Deutsche Bank Notebook

Cable’s interactive ad tech initiative Project Canoe bodes well for multiple platforms, said Time Warner Cable COO Landel Hobbs Tues at the Deutsche Bank conference. Advanced advertising is needed "to really keep [local ad sales] growing," he said, especially since the pool, which represents approx four-fifths of the MSO’s ad rev, has experienced a "little slowdown" due to economic woes. And as Canoe pleases advertisers by providing the "granularity of the Internet for TV" by uniting "the learnings of all those digital set top boxes out there," said Hobbs, ops’ VOD offerings will benefit as well. Integrated and targeted ads "fit nicely into VOD," he said, important because Time Warner continues to see linear growth in on demand use, including 25%-30% growth in movies. Separately, Hobbs said the MSO views the targeting of Hispanic HHs as a key way to help with future retrans negotiations, as several of its markets (L.A., NYC, TX) count expansive Latino populations. In L.A., where 21% of the homes passed by Time Warner are Hispanic-led, a new programming package targeting the group has succeeded (half of package subs are new to Time Warner and half take an additional, non-video service). Time Warner plans to roll out similar packages in NYC and TX. — Viacom pres/CEO Philippe Dauman continues to tout the premium channel jv involving Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate, saying that no multichannel op has expressed disinterest in the project. Compelling to potential partners, he said, are plans to place every movie on the net on the 1st day of their pay windows and the vast catalog of content owned by the partners, plus interactive opportunities and marketing flexibility. Expressing further bullishness on cable, Dauman said that Viacom is heavily focused on driving efficiencies across segments "in order to take best advantage of cable opportunities." However, the company must do better with attracting the older demos that are increasingly migrating from broadcast to cable, he said. To this end Viacom is ramping originals on TV Land, enhancing net-related online initiatives, and working to promote total-family viewership of Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite.