• by Wayne Friedman , January 8, 2009

LAS VEGAS -- Future growth of TV platforms for consumers will dance on a fine line between success and failure, unlike somewhat easier efforts in the recent past.

In delivering a keynote address at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television Group, said: "Our task in the digital era isn't just to create something new for consumers--it's to get it right. And that requires an incredibly high level of innovation and collaboration among the people in this room and across our industries."

Three years ago, Disney-ABC made a historic move, becoming the first media company to place its programming on a new digital platform: the iTunes Music Store.

"It's hard to believe that just three years ago, we were still debating the possibility--and wisdom--of putting TV content on other platforms," said Sweeney. "Today, it's so commonplace to see people using different devices to watch content that it's as if the technology has always existed, as if we've always had these options."

Future growth will be harder to target. "It requires a new kind of convergence," she says. According to Sweeney, it's not just merging technology, but converging "all of our focus around the consumers... our success will be determined by our ability to work together to create more value, more usefulness ... and more relevance for the hundreds of millions of consumers around the world who watch our shows."

For TV marketers, some of this "converging" will come from Disney's new Ad Lab in Austin, Texas that it launched last month.

"It's a state-of-the-art research facility studying consumer behavior and responses to media, advertising and new technology.... As we learn more about what works on these new platforms, we're sharing that knowledge with our advertising and distribution partners," she says.

Some of this information has already been put to good use. Sweeney says that last September, ABC launched a short-form digital series based on "Ugly Betty," which is sponsored by Merck, called "Mode After Hours." More than 10 million people watched the six weekly episodes--ABC's most successful short-form series to date.

Sweeney also suggests that technology such as a new line of Intel computer chips will affect future TV business--chips that can create special widgets where advertisers can connect with viewers in "real time" interactivity. ABC may focus on two franchises--"Good Morning America" and "Lost"--for just that type of widget interactivity.

"Within that chip is a software platform that allows new applications for television," she says. "Intel's decision to allow different manufacturers to use their new chip... holds out the promise of the kind of creative innovation and collaboration required to create what comes next for consumers."

One future problem remains: figuring out how much consumers will use new the technology.

By example, Sweeney says that for now, she has pared down her iPhone use to "email, photos of my kids." In addition, she checks in from time to time on ABC News--a weather application--and checks out new Disney-ABC shows.

"What we haven't seen yet is how much content we will consume, and how much revenue we can generate from it," she says. "But all indications are that the more ways consumers have to watch content, the more their appetite for it grows."