Experts in the business, legal, and regulatory fields gathered October 17, 2008, at the Cable Center in Denver, for a conference on “The Structure of the Video Programming Industry: Revolution, Regulation, or the Return of Yesterday’s Battles?”
Article by Eric Schmidt
Experts in the business, legal, and regulatory fields gathered October 17, 2008, at the Cable Center in Denver, for a conference on “The Structure of the Video Programming Industry: Revolution, Regulation, or the Return of Yesterday’s Battles?”
Sponsored by Silicon Flatirons, the Cable Center, and Communications Technology Professionals, the event examined an industry facing a perfect storm of technological change, increased competition, and calls for new regulation. Responding to these forces, both producers and distributors of video content are increasingly exploring new business models, ranging from streaming video to same day DVD release to video on demand. In some cases, these business models undermine established patterns of doing business and call into question existing regulatory policies.
To explore these issues, the conference brought together a group of leaders in the field to examine the intertwined policy, business, and technological challenges facing the video industry. Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps delivered a keynote address entitled “Moving into a New Age,” in which he described how the Internet will–and won’t–change everything as the industry evolves.
The Internet will change the way media is delivered, and it will change business models for entertainment, information, and journalism, Copps said. He added, however, that “the Internet is not going to change the need for citizens in a democracy to be informed about politics, nor will it change the fundamental importance of having a media that reflects America’s ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds,” Copps said. In closing, he highlighted that the government faces the challenge of expanding broadband access to all Americans and encouraging technological innovation to keep the country competitive globally without impinging on the openness and freedom that have always defined the Internet.
The conference included three panel discussions moderated by Philip J. Weiser, Professor of Law at the University of Colorado and Executive Director of the Silicon Flatirons Center. The first panel examined challenges to independent niche networks, discussing whether examples such as the NFL Network show that it is harder than ever to get such a venture off the ground. The access regulation panel addressed the reauthorization of program access rules, retransmission consent reform, and the proper role of “must-carry” regulations.
The panel on new technology discussed whether the video industry is evolving from one centered on television to a “world of three screens” comprised of computers, TV, and mobile devices. Panelists agreed that the answer is “yes,” although the boundaries between devices are blurring, and the mobile video market has yet to reach its full potential. The group discussed multi-platform delivery, subscription revenue, and digital rights management as tools to help video providers change with the times. Panelist Andrew McFarlane, CEO of mobile video service Buzzwire, summarized the challenge facing the industry from a consumer perspective. “They want what they want, in the best possible format, and they don’t want to pay for it,” he said.
A video of this conference is available here.