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Quick Jump Menu to this Issue’s Articles February 3rd, 2004 Overview From Trader Joes to NATPE: From Cell Phone Video to High Def and VOD, NATPE Has It All: Bon Vonage – My Trip Into Local Number Portability Purgatory and Beyond:
From Cell Phone Video to High Def and VOD, NATPE Has It All
by Brian Stevenson
February 3rd, 2004 Issue
One of the more interesting content plays at NATPE was from companies pushing video through cellular networks. One such company doing so is called Big Digit Productions. Big Digit Productions is fundamentally a content aggregator for various U.S. and international, wireless cell companies. Big Digit also puts together events, known as the “The Smallest Mobile Festivals”, which are hosted by NAPTE, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) and London’s Mobile Commerce World. The purpose of these events is to promote video content on cellular networks.
In speaking with Beau Buck, who is the CEO of the company, it is his clear that he has indepth involvement and knowledge of the cell phone industry. He stated that mobile phone usage has skyrocketed in recent years with more than 138 million Americans currently owning mobile phones and that number is increasing dramatically. Worldwide, there are more than 1.3 billion mobile handsets in use.
Buck has created a channel called mFlix which will began rolling out this spring in association with major telephone companies and other distribution channels worldwide. They have recently secured a deal with French Telecom and are about to secure an agreement with a domestic carrier. They have been doing this for the last few years and it seems to be emerging as a real service. Content can be delivered via download or wireless means. I saw a demo at the show and it looked very good.
Most certainly, Big Digit Productions is a major force to reckon with in the cellular content space.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR VOD/HD
The panelists for this session were:
Kevin Corcoran, Anime Network – The Anime Network provides Japanese animated content. What makes it unique is that its initial U.S. launch is on an on-demand basis, while the launch of a scheduled channel is still in the planning stages.
Mark Cuban – HDNet, HDNet is a television network that exclusively provides high definition (HD) content, such as movies, sports, syndicated television sitcoms, concerts, and music shows
Mark Greenberg – Showtime, Showtime is offering high-definition concerts and boxing. Greenberg claims that Showtime VOD has 2 million subscribers.
Bob Thompson – Fox Sports Net, Fox Sports Net has 12 regions in the U.S. and High Definition programming is being shown in six of those regions.
David Zaglav – NBC Cable Networks, Zaglav indicated that NBC Cable Networks wants to play in all areas of VOD and HD.
Judy Meyka – Aldelphia Cable, Meyka indicated that Adelphis is offering free on demand services. Further, their introduction of high definition services is steadily progressing.
The panelists engaged in a very lively discussion which was spurred on by Mark Cuban, a long-time high definition advocate. This panel provided an overview of the progression of VOD and HD. Cuban contends that HD has not progressed as hoped and, essentially, blamed the network panelists from Fox Sports Net and NBC for taking a very conservative view. In turn, the network panelists blamed Aldelphia and other cable operators for not advancing HD and VOD.
The panelists did seem to agree that the following are some of the challenges facing VOD/HD:
1. Cannibalization of content from major channels, home video, pvr’s, etc.
2. Retraining consumers to embrace VOD/HD
3. Bandwidth issues.
4. PVRs are a major threat to VOD/HD
Cuban also had advice for independent producers as to how to shoot a movie or event in HD. He said that Producers should look at existing shows that are currently shot in HD and learn from their experience. He said too many creators have their own ideas on how to shoot, as opposed to just actually watching and learning from what is currently available.
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