YouTube Inc.? Joost? Hulu? ABC Inc.? What's your poison? Really, choice is a good thing. It's pretty amazing if you think about the fact that many of these online video distribution sites did not exist for viewing high-quality professional video a year ago.
I believe that YouTube and Joost should be nervous. Clearly, owning the means to distribution is important: But it becomes even more powerful when you own the means of production as well. As online video distribution technology becomes more commonplace and standardized, it's a lot easier for the content companies to develop their own distribution than it is for the online distribution companies to develop their own content. Hulu.com is a prime example.

People are excited about this improved quality. At a panel I was moderating at NAB last week, I asked some leading technology minds which new content applications they were excited about. Marty Roberts, VP of marketing for thePlatform Inc. , named Hulu.com. Steven Robinson, the president and founder of Panache , named the Adobe Media Player his favorite new media application. What's interesting about this? Both platforms advance the online distribution of high-quality, professionally produced media online. They also show a path to the content companies monetizing the content.

The growing success that branded quality content is having online shows that the media companies have done a good job at playing "catch-up." As Erik Flannigan, executive VP of MTV Networks, said in an interview here a while back, they "don't suck anymore."

Flannigan was right: The focus on quality is paying dividends. More accessible technology has enabled media companies to deliver a higher-quality experience than what you find on sites focused on last-generation user-generated content (UGC) sites. Every day you can find more professionally produced top-tier content online.

I call this a Quality Revolution, in which people are starting to realize that in watching video online, they don't have to settle for less.

With the theme of the Quality Revolution in mind, I look forward to Contentinople's first live event, tomorrow in New York: Content Delivery Economics. At the event, we've put together a collection of top speakers. We'll hear from media companies and technology companies alike about what we can expect from the Quality Revolution, as the pace of digital content, distribution, and technology innovation accelerates over the next six months.

The technology is only going to get better and easier, meaning that the momentum is likely to continue swinging back to the owners of the professional, high production quality content.

The Comedy Central example is a good one, as there's evidence they are having a lot of success. Maybe it is being used a blueprint for all professional media companies to step up their online strategy. First step: Serve notice to YouTube that you will defend you copyright. Second Step: Build and execute a higher-quality experience on your own site, to entice fans. Third Step: Use online marketing techniques, social networking platforms, and liberal distribution to market the videos.

What about this plan doesn't the music industry get? The answer: You want to offer your fans more, not less.

Two years ago, people looking for South Park videos went to YouTube out of convenience -- it was one of the few places they were most likely to find the material. Now that Comedy Central and South Park have taken control of their own content, the fans can be guaranteed a higher-quality experience of the real thing, rather than watching a grainy copy. This is a strategy that works.

Was UGC interesting just because of the novelty factor? Anybody remember the CB radio craze? I owned a CB Radio in eighth grade. Not sure where it went. UGC is the CB radio of the Internet.

With the quick advance of caching, content delivery, monetization, and bandwidth technology, I'd expect the online video Quality Revolution to accelerate in the next six months. By the end of the year, watching high-quality, professionally produced video online will start to seem normal -- and the range of content available will multiply almost exponentially. Viewers are going seeing more from the same big brands they like in the broadcast world: ESPN.com, MLB.com, NFL.com, NBA.com (etc. -- incredible that these sports leagues can keep the whole franchise, eh?), MTV.com, Comedy Central, ABC.com, NBC.com, CBS.com, CNN.com, as well as an explosion of high-quality produced content from smaller producers. Of course, there are hundreds of others.

New "indie" brands will pop up, and perhaps break through online, but it will require focus, concentration, cash, and... quality. The reason we were suckered into the UGC craze to begin with, I think, was lack of options, so people settled for less. Now people want more, and they can get it.

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