Pew Internet and American Life Project yesterday put out their annual home broadband penetration report. 55% of American homes now have broadband connections as of April 2008, up from 47% in March 2007.

Above: Pew Internet Home Broadband 2008 Key Findings

While in the U.S. and Europe, broadband has evolved as an extension of MSOs, in developing nations the cable phase has been skipped entirely and wireless penetration continues to outpace broadband growth. Daily Wireless points to a study from Gartner predicting wireless penetration in India will grow from 20% now to 60% in 2012.

Which means that as the world flattens, here in the U.S. we can expect to view a lot more online video shot on mobile devices in foreign countries. And when distributing content for an international audience we should plan to deliver it in a format accessible to the millions who will use a phone as their primary source of media consumption.

As I sit on the Acela to Boston between jobs, drinking a Bass, wirelessly surfing the net on my bluetooth enabled MacBook pro via my blackberry, (I love technology) here’s two Streaming Media East session videos that can’t be missed.

The first, Effective Advertising Models for Short-Form Video Marketing features my former CBS College Sports colleague Tom Buffolano, Christian Spinillo of Pointroll and Allyson Campa of Metacafe, it is moderated by Jeff Marcus, President of Sparkway.

SME: Effective Advertising Models for Short-Form Video Marketing

The Second is a panel on Live Broadcasting Over Mobile and Wi-Fi Networks featuring Max Haot, Founder & CEO of Mogulus where I start Monday, Bhaskar Roy, co-founder of Qik, and is moderated by all around social media guru Steve Garfield.

SME: Live Broadcasting Over Mobile and Wi-Fi Networks

Cheers to Dan Rayburn for another solid conference. That’s it for me this weekend, I’m cutting the (wireless?) cord until Monday.

KIT Digital, the recently rebranded online video provider formerly known as ROO has its issues. But the recent influx of funding will keep them afloat, and an increased focus on the international marketplace is a smart move.

“All of our markets have competition, often less evolved than in the U.S.” KIT Digital CEO Kaleil Isaza Tuzman told NTV today “In the U.S., or North America, there are so many VC-backed companies that are willing to do business at a loss.”

ROO themselves operated at a loss for some time, having leveraged themselves to the hilt before the bailout from Dubai. But by shifting focus away from technology - which never was their strong point - to focus on building a global cross-platform presence, they may at last find a profitable model.

The international marketplace for online video is by and large less developed than in the U.S., and exporting business models proven successful in the U.S. to international locations is in itself a potentially lucrative market. The recently closed acquisition of Kamera provides mobile reach, new content partners and increased global exposure.

Tuzman’s focus on cash flow, streamlining the business by shutting down non-revenue units (see Wurld Media) and eliminating unsuccessful partnerships is a big step in the right direction. If KIT Digital can build on their existing relationships and offer partners a better way to make money in new markets and platforms, they will have found the competitive advantage they have pursued for so long.

That said, recent events have only bought them time. The stock is still in the toilet, and unless they start making money fast it will all have been for nothing.

Moderator: Alan Schulman, Senior Vice President, Executive Creative Director, Executive Director of User Experience, imc2
Nick Johnson, VP National Sales, Internet & Broadband, NBC Universal
Rishi Malhotra, Vice President, Multiplatform Program Marketing, HBO
Jon Vlassopulos, Senior Vice President, Digital Media & Branded Entertainment, Endemol USA

Sizzle reels to kick off the “Great Content” panel. Seems like I’m watching a lot of TV. This is more “Big Love” than I’ve ever watched. And I can’t change the channel. But I digress.

New Endemol show, Get Close to the Sugar Babes is the first interactive, mobile only video show. Reminds me of the “30 Rock” clip from about a year ago….

Nick: Post strike, the creative palate is as wide as ever. Marketers and content creators are thinking about how to extend their content digitally from the get go. For Heroes, NBC will be continuing to extend the show, and working on better integration between the show offline and on. The question is how to get wider distribution. Will also be creating additional web only content.

Jon: As a content producer, more and more people coming to them to find out how to get involved. It is an interesting time creatively. We’re not just talking about static advertising, or just about repurposing, but post-strike we’re thinking more about the web as its own vehicle and how to create content for it.

Rishi: The strike created a massive awareness of the other screens on the writing side. Writers wanted to get paid, right? Now, the first thing you hear from writers is, “What else can we do for the other screens?”

Alan: More “Pre-purposing” of assets post-strike. Excellent term.

Alan: HBO doesn’t have brand adjacency, so what do you do to leverage these new screens?

Rishi: Using content to market content. Using the story as an on ramp for the larger story, building a franchise.

Alan: How do advertisers get involved in influencing the storyline?

Nick: The appetite for integration depends a lot on the maturity of the brand. Will Nissan affect the broader storyline? No. But having a good relationship with the show owners is key to finding opportunities that make sense for your brand.

Alan: What about cable? More opps?

Nick: yes. Shows like Top Chef provide a lot more opportunity for brands to integrate and capture frequency. Reality and challenge shows are easier to integrate brands and products.

Nick: If you want to be more efficient in a broadband environment, there are plenty of them. But not very many opportunities to justify the high CPMs that high quality content offers.

Alan: with all the “pre-purposing” of assets, who is paying for the creation of that content?

Rishi: When people ask late in the game, it adds production days and costs. The earlier you can build a “surround story” and bake it into the natural show production, the better.

NFL.com will be streaming the draft live from Radio City Music Hall on Saturday. While the most comprehensive coverage including live streaming of all rounds on April 26 and 27th is on the NFL’s website, there is a variety of coverage on multiple platforms elsewhere, here’s where to look.

Above: NFL.com Live Coverage

ESPN, which is televising the draft offers a number of ways to follow along online, most notably DraftCast, allowing users to chat, see Scout Inc’s player profiles, and Mel Kiper’s analysis of each pick.

Above: ESPN DraftCast 2008

Sprint wireless users have access to NFL Mobile, offering live streaming of the draft on both days. Exclusive content and expert analysis by Trev Alberts and others is available on mobile phones as well as the SprintSports YouTube channel. Coverage is produced by Intersport.

Above: Let Chad Go

The Sprint coverage includes an almost desperate plea from Chad Johnson’s agent Drew Rosenhaus to the Bengals: “please trade Chad.” The YouTube trade plea, that has to be an online video first.

Display advertising on mobile devices, Google launched it this week, MSN and Yahoo! have been doing it for longer, but really, is a mini banner ad a useful marketing device?

The answer for Google, I guess, is “it can’t hurt,” if other companies offer mobile display ads, Google might as well compete, but when will the innovation come? It seems to me that mobile advertising more than any other form of advertising should be about targeting, hyperlocal.

Above: Google Mobile Display Ad Formats

A banner on my cell phone is just another obnoxious distraction, which like traditional banners will become noise on a page my eyes adapt to naturally avoid. Not something that I will click on. This at least, is a step in the right direction.