In anticipation of its CONNECTIONS Europe Summit on March 31, research firm Parks Associates announced findings that 28% of households in Western Europe watch TV shows online at least once a month, and many of them watch considerably more often. But even if we take that once-a-month figure, that’s a pretty impressive number — nearly a third of all households are getting at least some television content online rather than or in addition to broadcast and satellite delivery. With internet-connected televisions on the horizon and broadband penetration still growing, that number is only likely to grow by the time Streaming Media Europe rolls around in October. And, with the global economy still in trouble, online delivery of video is looking more and more attractive to content owners; in fact, I’ll go so far as to predict that the economic crisis will actually be good, in the long run, for online video. 

We’ll be announcing our call for speakers for this year’s conference next month, so now’s the time to start thinking about what you’d like to see for topics at Streaming Media Europe 2009.