot in the past about the future of television. Whether the PVR space, long tail niche content, HDTV, or the portability of entertainment (anywhere/anytime), it is something that I think represents vast potential for the television consumer of the future.

Last night Revision3, a sister company to digg.com, unveiled their own version of what they think the future of television might look like.
Revision3 is placing a stake in the ground to try and become the first successful internet based producer of high end niche content television.

Lala and Kevin Hosted on Zooomr

With shows like NotMTV, Diggnation, Control-alt-chicken, Revision 3 is offering a platform to showcase some of the best emerging video talent that the internet has to offer. And they just might succeed in taking this mainstream. Currently Revision 3 has agreements in place with iTunes, YouTube, BitTorrent, Palm and Google Video. Of course they still need to do something with Microsoft with Media Center and with TiVo to really extend their push, but this is a pretty good start.

So of all the independent content producers out there now, why might Revision3 succeed?

Well more significantly than anything, they have Kevin Rose and Kevin Rose is famous. Kevin Rose is probably the closest thing the internet has to a rock star right now. And do not underestimate the power of fame. There were people at last night's Revision 3 party that traveled from across the U.S. to get there. There are groupies and women and other famous people and being in the back Media room of the Revision3 party at Mighty last night felt like being back stage at a Rolling Stones concert.

Kevin of course is a humble guy. He's the first guy to downplay his fame and remind you that he is just a regular guy. When I first met Kevin covering a talk he gave down at Yahoo! a ways back he Skyped me in the middle of the night shortly after I posted on his talk saying that he liked the article but asked if I would credit Digg's Owen Byrne as co-founder of the company and not just another digg employee. And while Kevin may downplay the significance of his fame this only makes him all the more famous.

But there are lots of other famous people pursuing video right now. Robert Scoble over at PodTech. Patrick Norton over at DL.TV. And of course who could forget the very lovely Amanda Congdon. What makes Kevin Rose any more of an asset than any of these other rising internet broadcast stars? Well, Kevin Rose controls Digg and Digg is the single most significant mover of traffic on the internet right now.

BitTorrent Creator Bram Cohen Hosted on Zooomr

Nowhere is Kevin more of a rock star than on the pages of Digg and more than anyone else he has the power to decide what gets dug and what does not. And although Revision3 is only a sister company to digg, you can bet your bottom dollar that many of their shows will make it onto the front page of digg.

So you combine the star power of Kevin Rose with the distribution potential of digg and I think you've really got something. I suspect that even more than just a content producer though that you see Revision3 in the future becoming more of an aggregator of other great niche programming -- this is where the power is most of all.

Alex and the Ladies Hosted on Zooomr

One thing that is nice about the road that Revision3 is pioneering is that it will increasingly show that independent niche content can be successful and this is truly refreshing. As delivery mechanisms make it easier and easier for you to get your content anywhere/anytime and the tools to produce great content get cheaper and cheaper I think it will be talent outfits like Revision3 that will serve as platforms for new and emerging video talent to gain an audience. The best out there will find it's way into networks like Revision3. There will be other networks of course, but Revision3 will be one of the top.

Time will tell whether Revision3 will be successful or not but I suspect that they will be.

For a quick run down of the shows that will be launching on Revision3 check out this post over at ZDNet.

My complete set of images from last night's launch can be seen here. Also check out Scott Beale's shots over at Laughing Squid here.