"Old guys like me will still be calling it television"

If anyone has a crystal ball about the future of television, it's John Malone. Recently, at the All Things Digital conference he was interviewed by technology guru Walter Mossberg. They talked, of course, about money and how the web and TV are merging. I think we're really at that point of convergence that everyone was talking about a few years ago. And it's the iphone and its' imitators that bring me to that conclusion. Will we all be walking around with one little device that can do what ever strikes us? Sooner rather than later. Anyway, when asked about the future of television, Malone said: "Probably in five years old guys like me will still be calling it television, but I think it will come from anywhere... it's everything, everywhere, in increasing quality, increasing quantity and lower cost. That's been the whole trend."
And as far as the money thing, he talks about why cable has done so well -- because, in the viewers mind, cable was providing content by charging for connectivity. And, Malone says, in the future, people will pay for content if it connects with quality and convenience. And who will be providing that? Meet the Aggregators. Companies like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. And maybe Liberty Media, Malone's company, too.
Okay, that's pretty much the future of the media and video world from one man's vantage point. But one thing I certainly agree with, is that quality matters. And putting quality work on all those everywhere devices will make it stand out above everything else.

Jeff Zucker on the Future of Broadcast

All Things Digital (a wonderfully informative website, if you don't know it) recently held a symposium on the future of video for broadcast and the internet. Two interviews stuck out, one with Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal and the other with John Malone (which I'll take up in the next blog). As you would expect, much of the focus was on money, but then again, that's what makes the televised world go around, right? So from Zucker's point of view, what works for television these days is the big event or the big drama or comedy series. But the programming "middle" is a muddle. Too much competition from other places, including the web. And, as far as the future goes, the the big issue is revenue. Zucker was quoted some time ago as saying that the media companies are replacing analog dollars with digital pennies. (Meaning the web advertising revenue streams are a trickle compared to what used to pour into the broadcast pond. Now, he thinks with Hulu and the like, they're swimming in digital dimes and he's looking forward to the day of digital quarters. So you can see the problem. And where will all the money come for programming? There's also a longer interview on the All Things Digital Website.