Most TV Available Online, Mobile in 2 Years

Executives from Disney, Turner, and Comcast were in unanimous agreement that we are only two years away from 75 percent of TV content being available online and on mobile devices. As with many other applications, services or features, one has to avoid attributing unstated adjectives. "Online" or "mobile" does not mean "free" or "at no incremental cost." That's a mistake often made when terms such as "peering" or "dumb pipe" are discussed. There is no reason to assume that "peering" means "settlement-free," or that "dumb pipe" necessarily is preced by the adjectives "low gross revenue, low margin or commodity."

At the Elevate Video Advertising Summit, Matt Strauss from Comcast Interactive Media, Jeremy Legg from Turner, and David Preshlack of Disney and ESPN predicted that TV "everywhere" was imminent, and that in the same time frame the networks will be almost completely agnostic about where and when their video content is being viewed.

"For us, in the broader context of what we’re doing, we’re beginning to migrate everything to Internet video," said Strauss.

The business issues will be key. Content owners are not going to give away mobile or online access without being compensated. Distributors will try to minimize the additional rights payments. But consumers likely will have to pay, one way or the other. Such payments might happen directly, as in an incremental fee when buying other linear services, or as a new fee for online-only or mobile-only access.

In other cases the additional payments might be made indirectly, as in the case of bigger broadband access buckets of use that accommodate the extra video consumption. The point is that universal access will involve new payments to content providers, which will mean costs passed on to consumers.

The payments might be more of an incremental issue if the new distribution rights require prior, "tied" purchases to cable TV, satellite or telco TV subscriptions. Payments will be larger for "online only" or "mobile only" subscriptions not tied to purchase of other products. But the new attitude on the part of major content owners means something will happen.

Television Executives Predict Bulk of TV Content Will Be Available Online and Via Mobile Within 2 Years