From my vantage point, it seemed to this point that the weird ways of “the biz” eluded the tech giant – an oddity for a behemoth used to conquering all things. The question on everyone’s mind was: will Google acquire an entertainment company? A studio? Well, they’re obviously not that stupid…we all know the profit models for entertainment are sketchy at best, no matter the product. So it was with great interest that I observed the acquisition of not a company, but an individual – Netflix veteran Robert Kyncl, whose job as VP of Content Partnerships would solder that soft link between the two worlds of tech and entertainment. As the blog AllThingsD noted back in September, Google “needs someone who can talk to Hollywood and big media companies; many of the folks who have done that work for it in the past have moved on, including Jordan Hoffner (IAC), Dave Eun (AOL) and Tim Armstrong (AOL, too)” Well, they were right, in a way…but talking is only half the battle.  Content is the other half, and well, even these industrious folks mentioned in the article haven’t exactly emerged as the kings of content.

On the YouTube blog, Kyncl posted a blurb about the new program (which includes lots of celeb-owned or driven content proferred by Madonna, Jay-Z, Amy Poehler and more) pitching the program as:

channels created by well-known personalities and content producers from the TV, film, music, news, and sports fields, as well as some of the most innovative up-and-coming media companies in the world and some of YouTube’s own existing partners. These channels will have something for everyone, whether you’re a mom, a comedy fan, a sports nut, a music lover or a pop-culture maven.

YouTube thus far has been pretty much “something for everyone”. I gather then, that this is just a higher quality version of what we previously knew to be YT. If, as the Wrap says the program is “expected to generate about 25 hours of new programming a day on YouTube”, I wonder how that will differ from the hundreds of hours of unwatched cable programming I zip by every day on the remote control. I’m not sure how that ultimately challenges the cable TV experience, except that it’s free.

So this may just be an exercise in how much ad revenue so called premium content can command online. But of course I keep wishing that Google– which has the resources to innovate–would actually take on the challenge not only as a means to find the frontier, but also to speak to the growing shifts in our own consumption interests, which I contend here, may not be as passive as Hollywood wishes it would be, and as easy to solve with a pocketful of celebrities.

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The world of mega-influencers is no doubt an elite one, and Oprah is a phenomenon like no other – she is the gold standard for measurable influence. As her daytime show comes to an end I wondered if there could be, in the digital era, an influencer as powerful as Oprah. She is no doubt a one-of-a-kind, and her combination of empathy, support and self-improvement struck a cord with individuals who sought a powerful connective point in their increasingly isolated worlds.

Incidentally, over the weekend, as I led a discussion group for filmmakers about using social media to promote their films and build their audiences, it occurred to me that the spheres of online influence are quite different from those of the offline variety. So much so, that despite Oprah’s 4.5 million fans on Twitter, her rank on influence metrics site Klout is 65 (out of 100) and her “amplification” level, defined as “the likelihood that your content will be acted upon” is 0.

Clearly, this does not reflect the true measure of her power. If Oprah says jump, the reverberations are felt throughout the mediasphere- so the idea that she cannot motivate people to act based on her words is inaccurate in the offline world if somewhat true in the social media world. But it begs the question of who the mega-influencers will be when audiences are more diffused across media platforms. Personalities like Ashton Kutcher, whose real fame quotient is lower than an actor like Brad Pitt, wields enormous influence online, based solely upon his building his influence quotient as one of the first “celebrities” to embrace the influencer role in social media.

When I talk to artists and marketers about reaching influencers, I speak almost entirely in terms of niche. Niche has become the holy grail of the web marketing and social media game and it is enormously empowering. But what artist, author or guru wouldn’t want to have access to the online version of Oprah, and see the kind of enormous effect that her stamp of approval has on one’s life and career? The question is whether that kind of mega-influencer is even possible in our ever-fragmented digital world. But I look forward to that kind of phenomenon…and to seeing who will be the digital Oprah.

Sam Blackman, CEO of Elemental Technologies: Unlike other forms of media the Internet will not destroy the pay-TV model. Consumers want a high-quality video experience across platforms (mobile device, laptop, monitor). Consumers will demand quality and ease of use.

Doug Knopper, co-founder and co-CEO of FreeWheel: Consumers are getting closer to the type of content experience they want when it comes to video. Winners will be twofold in this world: those that create compelling content and those who can figure out how to build a business model around that content. Allowing the media companies the control and flexibility to manage and monetize their content will help content creators survive this transition.

Avner Ronen CEO and co-founder of Boxee: It may be the year of TV Everywhere, but the future is Internet Everywhere.   Storytelling will change. There are no limits on the length of a story, and viewers will be able to direct their viewing experience. One can also run parallel stories within a show. By 2015, there will be an Internet show that will be bigger than a TV show today. You will have more Apple subscribers than Comcast subscribe. People will watch more video and they will pay more for it.

Jeremy Reed, SVP Content and Editorial, Demand Media: Next big thing is trying to understand there is an imbalance between supply, need and cost. You need to understand the ROI before you greenlight content. Is it quality and relevant to a community? And increasing the competitiveness — in a search world is a social world.

And perhaps the MOST controversial was James Spare’s demo of “my TV is watching me” (watch demo close to the end of the video). Everyone screamed Big Brother!

James Spare, president and CEO of Canesta: We’ve invented technology that can track objects in 3-D space. The market for 3-D is huge. A new market is 3-D input, which can, for example, have a screen detect your motion and then be able to interact in a 3-D environment. (Shows video of TV watcher moving channels with hand wave gestures). This will give rise to a whole set of new capabilities.