Michael Powell: Cable Companies At the Mercy of Content Companies
By Rob Scott
November 26, 2012
November 26, 2012
- Michael Powell, president of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and former FCC chairman, suggests that content creators are still in control in the emerging multiplatform age.
- “Technologists are excited about software or hardware and we forget that people are really buying and holding on to stories,” notes Powell.
- “The challenge in the living room — when you talk about new devices and platforms what often gets left out is access to the highly-produced, licensed content that viewers most crave. You’re asking to substitute a fresh experience.”
- “The holy grail for the living room to me isn’t technology,” he says. “It’s figuring out how to integrate the phenomenal power and interactivity and information of the Internet into the highly produced premium content that we crave.”
- When asked whether manufacturers should be able to tap into cable streams and offer alternative experiences, Powell suggests that “cable companies are at the mercy of content companies on the issue of content rights and use.” Mirroring the cable experience on other devices is not a technological issue, but an issue of licensing rights.
- “At the end of the day Apple and Boxee and Vudu and Roku are going to find out that the content market is tough and expensive, and it’s hard to do the most creative things,” he says.
- Powell suggests that all companies are heading toward IP-distributed content and a shift from a hardware-centric environment to a software-centric environment. “When the guide and content are in the cloud, you can change look and feel overnight,” he adds. “You won’t have to come in and get a whole new box — that’s a horrible model.”
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