New York -- Cable operators and content providers will have
to work together to maximize the viewership and revenue opportunities for TV
Everywhere, but the window of opportunity is fast closing due to competition,
said executives speaking at the TV in a Multiplatform World conference here
Thursday.
Executives said the industry needs to develop better
partnerships with regard to offering cable network content via a TV Everywhere
platform so the industry doesn't repeat the mistakes made with the launch of
video on demand. Scripps Networks
Interactive senior VP of affiliate operations and new media distribution Tamara
Franklin said features such as disabling fast-forwarding will make programmers
feel more secure about offering more content to consumers while monetizing the
platform through advertising opportunities.
"At the time programmers were willing to put more content
out in VOD but there wasn't a value proposition -- you couldn't monetize it,"
she said. "What we'd like to do with TV Everywhere is start with the consumer
and find the best product for them and then figure out how to monetize it."
Added Renee Plato, senior VP of distribution for Univision
Communications Inc: "The MSOs are very important part of this because
essentially this is their product and we need to see better marketing and
better collaboration on both sides of the fences. This is something that we all
recognize that we can win from, but it's not going to happen organically," she
said.
Tara Maitra, senior VP and GM, content and media sales at TiVo, said the
challenge for TV Everywhere is also to perfect the user experience,
whether it's through authentication or passwords, to make it easier for
consumers to access TV Everywhere product.
"How the user comes to understand what's available on the
different platforms is a real challenge," she said. "Having a unified
experience, whether it's from the operator or the networks, is key in terms of
how to find content on the device."
Whatever improvements are necessary to make the TV
Everywhere experience more appealing to viewers need to be done quickly:
Franklin says the window of opportunity for the industry on TV Everywhere is
closing fast given the development of over-the-top services such as Netflix and
Hulu.
"We took
10 years to work on VOD, but I don't think we'll have another 10 years [for TV
Everywhere], she said. "We birthed Netflix...if we had done VOD correctly the
first time there probably wouldn't be a Netflix."
