IPTV operators of managed networks everywhere are wondering how best to deal with (best-effort) Internet Video services that may eventually become either partners or competitors. The new "Internet Video Report for IPTV Service Providers" from MRG investigates how IPTV can leverage both professionally-developed and user-generated video content to reduce churn and generate revenue.

"We've found that using Internet Video is a tremendous opportunity if it's tailored around the IPTV operator's local market," states Len Feldman, Director of IPTV Analysis for MRG, Inc. "Internet Video, if brought onto a managed network with superb search and display, can be a significant added-value for the IPTV operator."

Since one of the key disadvantages about Internet Video like YouTube is its low production quality or content quality, an IPTV operator can offer richer and more personalized or localized versions on a managed network that shows strikingly better visuals and content quality.

Featured in the report are over 90 content and technology companies ranging from "top-down" Internet services like Joost and Babelgum; to "bottom-up" companies like YouTube, Metacafe and Dabble. The report also examines roles played by large media companies like BBC, Fox, CNBC, and Comcast, as well as powerful portal development & video hosting companies like thePlatform, The FeedRoom, and Maven Networks.

"This is the first IPTV report outlining Internet Video strategy scenarios for IPTV operators," states Gary Schultz, MRG President. "This report takes on the unique task of integrating the dynamics of Internet Video with the unique quality and two-way delivery capabilities of IPTV."

The report also shows examples of how a combination of user-generated and professional video content can be integrated into a multi-channel service, such as the case study of Current TV shown in Europe and the U.S.

"IPTV Operators will need to seize Internet Video as a opportunity," says Len Feldman. "Doing this reflects and anticipates the deeper changes going on in all digital media that cannot be stopped."