Visit our sister site:
Follow us on
Headline, Industry News
Milken panel dishes on TV’s future
Thursday April 30th 2009There was an unofficial changing of the guard Wednesday at the BevHilton, as outgoing News Corp. prexy-COO Peter Chernin and the company’s newly minted digital czar Jon Miller sat together and expressed optimism that TV fans’ defections to online viewing bodes well for Hollywood.
The event was a panel on the third and final day of the Milken Institute’s Global Conference at the BevHilton.
CBS topper Leslie Moonves said the consumption of entertainment on the Internet is a “quandary” that he and other execs “think about every day,” but one that must be dealt with in order for networks to succeed in the future.
“I’m a TV guy,” he said during a discussion moderated by Variety VP-editorial director Peter Bart, with a panel that also included Imagine honcho Brian Grazer. “In the old days our content was on the network and you would worry about getting ratings and getting paid for it. Advertising is way down and our businesses are challenged.”
The most loyal viewer of a TV show today only watches it on a traditional screen half the time, Moonves said, with the rest of the episodes viewed on a DVR or on the Web.
That kind of behavior will increase as a younger generation makes watching entertainment online a habit, said Miller, whose mandate includes MySpace. “It’s been baked into what they do,” he said. “There will be more consumption of media through online means.”
“I think it’s a great time for optimism,” Chernin added. “We’re living in a world of greater opportunity than we’ve ever seen. Our jobs are to sit here and think of ways to invent new kinds of content, new ways of delivering them and new models that will work.”
While it’s inevitable that the decision of what gets made in the future will be somewhat dictated by a digital audience, Grazer was concerned that creativity should also ultimately have a strong voice.
“Trying to bring science to something that’s not scientific doesn’t work,” Grazer said.
The panelists were part of a starry lineup that included such showbiz-media names as Steve Forbes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rupert Murdoch, Viacom chief Sumner Redstone, Eli Broad, Tribune chairman Sam Zell, Larry King and producer Norman Lear. A crowd of 3,000 attended the confab.
At the Wednesday afternoon sesh, Miller cited Hulu.com as an example of how people are watching longer-form programming like TV shows and movies, which is attracting marketers to spend more of their ad dollars online.
Those are increasingly coming in the form of video ads that resemble the type of 30-second spots seen on TV, largely because advertisers and their agencies are comfortable with the format.
“It’s a form of transaction that has gone on for a long time and agencies feel comfortable about,” Miller said. “It can lead to a real business being created online.”
Marketers still fret over the lack of a standardized way of measuring online programming, which makes planning campaigns difficult.
But the distribution of programming online can ultimately “be your friend,” Moonves said. “Every one of us needs to embrace that.”
He cited reruns of TV shows as one area where networks have benefited, with the Web offsetting losses from lower ratings on TV.
“People don’t really watch reruns on television, but the Internet offers up an opportunity to monetize reruns,” Moonves said.
The guilds naturally want their members compensated for any digital dollars collected.
“It’s a very challenging time and a time of uncertainty,” Chernin said. “I don’t blame the guilds for being nervous and trying to do their best to protect their members. But there’s no scenario in life where you can legislate protection from marketplace changes. The notion that the guilds can legislate the way consumers can consume content is not going to happen.”
The growth of the box office this year shows that there’s still a sizeable audience that wants to see movies at the megaplex.
Grazer attributed much of that to consumers making moviegoing an event.
“What we’re asking people to do is something that’s inconvenient — get a babysitter, get in the car, get a good parking spot, get a good seat — but people seem to like to do that,” Grazer said. “It’s now thought of as an inexpensive full day. It will be something that will flourish.”
Source: Variety
Headline, Industry News
Milken panel dishes on TV’s future
Thursday April 30th 2009There was an unofficial changing of the guard Wednesday at the BevHilton, as outgoing News Corp. prexy-COO Peter Chernin and the company’s newly minted digital czar Jon Miller sat together and expressed optimism that TV fans’ defections to online viewing bodes well for Hollywood.
The event was a panel on the third and final day of the Milken Institute’s Global Conference at the BevHilton.
CBS topper Leslie Moonves said the consumption of entertainment on the Internet is a “quandary” that he and other execs “think about every day,” but one that must be dealt with in order for networks to succeed in the future.
“I’m a TV guy,” he said during a discussion moderated by Variety VP-editorial director Peter Bart, with a panel that also included Imagine honcho Brian Grazer. “In the old days our content was on the network and you would worry about getting ratings and getting paid for it. Advertising is way down and our businesses are challenged.”
The most loyal viewer of a TV show today only watches it on a traditional screen half the time, Moonves said, with the rest of the episodes viewed on a DVR or on the Web.
That kind of behavior will increase as a younger generation makes watching entertainment online a habit, said Miller, whose mandate includes MySpace. “It’s been baked into what they do,” he said. “There will be more consumption of media through online means.”
“I think it’s a great time for optimism,” Chernin added. “We’re living in a world of greater opportunity than we’ve ever seen. Our jobs are to sit here and think of ways to invent new kinds of content, new ways of delivering them and new models that will work.”
While it’s inevitable that the decision of what gets made in the future will be somewhat dictated by a digital audience, Grazer was concerned that creativity should also ultimately have a strong voice.
“Trying to bring science to something that’s not scientific doesn’t work,” Grazer said.
