This is the first article by Mack D. Male, in a two part series, exploring Microsoft’s Internet TV strategy. Mack is the author of Windows Media Blog and mastermaq.

Television over the Internet, better known as IPTV, is a small but growing segment of the very large market for television products and services. Gartner predicts the number of IPTV subscribers will grow from 3 million in 2005 to 50 million in 2010, creating huge opportunities for technology vendors. However, there’s more to the story than simply moving the signal from traditional broadcast and cable networks to Internet networks.