Fries: Content our key
June 28, 2016
Nick Snow @ Cable Congress
Mike Fries, President and CEO of Liberty Global, and Josh Sapan, President and CEO of AMC Networks set out the future of the cable industry as a multi-platform provider, embracing relevant content and experiences, with a huge investment in content and stories that people want to see.
Mike Fries and Josh Sapan were being interviewed by FT media man David Bond at Cable Congress in Warsaw.
Mike Fries said that “TV is a powerful product. The cable industry has growing up to do, and change – but it’s already happening. We spend a lot of time thinking about how to make that TV experience better and we have evolved.”
Josh Sapan noted that cable video subscriptions are going up, and that aggregate video consumption is increasing because “people love stories and TV is the predominant place for stories that people love.”
Earlier, Peter Hinssen, Chairman of nexxworks, gave the opening keynote speech with a vision of future technology development and the promise that “smart will be the new normal.” Hinssen challenged the cable industry to develop a “moonshot mindset” to stay relevant, and warned that the world is moving from a “digital first to mobile first” approach to one of “mobile first to AI (artificial intelligence) first.”
Both Fries and Sapan agreed that investment in content is key to success in the cable sector, and that ensuring customers have access to the content they want is crucial, on any platform they want.
Despite giving a last minute major donation to the Remain campaign Fries says Liberty is relaxed about Brexit – the markets will react but then he expects them to settle down although there may be regulatory disruptions.