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In this article over at exchangewire Ros Allison Direrctor of VivaKi Nerve Centre discusses the Australian markets adoption of ad exchanges.

In it she discusses:

• How far is the Australian market behind Europe and the US
• The concerns of the local networks and publishers
• How agencies can start to get more inventory into the exchanges
• how the relationships between agencies and inventory suppliers will change as a result of exchanges
• Education and how agencies and clients reacting to this
• DSP's and their impact on pricing

Some recent speculation on the Hulu launch prompted some thoughts on the topic.

So, no official launch for the service has been announced (but it sounds likely).  It wont be easy in Australia though, given the small size of the market in AU the rights and licensing issues for all the programs will be tricker than ever to figure out and manage in this market - the AU TV networks hold all the cards locally and Hulu does at least in some way represent a threat to their revenue streams, audience numbers and control of that big black flat screen on your lounge room.

If and when the service did launch, it will offer a potential extension and additional inventory options for our screen strategies.  At this stage my understanding of the service is that there is not a great deal of difference between what Hulu offers and what is offered by catch-up TV, save for films.  It would however definitely mean that audiences would be yet further fragmented. We've gone from 5 terrestrial services, to Sub TV to digital channels quite quickly and audience numbers for the networks are flagging as seen by the ratings for top shows.  On the plus side digital capability is making audience targeting better, so that's great for the advertiser, but means more work and planning to reach the same people for the media agency - this will potentially cause strain on resource.

So, long story short, Hulu means greater options for viewers, but also fragmentation of audiences - for our clients it represents an option for screen based media, as and when the audience numbers provide a compelling reason, and value proposition to move budget from one place to another.

http://4cast.yahoo.com/ is a Yahoo service in Beta that I discover off techcrunch feed this morning.

Essentially it's your chance to answer "challenges" ie proffer a prediction / opinion about the future across topics like news, entertainment and sport - some are small like "What will the temperature (in Fahrenheit) be in New York, NY at noon local time on Wednesday 20 April 2011 " to more niche What will be the highest team score in a match of this season of IPL Cricket?

Its all socially enabled so you can share your sage like view of the future with your mates and there is a leaderboad so others can bask in the sheer volume of your fortune tellingness.

Frankly its a bit dull in terms of interaction and on visual appeal, but its sure leveraging the best of answers, low level rewards game theory and social proliferation. And it might work.

Can imagine this being relatively powerful for political or ethical quandaries and around live events like sports - but you cant put money on your knowledge of the IPL just yet.

This is a great little video on a conceptual TV experience of the future. In this mock the remote (connected device) performs the role of search facilitator, interactive control panel, and social connection to friends and family.

In China recently I was told that there is a service which connects you to over 20K content streams from all over the world - I had wondered at that time at how one would even begin to filter across a content menu that large for something to watch.  I guess this ids very much the goal of the experience outlined in this video - use tags to help refine your mood, tap into what your friends are watching, and then once their tailor the experience for the amount of time you have or level of engagement you are in the mood for.

It's crazy how fast connected TV and devices are moving entertainment experiences along. Great news for content makers. Massive education required for consumers. And a whole new world for advertisers and brands to try and get their heads around.

Link to original article http://www.psfk.com/2011/04/hybrid-media-maximises-screens-to-transform-tv-video.html

Whilst i know many cringe at the term the concept is marvelous and it's an exciting that we media and creative folk get a golden opportunity now to really collaborate, delving deeper into the channels and mediums where we can best engage audiences so the creative story lives on.

Can't wait to see some strategies that acknowledge the requirement for greater media agency involvement in planning.

Very cool times ahead for communications companies.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1745746/seven-myths-about-transmedia-storytelling-...

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