THE ABC television network's decision to sell its content online, while angering affiliates, was aimed at preventing piracy from eroding the broadcasting business, a senior network executive said.
ABC, owned by Walt Disney, sells some of its shows on iTunes and will soon experiment with offering popular shows such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" free on the internet, supported by advertising.
Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney admitted the iTunes move "did not endear us" to local station affiliates but said thousands of illegal copies of hit shows were being downloaded hours after broadcast in a rapidly growing trend.
"It's actually becoming common for programming in the US to be captured real time from the East Coast broadcast and put online for anyone in the world to see before the same show airs on the West Coast," she said at the National Association of Broadcasters' annual convention in Las Vegas.
A major concern of the local affiliates is that they will be cut out of the revenue picture by the television networks when popular shows are made available for downloading or are streamed directly to consumers over the internet.
David Rehr, president and chief executive of the NAB which represents hundreds of local affiliates, called on the networks to share with affiliate's revenue from new distribution platforms.
Ms Sweeney said the network must treat piracy as a business model that competes the same way, through price, time to market and distribution.
"Going forward, piracy will be our number one competitor and our business models have to reflect that reality," Ms Sweeney said. "We have to create models that encourage and allow honest people to stay honest."
ABC plans next month to offer some of its most popular shows for free on the internet in a two-month trial.
"We expect to learn a lot from this effort about the technology as well as the consumers who use it," she said. "And we will be sharing that information with our affiliates so we can work together to build the right online model."
Ms Sweeney also said ABC planned to launch later this year an enhanced version of its internet television streaming portal with more features, but did not elaborate.
While she left unanswered the question about sharing revenue, Sweeney said future decisions about online products would reflect the input and interests of the affiliates.
"We believe the opportunities for additional revenue for all broadcasters presented by technology are enormous," NAB's Rehr said in a statement after Sweeney's speech.
News Corp's Fox network signed an agreement with its affiliates so it can air reruns of shows on the internet while giving the stations a share of the revenue.
The NBC network, which is owned by General Electric, and its affiliates are jointly investing in a new internet video initiative to launch later this year, with the aim of harvesting local video programming from the affiliates for the web.
Ms Sweeney said broadcasters must target a generation she dubbed the "millennial generation," people between the ages of eight and 27 who are more mobile, in constant communication and are accomplished multi-taskers.
"We have to understand how they use technology and create enhanced viewing experiences around that viewing behaviour," she said.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18933731^15318^^nbv^,00.html
ABC, owned by Walt Disney, sells some of its shows on iTunes and will soon experiment with offering popular shows such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" free on the internet, supported by advertising.
Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney admitted the iTunes move "did not endear us" to local station affiliates but said thousands of illegal copies of hit shows were being downloaded hours after broadcast in a rapidly growing trend.
"It's actually becoming common for programming in the US to be captured real time from the East Coast broadcast and put online for anyone in the world to see before the same show airs on the West Coast," she said at the National Association of Broadcasters' annual convention in Las Vegas.
A major concern of the local affiliates is that they will be cut out of the revenue picture by the television networks when popular shows are made available for downloading or are streamed directly to consumers over the internet.
David Rehr, president and chief executive of the NAB which represents hundreds of local affiliates, called on the networks to share with affiliate's revenue from new distribution platforms.
Ms Sweeney said the network must treat piracy as a business model that competes the same way, through price, time to market and distribution.
"Going forward, piracy will be our number one competitor and our business models have to reflect that reality," Ms Sweeney said. "We have to create models that encourage and allow honest people to stay honest."
ABC plans next month to offer some of its most popular shows for free on the internet in a two-month trial.
"We expect to learn a lot from this effort about the technology as well as the consumers who use it," she said. "And we will be sharing that information with our affiliates so we can work together to build the right online model."
Ms Sweeney also said ABC planned to launch later this year an enhanced version of its internet television streaming portal with more features, but did not elaborate.
While she left unanswered the question about sharing revenue, Sweeney said future decisions about online products would reflect the input and interests of the affiliates.
"We believe the opportunities for additional revenue for all broadcasters presented by technology are enormous," NAB's Rehr said in a statement after Sweeney's speech.
News Corp's Fox network signed an agreement with its affiliates so it can air reruns of shows on the internet while giving the stations a share of the revenue.
The NBC network, which is owned by General Electric, and its affiliates are jointly investing in a new internet video initiative to launch later this year, with the aim of harvesting local video programming from the affiliates for the web.
Ms Sweeney said broadcasters must target a generation she dubbed the "millennial generation," people between the ages of eight and 27 who are more mobile, in constant communication and are accomplished multi-taskers.
"We have to understand how they use technology and create enhanced viewing experiences around that viewing behaviour," she said.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18933731^15318^^nbv^,00.html