Interviews with Digital Media Thought Leaders
Olympics and Court Action May Accelerate DVR Adoption
Podcast Audio | Posted by Phil Leigh on September 1, 2008
A recent appellate court decision, in combination with the NBC’s Olympic TV viewing experience, may well prompt acceleration in the adoption of DVRs (e.g. TiVo’s). I discuss the points with Jim Burger, who is a copyright attorney with DowLohnes in Washington D.C.
Originally Cablevision announced plans to offer a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) service to be hosted within the physical CATV network instead via on-premises equipment that must be installed in the homes of individual subscribers. One advantage is that the “networked-DVR” would enable Cablevision to roll out the service through many of the set-top boxes already deployed with subscribers. Thus, the company could avoid the expense of installing new set-top boxes for those subscribers choosing the DVR service.
However, Turner Broadcasting took Cablevision to court and got a ruling that a “networked-DVR” would infringe upon copyrights held by program providers. Cablevision appealed and just won their argument at the appellate level thereby getting the green light to proceed. The only way that Turner (or any program provider) can stop Cablevision now is to take the case to the Supreme Court. But Jim feels that the odds are low that the Supreme Court will agree to review the case and even if they did it is questionable that Turner could win.
As Jim and I discussed the case our conversation segued into the implications for the consumer and our viewing experience with the Olympics. Today, one-out-of-four homes has a DRV. However, if the CATV industry is permitted to offer service within the network, then the adoption rate could accelerate since many of the existing set-top boxes could be used to offer the service. Moreover, the lower costs of implementation may also result in a lower monthly fee to subscribers.
During the conversation Jim and I compared our viewing experience during the recent Olympics. Much of the NBC coverage was in programs with lengths running from 3 – 5 hours. I could not afford to stay-up late so I merely TiVo’ed and watch only what I wanted to see the following day, which did not include any of the commercials. Conversations with others about town led me to realize that my usage pattern was not uncommon. Given today’s DVR market penetration percentage, the Olympics may well have been a tipping point for the demise of mandatory scheduled TV viewing and conventional disruptive television advertising.
Product placement with clickable overlays could witness an acceleration of usage. For example, I watched a lot of the swimming events and was fascinated by the discussion of the Speedo Laser swimsuits which will be sold to the public within a month. At $500 they will only be of interest to competitive swimmers, but the Olympics provided a perfect opportunity for clickable overlay ads that would connect the viewer to the Speedo order form. It is the wave of the future for all of us, not just swimmers.
Categories: Podcast Audio
Tags: Cablevision, digital media, DowLhones, DVR, future of advertising, Future of Television, Internet Adverting, Internet video, NBC, Olympics, Overlay Ads, TiVo, Turner Broadcasting
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