‘There’s Only So Much Video in a Day’
WICT Panelists Discuss Implications Of Technology On Viewer Fragmentation
By Kent Gibbons -- Multichannel News, 9/19/2007 9:52:00 AM
New York -- The diffusion of video over the Internet was on the mind of media industry panelists at a Women in Cable Telecommunications New York chapter luncheon Wednesday, where one key quote was, “There’s only so much video [to watch in] a day.”
That thought came from Beth Higbee, senior vice president and general manager of emerging ventures at Scripps Networks, in reference to hordes of new competitors for video viewing time. As a result, rather than continuing to expand the number of outlets showing your programming, more time should be spent finding out what people want to watch, especially online, she said.
Erica Gruen, the digital advertising maven and former Food Network CEO, pointed out that TV viewing time actually keeps increasing. But with audiences being pulled to more traditional and online outlets, it’s going to take longer to recoup the increasing amounts that TV networks are spending on quality original programming.
Gruen, principal at Quantum Media, also said advertisers are getting leery of how well TV advertising works now in motivating large numbers of consumers to buy. “Especially buying new products,” she said, such as a new Toyota model.
Gruen also said video-on-demand offerings are still held back by logistical issues of delivering programming to cable operators, and by a lack of detailed reporting on the audience for those shows and ads. “We know how many people watch on-demand TV, but we don’t know who,” she said. Online ads deliver much more detailed data, she said.
Elizabeth Schimel, senior vice president of entertainment at Comcast Interactive Media, defended VOD as a business with an increasingly good model for programmers, and “a bulwark against” viewers looking for that programming online, where the lean-back experience isn’t as rewarding.
She also said Comcast has encouraged programmers to show new episodes of hit shows online, as that should build awareness of what’s on TV.
Those panelists, and Visible World president Tara Walpert, gathered at Cipriani New York to discuss “Disruptive Innovation: How Technology Fuels Change.”
Former GSN president and CEO Rich Cronin served as the panel's moderator.
Gecan To Grow HGTV Programming
08/10/2009Coda
11/01/2009Scripps Takes Ad Pitch on Road
03/13/2005This Just In
07/22/2007
