Fighting For Eyeballs: Multiplatform World Opens Several Video Fronts

The war for TV audience mindshare is just getting started—and it’s about far more than that screen in the living room. "Video is the next killer app," said Tandberg Television’s svp, corporate dev Martijn Lopes Cardozo at iHollywood Forum’s Digital Media Summit in L.A. on Wed. While that statement may seem dated (video, after all, has been around for decades), panelists discussing the increasingly multiplatform battlefield for viewers said it makes strange sense these days: TV isn’t dead—it’s just becoming nomadic. "The people who are watching TV today will continue watching TV for the next 20 or 30 years," said G4TV vp, interactive Josh Krane, adding that they’ll just get their video from multiple screens of all shapes, sizes and locations. Bill Binford, Verizon FiOS TV’s dir, programming, said the telco’s goal is to build the "best platform" that beats cable on every front (more HD, faster data rates, better mobile apps)—but that the underlying mission is to keep it "simple" despite the quad play’s inherent complexity. "That’s where we’re going to monetize it," he said. "We’re going to be able to reach out and touch everybody." (Hey, isn’t that AT&T’s line?). When it comes to new video frontiers such as the mobile platform, Ian Blaine, CEO of thePlatform and svp, content publishing at Comcast Interactive, said mobile investments will start to snowball as more firms put stakes in the ground and pressure competitors to do the same. But he said video over broadband continues to be the primary focus as companies "try to figure out the mix between advertising-supported content and premium content." He said ad presentation itself is also under examination: For example, a broadband video interview of a celebrity could include an ad that pops up right as the interviewer asks about the star’s new movie.