Broadband Video: What's Cable's Role?

Try as he might, Broadband Directions principal Will Richmond couldn’t get anyone on CTAM NY’s Blue Ribbon Breakfast panel to say that broadband video’s success could come at the expense of the cable industry. “I don’t think it’s a zero sum game,” Google vp, content partnerships David Eun told moderator Richmond Wed. “Our business would shrivel up if our partners were not successful. We need for cable operators to thrive, for book publishers to thrive, for people like Herb to thrive.” Herb is Herb Scannell, formerly of MTV Networks, now head of Next New Networks, a startup that creates “micro-television networks” over the Internet. Next New Networks’ “Channel Frederator” has gained attention with animated short “Internet People,” which examines those who have had 15 seconds of Internet fame. The video (http://www.channelfrederator.com/methminute39/episode/TMM_20070906) notched a couple million views in 4 short days. It’s that kind of pull that turns the heads of cable operators, programmers and others. “It feels like the early days of cable,” Scannell said. When asked if Discovery’s recent previewing of new shows online before on linear caused conflicts with cable partners, Discovery digital media, emerging nets and biz dev pres Bruce Campbell quickly called distributors a programmer’s “most important” partners and that its broadband dabbling has been an experiment to build loyalty to its brands. As long as a programmer isn’t looking for affiliate revenue for its broadband product and its offering can “stand on its own,” Cox svp Dallas Clement is fine with it. Said Comcast svp, new media Matt Strauss: “We’re there to give customers what they want. I don’t think you’ll see any rational programmers do anything to jeopardize [cable’s business model].” Cable ops know that they have to keep a hand in the Internet. “If cable just focused on satellite and RBOCs as our competitors, and doesn’t keep a watchful eye on the Internet, we’ll lose more than our share of the pie,” Clement said. Strauss and Clement seemed unconcerned about Apple TV and similar PC to TV devices on the market today. “People still want high quality content,” Strauss said. More beneficial than streaming short clips to the TV would be allowing a sub to pause a program on their TV and resume watching it on their PC or PDA, he said. Meanwhile, Eun made it clear that Google’s talking to “more than a handful” of traditional TV companies as it looks for partnerships. “We bring a large mass of advertisers that you might not be talking to,” he pitched.