Can Intel "Outside" Make a Breakthrough in Video Streaming?

If Intel can get the licensing agreements in place, and that is a tall order, consumers in some initial markets might be able to buy and stream discrete programming channels, and possibly single programs, to their TVs for the first time. That would make Intel's New IPTV service a potential game changer for the video subscription business.

The service will be provided by a new set-top box, possible Intel branded, that will feature a "cloud DVR" feature for better ease of use, as users will not have to program recording ahead of time. 

Intel Corp. has been developing an Internet-based television service that essentially would be a "virtual cable operator," presumably offering the same "bundled" approach to video entertainment as offered by cable, telco and satellite-TV operators. 

Whether Intel can convince programmers that now is the time to infuriate all the rest of their main distributors is the issue.

At stake are relationships, already testy, with cable, satellite and telco distributors who pay programmers $41 billion a year in licensing fees. Any significant deals with Intel for a streaming service would put huge pressure on those other existing relationships. 

Someday programmers will change their minds. But a rational person might argue that the time remains somewhere off in the distance. Ask yourself whether you would jeopardize a business worth billions to gain a new business of millions. 

But some argue Intel will succeed where Apple and Google have failed. We may know soon whether Intel will get a chance to try, at any rate.