Politics isn’t the only thing changing on this historic day. Video is undergoing a major change as well. Congress now has its own YouTube channel. So if you want to know what your representatives are up to, check out the video channels for the House and Senate. And our new president is already using the video sharing website to make weekly addresses to the nation. It’s about time we got an upgrade from those outdated radio addresses. And if you’re working today at the time of the big inauguration, all the major news outlets (including ESPN) are providing multi-platform programming—set your TiVo to record the television broadcast, but you can watch online, on your mobile phone or even via video-on-demand after it’s all over. We’ve definitely entered a new video era—it’s everywhere—in politics and in the rest of our daily lives.

Most online video today is pretty grainy—there’s a lot of room for technology improvements—but video is certainly transforming from an entertainment medium delivered to your television to a whole new information delivery tool. It has become more than just a sit-on-the-couch, lean-back experience (although I don’t plan to give up my couch potato ways any time soon!).

Are you taking part in the video revolution?

Yes—I admit it—I’m a TV watcher. Unlike so many industry-insiders that I’ve met during my 14 years in the cable biz who claim they don’t partake, I proudly admit to supporting our industry with some good, mindless TV watching. I will confess that when I took my first cable industry job in 1994 I was watching over-the-air broadcast, but I immediately called up TCI and signed up for basic cable. From there I was hooked and started upgrading services and eventually ended up as a digital cable subscriber.

Today’s pay-TV market has a lot to offer TV watchers (including those who claim they aren’t, but really are). Who wouldn’t embrace the opportunity to watch their favorite TV content anytime, anywhere, on any device? If, by some horrible tragedy, my DVR fails to record Dancing with the Stars, I know I can go online and watch Warren Sapp dazzle on the dance floor and see Susan Lucci go home. If I can’t watch a major sporting event (the only TV I watch live anymore—thank you TiVo!), I can get live updates and even video clips on my phone if I choose.

We’re all on the go these days, but we still have a need to stay connected with whatever matters to us. The cable and telco TV industries may not be solving all of the world’s problems, but, with innovation and collaboration happening every day, we’re certainly helping subscribers to receive and enjoy entertainment and information services on their own terms and in their own way, hopefully making their lives a little bit better.