Changing demographics are transforming media, say panelists at NMBA’s iSummit

Creativity, convergence, copyright and communities were all hot talking points at this week’s first-ever iSummit, an interactive media conference organized by the Toronto-based New Media Busin-ess Alliance. Keynote speaker Alexander Manu, director of the Beal Centre for Strategic Creativity at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, delivered an exhortation to the audience to play more. "Work demands that we subcontract play to Tiger Woods," he said, referring to the popular golfer and the earning potential he has as an analog for golf enthusiasts who are too busy to do it full-time. It’s a perilous state of affairs, he added: "Without play, imagination dies, without imagination, creativity dies." "The idea of the generation born digital entering the workplace is reshaping and restructuring society," he said, namely through the values they approach their careers with. The workforce of the future will place a renewed emphasis on leisure and break down the work-play dichotomy, further embrace online and virtual communities, interact and shape content more through their own participation, be exposed to education at every turn thanks to technological innovation, and finally live longer and continue to enjoy youthful pastimes into their old age. Armed with those attributes that encourage play, future generations of workers will have a more finely honed imagination than many of today’s strategic thinkers, but they will also be able to envision what might be around the bend and plan accordingly, Manu said, adding that "challenges to imagination are the keys to creativity." In the first panel discussion of the morning, a "superpanel" of top executives from high-profile Canadian media firms sounded off about the state of convergence today. Norm Bolen, executive VP of content at Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., said broadcast television is still the anchor for his firm’s efforts to get content out on new platforms, but added that "broadband is the bullhorn of all bullhorns" as a marketing tool. Meanwhile, CHUM Television VP of content business development Maria Hale noted that her organization has always been heavily involved in participatory media with such properties as CityLine and Speaker’s Corner, and is continuing to do so in the digital media space with innovations such as Muchmusic’s Razer, which allows users to vote for the programming flow from their mobile phones. "For 2006 the focus is mobility," Hale said. "It’s all about portability of content." Bell Canada VP of consumer Internet services Gary Anderson noted that attempts at convergent media back in the late 1990s dot-com heyday were less than successful, due to network technology then being less than ready for prime time, a sentiment that drew nods from Rogers Communications Inc. chief strategy officer Mike Lee. "The underlying platform for all these services is IP," he said, noting that recent speed increases to wired broadband services and new wireless network rollouts mean the backbone is finally in place for content delivery that more closely replicates the broadcast experience. While some broadcasters have had debates within as to whether or not moving content to IP networks will jeopardize their broadcast businesses, all on the panel agreed that users were demanding more programming on alternate platforms regardless. "If you as a customer decide you want to watch TV on your PC, I can’t convince you it’s better to watch it on your TV," said Lee. Rogers’ philosophy, he added, is "follow the customer." Hale, meanwhile, had conversations with CHUM staffers who were concerned that online content surrounding specific programs might cannibalize television viewership, especially where the online content was released before or near the time of broadcast. Her reply? "We’re going to do this because we’re not worried about what the audience is going to be tonight, we’re looking two or three months down the road." Later in the day, another panel discussion probed the various approaches to creating a multi-platform strategy that produces revenue from each distribution channel. Moderator Mclean Mashingdaize Greaves, a founder of CBC experimental TV project Zed and president and founder of Vancouver-based The Nimble Company, noted that US broadcasters were starting to make their shows available for download on Apple Inc.’s iTunes services, a move that could potentially jeopardize the lucrative broadcast deals Canadian networks make to air such shows here. "It’s pretty clear that television is going to have to swing back to locally produced…programming," said CHUM Interactive director Dale Fallon. And, while Zed/CBC interactive ventures producer Jennifer Ouano pointed out that iTunes’ Canadian service doesn’t yet offer hit shows such as Desperate Housewives or Lost for download here, Canadian broadcasters "might be feeling that they’re not the middleman you need to view this kind of program," she said. As a pure-play online content provider, Yahoo Canada Co. general manager Kerry Munro confided that broadcasters have viewed him with suspicion during content sharing and licensing deals. "When I first met with them, to be honest, there was a question mark in their minds as to whether we were friend or foe," he said. And while technically Yahoo Canada and the CBC are competing for the same media viewing audience, the reality today is that "there really isn’t a broadcaster out there who isn’t doing these kinds of deals with AOL and Yahoo," Ouano said. Interactive TV specialty channel BiteTV, meanwhile, is pushing out its bawdy blend of sports, comedy and girls through traditional cable distribution with partners Rogers Cable, Cogeco Cable Inc. and Vidéotron Ltée, but also on Telus Corp.’s Mytelus IPTV offering and on BiteTV’s website. Its convergence play comes from the fact that viewers can use the Web, wireless devices and other means to participate in the programming and offer real-time feedback. "I don’t care where our audience consumes our content, as long as we’re in that value chain somewhere along the line," said BiteTV president and CEO Jeffrey Elliott. "Personally, I think you have to be involved in all those platforms." He added that while studies show that younger demographics are increasingly turning away from TV-based entertainment and to the Web, the enjoyment of linear video is still ingrained in many. "I’ll bet they’re watching TV online," he said. While nearly every speaker throughout the day agreed that convergent websites were not yet at a stage where they could be stand-alone generators of revenue independent of mainstream media tie-ins, Fallon says that’s been the policy at CHUM since it first decided to create Web properties. "I joined in 2001, and the model was already well-established," he said, adding that CHUM has been successful and that its websites make money. In response to an audience member, who noted that broadcasters tend to gravitate to CRTC-protected undertakings that offer more predictable revenue, Elliott said the disruptive power of the Web has hit hard those industries that initially downplayed it and saw no need to get involved in the online world. "The Internet has gone through every business sector and turned it upside down," Elliott noted. "Why would broadcasting be any different?" Canadian New Media will feature more on iSummit 2006, including coverage of the second day’s sessions, in its next issue.

Changing demographics are transforming media, say panelists at NMBA’s iSummit

Broadcast | March 31, 2006

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