@ NATPE 2006: Defining The New, New TV

Much of the discussion here hinges on the definition of television. Is it a format? A distribution platform? David Katz, who oversees sports and entertainment for the Yahoo Media Group, tackled the subject head on during a somewhat diffuse panel on “Consumer Choices and Market Metrics in a Converging Media World.” The context: a TV Guide-like television world or a video experience with robust video search as a linchpin. Katz, still hoarse from his trip to Sundance: “The question that’s really appropriate for a NATPE audience is what’s the definition of television. … If we’re going to narrowly define television as the content created by broadcast networks and cable networks that comes in on the big screen in your living room, that’s one thing … but I also think if you’re talking about a video experience that comes into your home, it may be played on the big screen in your home, which, by the way, if you’re getting an HD set today, at this point most of them come with an ethernet jack. Are they TV sets in the traditional sense or are they large high-resolution computer monitors? If television is more broadly defined going forward as that video entertainment experience really consumed in the home or potentially on portable devices or your cell phones, in that sense, I think video search, which is right now really in its infancy, will play a very substantial and significant role because no longer are you talking about a 300-500 channel universe, you’re talking about an unlimited universe, you’re talking about a place where content can come from anywhere, everyone’s a distributor if they want to be be, user generated content allows the proliferation of content and breaks down barriers that existed before.”

NATPE conference coverage is sponsored by Brightcove.

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