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Electronics Show Is All About the Links

Jan 13, 2008  •  Post A Comment

Last week’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas served as a veritable breeding ground for new alliances between cable operators, consumer electronics makers, content providers and new-media services, who promised fresh collaborations to bring the Internet and TV closer together.
The latest set of deals follow a steady stream of partnerships between media companies and technology firms struck over the two years since Apple’s groundbreaking deal with Disney broke the dam on new-media experimentation.
Convergence has become a key topic at recent CES shows. The gathering has been refashioned from geeky, gadget-centric event to one that draws broadcast and cable networks, leading Internet destinations and the advertisers and marketers who underwrite these projects with their sponsorships. Executives from NBC Universal, CBS, Sony Pictures Television, Turner Broadcasting and ad agencies Universal McCann, Starcom, OMD, Mediaedge:cia and others attended this year’s show.
True convergence is still a long ways off, but experts say rampant experimentation is necessary before winners and losers are anointed in the new-media world order.
“You never know what’s going to hit,” Lori H. Schwartz, senior VP and director of emerging media for the Interpublic emerging media labs, said during an interview at the show. “I have been surprised and heartbroken. Think about YouTube. That surprised everyone, how much that took off. Convergence is happening. Hulu and Vuze and Veoh and Joost and Babelgum—I think they are all more significant than we pay attention to. That’s where people are starting to watch content now.”
That’s why content providers are kicking the tires on a broad range of new-media services, such as broadband portals, gaming consoles, portable DVD-DVRs, and download-to-own online video services.
Here are some of the key deals announced last week:
– Disney-ABC will offer TV shows on the Xbox later this month in a deal that calls for the company to provide TV content from ABC, ABC News, ABC Family, Disney Channel and Toon Disney to the Xbox video-on-demand service. That service lets Xbox users watch content on their TV using the gaming console as a sort of set-top box. ABC will provide more than 500 hours of programming, including ABC prime-time series “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives.” New episodes appear on the Xbox the day after they air on television, a similar window to iTunes and ABC.com.
– Comcast has partnered with consumer electronics firms including Panasonic, Samsung, LG and Motorola to sell TVs and other devices as part of the operator’s tru2way initiative. That’s the name for Comcast’s new open technology platform that will allow any developer to create interactive features for cable and let consumers access cable content on a range of consumer electronics devices, such as hi-def TVs from Panasonic, without the need for a cable set-top box.
“When a consumer buys a device built with tru2way, they can plug it in and it will support all two-way cable services, and that means no more cable set-top boxes,” said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts during his keynote speech at the show.
Comcast and Panasonic also are introducing a device called AnyPlay. About the size of a mini-laptop, it works as a portable digital video recorder. Consumers can take the portable device with them and watch TV and DVR content in any room in the house, on an airplane, or in the car. The device will be available early next year.
– Sony inked a partnership with CBS to bring CBS shows to Bravia-enabled TVs. Bravia is Sony’s project to port Internet video to the TV set. CBS will provide prime-time shows, news and sports to Sony later this month to Bravia-enabled hi-def sets.
– MTV Networks forged a pact to offer its shows on DailyMotion, GoFish, iMeem, MeeVee and Veoh Networks. Viacom-owned MTV Networks will supply content from Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and VH-1 to those sites. Viacom already distributes shows online to AOL and Joost. Viacom is currently suing Google-owned YouTube for $1 billion alleging copyright infringement.
– Matsushita Electric Industrial partnered with Google’s YouTube to carry the video site on TV sets. Under the deal, YouTube will be optimized for viewing on a TV screen. Matsushita will start selling the TVs this spring.
Consumer habits are hard to predict and most new services will fail, so companies are wise to hedge their bets. That’s why content providers need to strike so many deals. “You want to grab the real estate early and partner with them early, so the ones who win you are a good partner with,” said Ryan O’Hara, president of TV Guide Network and TV Guide Broadband, during an interview at the show.
TV Guide Channel took a booth at the show for the first time. In the last year, TV Guide Channel has partnered with several Web video portals, including YouTube, Veoh Networks, Hulu, AOL Video and Comcast.net. “We don’t expend all our energies on every Tom, Dick and Jane, but if it’s a credible company, we do deals because we want to distribute content in as many places as possible,” he said.
The broadband infrastructure is finally in place to support new video consumption habits, Ms. Schwartz said. “We have the ability to compress video and stream it across a broadband network,” she said.
Ms. Schwartz said a top contender to win the convergence battle is the Microsoft Xbox. Many college students download first-run movies and videos through the Xbox already. As they graduate and set up apartments, that habit of watching content on the game console will be ingrained and they’ll be less likely to sign up for cable or satellite service.
“Everyone is underplaying broadband tremendously. Media directors will tell me I’m crazy, but I don’t think it will be about cable or satellite and getting the box in the house. People under 30 just use their PC,” Ms. Schwartz said.

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