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Viodi View Newsletter – April 13th, 2005
A Day at Digital Hollywood
By Ken Pyle, Viodi, LLC, [email protected]
Like the NATPE conference in January, video content for mobile applications was a recurring theme at the Spring Digital Hollywood. Another common idea was that content need to be designed such that it can be repurposed for multiple applications such as the Internet, mobile phones or television. Further, it was stressed that these different media need to work in concert to maximize the promotion of a provider’s content.
If the timeslot is any indication, telcos are gaining prominence at Digital Hollywood. The telco panel, traditionally in the final time slot of the last day, was in the morning of the first day and was moderated by Derek Kuhn, of Alcatel and the Broadband Services Forum. This panel dealt with the challenges telcos face as they add video services to their mix. Sean Riley of Fox Cable Networks pointed out that they have dealing with telcos for awhile. He suggested that the telcos are offering different models than traditional cable. He emphasized that, regardless of platform, it is critical that it be secure.
SBC’s Amy Friedlander, formerly of Intertainer, suggested that the hiring of an outside team was an indication of SBC’s seriousness in making video a success. She stressed that SBC wants to make deals that work for content providers. They have started “SBC-101” to help educate content providers about their efforts. The end game in their effort is be able to provide service to the 18 million homes they claim will be built out for Fiber to the Premise in the next three years.
Cable networks are leading the way in terms of integrating different promotional techniques. Anil Srivatsa of Imaginasian Television, which is an independent network, explained that they have had to do some innovative promotional and marketing tactics. For instance, they bought a theater in New York where they hold film festivals. They procure films from around the world that they can play both at their film festivals, as well as on their VOD channel. He further suggested that the lines between cable, satellite and IPTV are blurring.
One of the alternative distribution methods that content providers are seriously looking at is video delivered to mobile phones. Ross Levinsohn, SVP & GM Fox Sports Interactive, suggested that the industry is still in the pre-beta stages with regards to mobile video. He also encouraged the industry to keep trying things and to learn from their failures. He said the type of application that will drive mobile video will be one that provides users with an emotional attachment; maybe something like fantasy sports.
Dr.. Phil Alvelda, CEO and Chairman of Idetic (MobiTV), discussed how, even though they have several hundred thousand subscribers, they are in the throes of learning what works for this new medium. They faced the challenges of perfecting the technology, making it easy to understand and creating a completely new business model that works for content providers and carriers.
Keith Hindle with FreeMantle Media (American Idol) said they are pursuing mobile video applications and provided one example where, in a period of six weeks, they received 144,000 downloads of content priced at a dollar apiece. The big challenge the content providers face are ensuring they have rights and talent agreements.
The panel Transforming Television: From Reality TV, HDTV and Interactive TV, to PVR TV and VOD TV looked at the role of new technologies on programming. Jeffrey Pollock said that the, “Generational imperative that is taking over the media chain”. Youth are growing up with new media habits. NASCAR defines interactive by the consumer experience and not the technology.
Patricia Karpas indicated that on AOL, 41% of gamers are women. She suggested that a content producer should start with the audience then create the program and integrate the product placements to meet the audience’s needs. It is important the producers think beyond broadcast and make their content so it can play on multiple platforms.
Richard W. Sherrill, of ReFreshIQ, suggested that producers can now become their own networks, and gave Major League Baseball as an example of a content owner that has bypassed other networks (at least on the Internet). Sherril also pointed out that people don’t mind ads, if the ads are relevant.
Tim Hanlon of the Starcom MediaVest Group sounded a warning when he suggested that some of the interactive television ideas people have may not happen. The ticking time bomb, as he put it, is that the guilds and advertisers are set to renegotiate in 2006. The issue is that “talent” is not getting paid for a number of iTV initiatives.
A Walk Through the Show Floor
One of the nice things about Digital Hollywood is the rather compact exhibitor floor. It is normally pretty easy to get to all of the suppliers’s booths. I briefly saw Alan Miller of Skyworks, the creator of advergaming products. Garry Kitchen, the CEO of Skyworks, graciously spoke at Telecom ’03 a few years ago. Noticeably absent from the show floor was DaveTV and Video Without Boundaries. These entities made pretty big splashes at the last Digital Hollywood with their set-tops and video download services.
I did have a chance to meet with Akimbo’s CEO, Josh Goldman. After a major announcement at the last Digital Hollywood regarding their deal with Turner Networks, Akimbo has been pretty quiet. They have been quietly moving ahead securing content from cable networks, such as those from Scripps Networks (Food Network, HGTV, DIY, FINE LIVING and Great American Country), History, A&E, biography.
Approximately 60 to 70% of their content is included in the $9.99 per month (or $169.99 for a lifetime contract) service fee. Content that is included in the basic price includes portions of Cartoon Network and Biography. There are mini-subscription tiers, as well as PPV offerings. Their goal is to have their service ported onto different set-top boxes, so expect some very interesting announcements in the near-future. They are interested in working in partnership with independent telcos distribute their service. This definitely is worthy of further investigation by independent telcos.
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