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[Wednesday at NAB]
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Broadband TV World Reaches Across Platforms
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by Ken Freed,
~ April 16, 2008
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TV TECHNOLOGY
The vision for broadband TV is digital video moving from TV sets to the Web, movie screens, cell phones, games and any other rich media platform. Content monetization is the key.
Exploring the “New Media Business” is the theme for the Broadband TV World conference, co-produced by iHollywood Forum, taking place today, 9 a.m.–5:15 p.m.
“We will help you create a viable video strategy that stretches across all platforms including traditional broadcast and broadband,” advance literature for the conference promises. “Expert speakers in keynotes, panel discussions and networking sessions will help you capitalize on the new face of digital video and understand how telecom, cable, and broadcasters can compete with their new quadruple-play rollouts of digital television, broadband Internet, telephony, and wireless.”
That’s a tall order.
NEW MONEY
Michael Stroud, chief executive officer and co-founder of iHollywood Forum, plans to meet these expectations when he introduces the first panel of the day, “Redefining Video for Multiple Screens,” 9:10 a.m. Do multiple screens represent new revenue opportunities for content creators, broadcasters and other media operators — or do so many new platforms cannibalize TV’s core revenue base?
Answering this question will be panelists Jeff Danley, general manager of Sprint TV and Steaming Multimedia; Dmitry Shapiro, chief executive officer of Veoh Networks; Clyde D. Smith, senior vice president of Global Broadcast Tech and Standards for Turner Broadcasting System; Jon Vlassopulos, senior vice president of Digital Media & Branded Entertainment for Endomol USA; and Mitch Weinraub, executive director for Products and Services at the Comcast Media Center.
This opening discussion will clear the way for three morning keynotes starting at 10 a.m., kicked off by Sheau Ng, vice president of Consumer and Broadcast Technology, Standards, and Policy at NBC Universal. Ng will address, “Change — the Engine of Our Business,” examining the shifting business models from “video-in-the-home” to “video-everywhere.”
Following a 20-minute networking break and product showcase, attendees will hear from Sanjay Desai, vice president of Product Marketing for Brightcove, and Simon Nelson, controller for Portfolio & Multiplatform operations at BBC Vision. Their theme: “The Networks Take Charge, Sort of.” Broadcasters and cable networks are trying to wrest control of their assets from content aggregators, but how much control can they have when most of their shows can be viewed free on the Web?
Further stressing the old business models, while cable now offers hundreds of compressed video channels, the emerging IPTV networks have few restraints on their video sources, such as from community channels, video-on-demand, Web videos and family videos. A user-friendly interface and advanced search algorithms may hold the solution, so “Video Search for Unlimited Channels,” 11:50 a.m., features presenters from Blinks, Comcast, Wi-Fi TV and TiVo.
CONTENT, PIRACY ISSUES
The core issue remains monetization, so the after-lunch session looks at “Digital Rights in a Cross-Platform World,” 1:30 p.m. The strategy of repurposing content across multiple platforms may backfire if it invites massive piracy. Presenters on this topic will hail from Arxan Technologies, Intertrust Technologies, CableLabs, Alcatel-Lucent and Widevine Technologies.
Taking the next logical step, a session held simultaneously as the one above is “The Billion Dollar Question: How Will Video Ads Make Money?” If video must be free, what advertising models will succeed? Among the heavy hitters on this panel will be Patrick Monaghan, senior analyst for Consumer Research at the Yankee Group; Sandy Malcolm, CNN.Com executive producer; Lance Ware, Technicolor Electronic Distribution Service chief technology officer; Matt Kaplan, vice president of creative and client services for PermissionTV; Michael King, president and chief executive officer of Abacast; and Paul Reinman, director of marketing for Microsoft TV.
Next up is “Dispatch from the TV Wars,” 2:30 p.m., which will take a look at IPTV services and just how much market share they extract from cable, broadcast and satellite providers.
The day’s featured presentation takes place at 3:20 p.m. Danny Wilson, president and chief executive officer of Pixelmetrix Corp., will discuss, “Starts with IP, Ends with TV — It is Still a Television Service.” Internet Protocol television offers a chance for an exponential boost in revenues for telecom companies, but many challenges need to be overcome in delivering video content.
Closing the day, Bruce David Eisen, president of Digital Advisors, will discuss “Resuscitating VOD.” He asserts that VOD “hasn’t even left the starting gate” on the Internet. Meanwhile, the studios remain reluctant to release their top films and catalog for fear that VOD will hurt DVD sales and television rights.
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