We've seen a lot of activity in the codec market in 2004: For one, there are now several H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC (referred to as AVC henceforth) encoders available. With the adoption of AVC as codec for the upcoming high definition DVD formats (be it Blu-ray or HD DVD), as well as its adoption into digital TV standards, I expect to see a lot of movement in that market in the years to come. Microsoft's WMV9 has also been approved for the upcoming high definition DVD formats, and Microsoft is making some inroads into the television business as well, but so far those are proprietary systems and tied to specific geographical areas.
http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/codecs-104-1.htm