That’s how Larry Kramer, president of CBS Digital, describes his company’s plans to provide all of March Madness online as an ad-supported product, a major shift over last year’s PPV/subscription offers. “This is like our ‘Live 8′ ..this is daunting,. The internet is not a point-to-multipoint medium so we have to be careful about it.” Kramer is among the digital execs on a “think tank” panel with the title “Digital Strategies: Evolve and Prosper.” While the CBS Sports move clearly is an evolution from previous years, the network really won’t know about the “prosper” aspect until the NCAA tournament is over.
That’s the case with most of the efforts being discussed during this session — a lot of experiments and very little certainty. As Jeff Gaspin, president, NBC Digital, put it, “That’s what the next couple of years are going to be all about … learning from each other.” Or Steve Wadsworth, president of the Walt Disney Internet Group said, the deals being made now are as much about positioning for the future. “Let’s get out in the market early, see what the consumer wants.”
– The lone programmer on the panel was Keith Hindle from FremantleMedia Enterprises Ltd. of American Idol fame. (One amuising moment — when Hindle insisted the correct web site address was AmericanIdol.com, not idolonfox.com The former redirects to the latter.) Hindle and another panelist, FIM President Ross Levinsohn, are among those from the two companies looking at ways to make the most of AI across platforms. One thing they can’t do: charge for landline phone calls in the U.S. the way they do in most other AI countries. “We can’t monetize it and I lose sleep over it every day,” he said. “There is no premium landline mechanism that’s viable in the U.S.” In several markets, Fremantle makes more from telephony than from the network for production of the show.
– Levinsohn provided some more details about the upcoming online “Family Guy” project. It’s a late-night talk show with Stewie as host. “It will live and breathe on FamilyGuy.com. We think that property is perfectly suited for that audience. … We’ll experiment. I actually think we’re going to make some money off it.”
– Wadsworth carefully described Disney’s MVNO strategy, explaining that the phone first and foremost is a utility, “not a content delivery device.” News Corp. isn’t going the MVNO route. Levinsohn’s take: “We’re not a utility. I don’t believe we should be a utility. … I seriously have thought of taking my phone or Treo and smashing it against the wall and, as a content company, that is not where I think we shouild be.”
– They all have to deal with rights clearance. NBC’s Gaspin said it took six weeks from the Disney announcement for the company to make its iTunes deal — “and these were all programs we owned.” It also took 50 people.
NATPE conference coverage is sponsored by Brightcove.
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