How big was the room where we had our session at the CTAM Summit in Boston this week? Imagine speaking in a cathedral. You are talking into a very sensitive microphone, and your every whisper is a giant echo. Now imagine you have a cold. The EVP Disney/ABC Digital Media is speaking, and you let out an ever-so-gentle sniffle. It echos like it was at the Grand Canyon. That was my day.
It wasn’t all bad. The folks who put on the summit were very well-organized. They put on a terrific event. And the Hynes Convention Center? Let me encapsulate: free WiFi. Take THAT, $50 a day Vegas!
We had uploaded our presentations the previous week, and there they were, right on cue, on two giant screens on either side of us. Although I must say my own presentation, made up of edited video from iTunes downloads did not scale up especially well. It looked a bit like how a pointillist might paint at 30 frames per second.
We were placed at 4:15 pm – the last seminar of the day – opposite a panel with Jeremy Allaire from Brightcove. So the pressure was off. I introduced myself as, among other things, “The C-Word, consultant.” Then it immediately occurred to me – don’t say “The C Word” in front of a room of strangers again. Didn’t go over well.
The star of the talk was probably Albert Cheng, the aforementioned Disney/ABC guy. People really wanted to know how well the ABC experiment in streaming its shows was going. Cheng let slip that the streaming of “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” and its other star shows will resume. So, on behalf of the LR Faithful at affiliates everywhere, I asked about the ABC decision to bypass you guys without a revenue plan. After all, Fox banged out a plan before putting its network stuff online. Cheng did say ABC is working out the plan now. Amid all the talk about new distribution methods, I got preachy. (Me?) After all, without the affiliates all these years, there is no network as a good friend reminded me.
For once, I wasn’t the troublemaker on the panel. That title went to the charming realist John Higgins from Broadcasting & Cable. As we held forth about how all the new technology would cannibalize from anyone, Higgins stopped us all in our tracks: “Try telling that to movie theater operators!” Touche. As a couple of us agreed on the concept of VOD, downloads and other new distribution methods as a logical extention of cable television, Higgins would have none of it. I think I have a new best friend.
And, for once, I liked everyone on the panel. It takes a lot of self-confidence to pull off a bowtie. And for every George Will who can do it, there is a Tucker Carlson who can’t. Well, put Arthur Ordona in the “looks cool” camp. He’s the SVP of Policy & Product for Advance/Newhouse Communications. Ordona represented the view of the MSOs. He has a refreshing, convergence-based POV on marketing and technology.
I disagreed with the panel’s somewhat dismissive attitude towards the Slingbox. While it’s true the ‘Box doesn’t exactly have massive market penetration. Not the point. It is a disruptive technology you have to take seriously. TiVo isn’t in every home, either, but it changed the way we watch television. Just you wait – it won’t be long before Motorola boxes include a way to “Sling” video.
We all agreed that the best tactic for getting money for your content is to – surprise – appeal to 18-25 year-old males. (All those years of reading Lost Remote are finally paying off for you.) Cheng admitted that downloads for kids don’t work. Parents don’t want to hand their children the iPod. As a father of three, I can confirm this. LR Spouse and I aren’t going to give the LR Kids the gadgets within 72 hours of eating anything containing peanut butter or red sauce. And since they are, in fact, kids, that’s pretty much their diet.
But if I can impart any wisdom to you, it is this: when you are trying to impress an audience with how much of a big shot consultant you are, don’t sniff your snot into a microphone.