Net TV startup a threat to BBiTV?

My good friends at BBiTV have a cool idea which, among other features, allows end-users to publish video content which is then viewed by other digital cable subscribers.

I just read about Brightcove, a $16M startup which is taking a slightly different spin in that it lets anyone syndicate their content and sell it. Brightcove inserts ads and earns a % of the total revenue. Check out the news.com articles, “Site will cater to offbeat films” and “Net TV start-up lands $16 million in funding” for more info.

I think Brightcove typifies the type of stiff competition that BBiTV will be facing. While digital cable is going to be around for a while, I think the key will be to tie the Web/Internet to my TV.

What I would DREAM about having would be a way to surf around the web, find (legal) videos, then direct them to be downloaded to my Tivo, which I could then watch at my leisure. And if the site has an RSS-type feed, let me subscribe to it, podcast-like, and get new videos sent to my Tivo.

Now you’re talking.