What Does the Future Hold for 'TV Everywhere?'

The concept of "TV Everywhere," has been around for years, but has only just become a reality. In April, 2009 at the Cable Show in Washington DC, cable executives spoke of it like it was the Holy Grail, a service that would "future-proof" their business. With Comcast having rolled out its "Xfinity" service, and other MSOs looking to follow suit, authentication services will probably become fairly widespread over the next year or two. But what does the future hold for authentication and "TV Everywhere?" Is it really the savior that some executives argue it is? Research firm The Diffusion Group released a report saying that MSOs will eventually start charging a separate subscription to view content online or on mobile devices-on top of the existing cable bill. The firm says that is because their research says consumers are willing to pay for it: About 39% of cable, satellite and telco TV subscribers would pay $5 or more each month to access their favorite TV programs on their PCs, a TDG survey found. Of that group, about half would pay $5 extra each month, about one-third would pay an extra $10 per month and about one-fifth would pay more than $15 per month TDG is likely right. Authentication costs the MSOs money, so it makes sense that they would try and turn a profit on it. But if they charge for it, it probably won't be the future-proofing product they are hoping for. The reason is that it does not address the biggest problem that the cable business will face in the next 10 years: how to reduce the monthly cable bill. the price of cable services have gone up and up, far ahead of inflation. So far, people have been willing to part with their hard-earned money, but that will not continue forever. Eventually the business will reach a tipping point, where the price for a month of cable service is greater than a chunk of the population is willing to pay. Services like Netflix and Hulu Plus are not enough to replace cable altogether, but they might just be "good enough" for millions of people. As the generation that grew up watching online video gets older, adding content online must become a necessity, not a bonus. Tacking on $5 or $10 on top of cable bills may seem like a small increase, but if it pushes someone's bill over, say $100, it has a real impact on their decision-making process. While many older Americans are not familiar with ways to view pirated content, a significant chunk of younger people do. They understand the effort and money that goes into making content, and most want to pay for it, but the price needs to be right. Unless the cable business figures out what it will do about the never-ending rise of cable rates, its future, and authentication's future, looks cloudy.

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What Does the Future Hold for 'TV Everywhere?'

Alex Weprin

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Alex Weprin