The drama that unfolded in the media and entertainment world the last week of 2009 and the first week of 2010 marks just the beginning of what should be a very interesting year. Entertainment content providers, mainly the networks and movie studios and subscription based services that distribute their content (e.g., pay-cable providers and DVD retailers) begin a year that may well be filled with much wheeling and dealing:

News Corp, Fox Networks parent company, and Time Warner struck a deal at the eleventh hour on Dec 31, settling a retransmission fee dispute that has been raging for months. Fox threatened to force cable TV providers Time Warner Cable and Brighthouse Network to drop their broadcast signal which would have prevented over 6 million cable subscribers from watching their programming including: NFL games, college football’s Sugar Bowl, and America’s most watched TV series, American Idol. The thought of having live sports blacked out on New Year’s Day, especially college football, was unimaginable to me in the not so distant past.

Early last week Warner Brothers struck a deal ending a spirited dispute with Netflix that began in August 2009. Warner Brothers requested that Netflix wait 28 days before releasing movies on their rental service so Warner Brothers could realize higher DVD sales. (On average 75 percent of total  DVD sales occur in the first month of the release.) In exchange, Warner Brothers has agreed to make more of their titles available on Netflix streaming service. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/01/warner-bros-new-releases-to-stay-off-netflix-for-28-days.html

The News Corp. Time Warner deal is sure to precede several others coming from rival network providers CBS, ABC-Disney, and NBC looking to increase their fees.  And the Warner Brothers Netflix deal should set a precedent for other studios to restructure current and future deals with DVD retailers.  http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-04/time-warner-cable-fox-deal-may-cost-cable-5-billion-update2-.html

Not all of these disputes ended happily, however. Scripps Network actually pulled the plug on the Food Network and HGTV affecting 3.1 million Cablevision subscribers after the two sides failed to reach an agreement over fees. http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/scripps-reports-progress-in-food-network-carriage-fight/

With executives unsure about how to monetize their web content or how they will adapt to multiple devices and platforms – the one thing they seem pretty certain of these days is that they are the ones producing the fuel that keeps this machine moving. Or Maybe we just took our entertainment for granted over the years and expected it to be within our constitutional rights to turn on channel 2 (CBS-New York) to watch the World Series or channel 5 (Fox-New York) to watch the Family Guy at no additional charge. We never thought twice about paying for a movie, whether at the box office, rental fees, or DVD purchases. And since its inception, we’ve always paid a premium for cable programming.

So maybe it’s time we view all content as equals regardless of whether we’re being entertained by Peter Griffin (Family Guy), George Clooney, or Derek Jeter. I would just like to watch what I want when I want – and for that I’m willing to pay a little more.

How are these recent negotiations affecting your PR and marketing efforts? On a personal level, are you willing to pay more for content if it means you get to access your favorite shows? Share your thoughts with the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 10:56 am and is filed under Broadcast, Media Industry, Public Relations, Technology. 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.