Tuesday night I attended VideoSchmooze, a panel discussion loaded with heavyweights from within the television, cable, and video industry. We heard from executives at Hearst, Comcast, NBC and BlipTV – all of whom attempted to forecast the uncertain future of broadband/mobile video marketing and technology trends, paid vs. ad supported business models, and what the key broadband priorities are going forward for these companies.

Back in May I blogged about TV being at a crossroads as more people watch videos on mobile devices, PC’s, and laptops and what the new model for television might look like going forward.

Well here we are five months later and the question still remains: “What is the best way for video content providers to maximize profits from this explosion in online viewing?”  The challenges that exist are many. If companies like Comcast are successful with the launch of “TV Everywhere” (providing content on multiple platforms for existing customers at no extra charge) by the first of the year, how will this “untethered content” be monetized? How do you prevent cannibalizing incumbent models that remain key revenue streams for media companies (DVD’s and syndication)? How do you accurately measure the viewership online and will the ads be more targeted to the viewer?

For any of this to be a viable option the panel agreed the viewers would first have to be authenticated as a paying satellite or cable subscriber; the content would have to be protected through some sort of DRM (digital rights management) to prevent the undermining of the existing revenue streams (DVD’s and syndication) and there has to be a way to attach an add value to this nascent technology.

The question I find most interesting is “Who will dictate this new model? Will it be the cable providers, content providers, or the consumers?” With all this background noise, one thing is for certain: content remains king at a time when consumption is coming from more “non linear” mediums (e.g., smart phones and laptops PC’s). I live in Manhattan where there is a choice of over 18,000 restaurants, and while I’m always game for trying a new place, I usually return to my tried-and-true – the place where the food is simply just better. I’m not sure how the content will be distributed in the future, but one thing I do know for sure is that whoever figures out how to get the premium content I want and in the way that I want it will earn my loyalty. I’ll continue to try the latest and greatest technology but will always return to the place serving the best content. And as they say, “where there is good content there is ad consumption.”

As a marketing and public relations professional, how do these trends affect you? Please share your thoughts with the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 8:26 am and is filed under Advertising/Marketing, Media Industry, Online Video, Public Relations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.