The panelists were part of a starry lineup that included such showbiz-media names as Steve Forbes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rupert Murdoch, Viacom chief Sumner Redstone, Eli Broad, Tribune chairman Sam Zell, Larry King and producer Norman Lear. A crowd of 3,000 attended the confab.
At the Wednesday afternoon sesh, Miller cited Hulu.com as an example of how people are watching longer-form programming like TV shows and movies, which is attracting marketers to spend more of their ad dollars online.
Those are increasingly coming in the form of video ads that resemble the type of 30-second spots seen on TV, largely because advertisers and their agencies are comfortable with the format.
“It’s a form of transaction that has gone on for a long time and agencies feel comfortable about,” Miller said. “It can lead to a real business being created online.”
Marketers still fret over the lack of a standardized way of measuring online programming, which makes planning campaigns difficult.
But the distribution of programming online can ultimately “be your friend,” Moonves said. “Every one of us needs to embrace that.”
He cited reruns of TV shows as one area where networks have benefited, with the Web offsetting losses from lower ratings on TV.
“People don’t really watch reruns on television, but the Internet offers up an opportunity to monetize reruns,” Moonves said.
The guilds naturally want their members compensated for any digital dollars collected.
“It’s a very challenging time and a time of uncertainty,” Chernin said. “I don’t blame the guilds for being nervous and trying to do their best to protect their members. But there’s no scenario in life where you can legislate protection from marketplace changes. The notion that the guilds can legislate the way consumers can consume content is not going to happen.”
The growth of the box office this year shows that there’s still a sizeable audience that wants to see movies at the megaplex.
Grazer attributed much of that to consumers making moviegoing an event.
“What we’re asking people to do is something that’s inconvenient — get a babysitter, get in the car, get a good parking spot, get a good seat — but people seem to like to do that,” Grazer said. “It’s now thought of as an inexpensive full day. It will be something that will flourish.”
Source: Variety
Leave a Reply
Headline, Industry News
Milken panel dishes on TV’s future
Thursday April 30th 2009There was an unofficial changing of the guard Wednesday at the BevHilton, as outgoing News Corp. prexy-COO Peter Chernin and the company’s newly minted digital czar Jon Miller sat together and expressed optimism that TV fans’ defections to online viewing bodes well for Hollywood.
The event was a panel on the third and final day of the Milken Institute’s Global Conference at the BevHilton.
CBS topper Leslie Moonves said the consumption of entertainment on the Internet is a “quandary” that he and other execs “think about every day,” but one that must be dealt with in order for networks to succeed in the future.
“I’m a TV guy,” he said during a discussion moderated by Variety VP-editorial director Peter Bart, with a panel that also included Imagine honcho Brian Grazer. “In the old days our content was on the network and you would worry about getting ratings and getting paid for it. Advertising is way down and our businesses are challenged.”
The most loyal viewer of a TV show today only watches it on a traditional screen half the time, Moonves said, with the rest of the episodes viewed on a DVR or on the Web.
That kind of behavior will increase as a younger generation makes watching entertainment online a habit, said Miller, whose mandate includes MySpace. “It’s been baked into what they do,” he said. “There will be more consumption of media through online means.”
“I think it’s a great time for optimism,” Chernin added. “We’re living in a world of greater opportunity than we’ve ever seen. Our jobs are to sit here and think of ways to invent new kinds of content, new ways of delivering them and new models that will work.”
While it’s inevitable that the decision of what gets made in the future will be somewhat dictated by a digital audience, Grazer was concerned that creativity should also ultimately have a strong voice.
“Trying to bring science to something that’s not scientific doesn’t work,” Grazer said.
The panelists were part of a starry lineup that included such showbiz-media names as Steve Forbes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rupert Murdoch, Viacom chief Sumner Redstone, Eli Broad, Tribune chairman Sam Zell, Larry King and producer Norman Lear. A crowd of 3,000 attended the confab.
At the Wednesday afternoon sesh, Miller cited Hulu.com as an example of how people are watching longer-form programming like TV shows and movies, which is attracting marketers to spend more of their ad dollars online.
Those are increasingly coming in the form of video ads that resemble the type of 30-second spots seen on TV, largely because advertisers and their agencies are comfortable with the format.
“It’s a form of transaction that has gone on for a long time and agencies feel comfortable about,” Miller said. “It can lead to a real business being created online.”
Marketers still fret over the lack of a standardized way of measuring online programming, which makes planning campaigns difficult.
But the distribution of programming online can ultimately “be your friend,” Moonves said. “Every one of us needs to embrace that.”
He cited reruns of TV shows as one area where networks have benefited, with the Web offsetting losses from lower ratings on TV.
“People don’t really watch reruns on television, but the Internet offers up an opportunity to monetize reruns,” Moonves said.
The guilds naturally want their members compensated for any digital dollars collected.
“It’s a very challenging time and a time of uncertainty,” Chernin said. “I don’t blame the guilds for being nervous and trying to do their best to protect their members. But there’s no scenario in life where you can legislate protection from marketplace changes. The notion that the guilds can legislate the way consumers can consume content is not going to happen.”
The growth of the box office this year shows that there’s still a sizeable audience that wants to see movies at the megaplex.
Grazer attributed much of that to consumers making moviegoing an event.
“What we’re asking people to do is something that’s inconvenient — get a babysitter, get in the car, get a good parking spot, get a good seat — but people seem to like to do that,” Grazer said. “It’s now thought of as an inexpensive full day. It will be something that will flourish.”
Source: Variety
Leave a Reply
Advertisements
