No. of IPTV subscribers could top 50 million in 2010, study says

IPTV, which supports combined TV and web shopping by delivering TV programming via the Internet, will grow its U.S. subscriber base from 300,000 to 8.7 million by 2010, though the potential number of subscribers in IPTV-capable households could top 50 million, eMarketer reports.

IPTV, or Internet Protocol TV, uses broadband Internet technology and supports plans by retailers such as IAC/Interactive Corp, owner of TV’s Home Shopping Network and HSN.com, to provide interactive TV and web content.

Thomas McInerney, executive vice president of IAC, No. 23 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, said at the Internet Retailer 2006 Conference in June that IPTV will support IAC’s continued growth and the ability of HSN.com visitors to eventually click to other IPTV shopping channels.

M2B World Inc. recently introduced to the U.S. market its Pilot TV set-top boxes, which currently allow users to access 40 video-on-demand channels on the Internet.