No Such Thing as Simple Carriage Talks

CTAM Summit Panelists Discuss Complicated Negotiations

By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, July 24, 2007

CTAM Photo Gallery

Washington -- Today’s negotiations are more time-consuming and complex than ever before, but contract conclusions only mark the beginning of the relationship between programmers and distributors.

Time Warner Cable senior vice president and chief programming officer Melinda Witmer said that in years past, when a renewal agreement was finished, “you’d put into a drawer, brush your forehead and then come back and look at it again in a few years.”

Witmer, speaking at a session at the CTAM Summit (here Tuesday entitled “Making the Multiplatform Business Work,” said that when deals are inked today, “thousands of people from the programmer and distributor are all getting involved.”

Cathy Fogler, VP of video programming and product management at Charter Communications, agreed, saying that there is a more collegial sensibility between programmers and distributors.

“The relationships are different. There are so many more decisions that have to be made about the opportunities, which then have to be worked on collaboratively,” she said, noting that content has to dispersed onto various advanced services -- whether video-on-demand, HD, broadband, online and mobile devices -- in order to satisfy consumers’ current media-consumption demands.

While the panelists -- which also included Oxygen Media president of distribution Mary Murano and Justin Connolly, senior VP of national accounts at Disney/ESPN -- said their companies have all embraced multiplatform opportunities as a means to not only sate consumer demand, but an attempt to develop new revenue streams. However, none expected linear TV to go away any time soon.

Asked by moderator Dan Brenner, senior VP of law and regulatory policy for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, if linear cable will become a VOD business in 10 years, Fogler ventured that while “there will be more enhancements to catch content, that doesn’t necessarily mean the death of linear TV.”

The other women panelists rooted their replies in human behavior. “People’s habits are very hard to change,” Murano said. Witmer firmly said: “No. People want to relax. They’re working longer and harder. Linear TV will remain the mothership of the business.”

Connolly also dismissed the notion. “There is more linear watching today than ever, despite the proliferation of platforms,” he said. “That may be interesting social commentary, but there’s more TV watching today than in 2000.”

Asked what they would likely be focusing their attention on 36 months from now, Witmer pointed to continued advances in Time Warner Cable’s enhanced TV platforms, Start Over and Quick Clips, as well as other applications.

Murano mentioned continued broadband development in the way of more playful and purposeful tools for women. “We just don’t see it as a promotional complement to the linear network. We want viewers to come in engage in the brand,” said Murano, who noted earlier that content that debuted on the SheDidWhat.tv platform could wind up on the network. Our Bodies Myself, a series of Web shorts, will soon be made into pilot.

For her part, Fogler said she expects Charter to work on further augmenting its on-demand offerings and HD on-demand choices in particular.

Connolly said he would be focused in the data arena, developing more content for the ESPN360, ABC News Now and Disney Connection vehicles.

“We want to help our partners to acquire and retain high-speed customers,” he added.