Streaming video and music distributed across the Internet, an IPTV network, or a mobile handset will generate $70 billion in network-derived and content-derived revenue into the US markets over the next six years, according to a new market research study from The Insight Research Corporation. Streaming media refers to the transmission of digital audio and video files over an IP network or wireless network in real time or on-demand, while prohibiting users from storing the files locally.

Insight's market analysis study, "Streaming Media, IPTV, and Broadband Transport: Telecommunications Carriers and Entertainment Services 2008-2013," describes the technology and market forces underpinning the network-derived revenues generated from distributing streamed content across the public Internet, content distribution networks, cellular networks, or telco IP networks. The study also estimates the revenue from the various types of content-derived revenues, along with associated advertising revenue. The streaming market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of nearly 29 percent over the next six years, driven by on-demand audio, on-demand video, as well as the accompanying advertising revenue.

"The outlook for streaming media has never been brighter. Questions surrounding consumers' willingness to pay for content have been dispelled by satellite radio and iTunes," says Robert Rosenberg, Insight Research president. "The forecasts that we present are conservative and in line with current performance. If, however, per-stream costs drop faster than anticipated, we have quicker acceptance of IPTV, or improvements in 3G delivery take place faster than expected, it could blow the doors off of our forecasts, propelling this industry into explosive growth," Rosenberg continues.

Insight's report examines the following market drivers: licensing issues, broadband Internet access, mass-market demand, and enterprise usage. Forecasts include revenues for the US market by network services, including digital rights management, encoding, and performance measurement; and by content services, including advertising, music on-demand, Internet radio and video on-demand.