US networks agree on online question, no answers
November 19, 2009
In a panel at a B&C event Marc Graboff, chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios; Bruce Rosenblum, president of Warner Bros. Television Group; Nancy Tellem, president of CBS Network Television Entertainment Group; and John Wells, president of the Writers Guild of America, agreed the success of Hulu and other catch up services and the beginnings of content everywhere, illustrated the urgent need to create a model for online viewing that dissuades viewers from cord cutting, is measurable and presents content in branded environments that relate back to the TV networks that distribute it.
“The dollars that go into cable MSOs and satellite help support basic cable nets and help support us [the content supplier],” said Warner Bros.’ Rosenblum. “We don’t want the consumer to stop paying for cable. It feeds the ecosystem that pays basic cable that pays us for repeats.”
The measurement of viewing on DVR and its potential effect on the economics was another key point and all hoped the recently formed Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement would deliver. NBC’s Graboff said DVRs “a huge leak in the bucket.”