Commentary

Distribution Windows: Can The Industry See Through Them?

Cable, satellite, and teleco TV distributors are fighting to get into Internet-delivered programming. They would join such established players as Netflix and Amazon, and newer ones like Intel and Apple, in looking to secure Internet distribution rights for programming. Whether content owners will go along is another matter.

It’s no surprise, then, that DirecTV, which has recently seen slower growth for its traditional satellite business, made a bid for Hulu.  Its competitor Dish Network had already tried to buy a phone company, Sprint Nextel.

Big cable companies are already in such areas as phone and broadband. While still pulling in big dollars from their traditional video businesses, many are sitting pretty when it comes to Internet-delivered TV programming, because they own and sell Internet services.

In the old days of the TV business -- starting perhaps two decades ago -- programming “windows” were stricter. These windows included broadcast networks, cable networks, syndication, pay TV and international. Shows moved systematically from one window to another, depending on their revenue potential.

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Now, as new niches pop up, that flow can be mixed up. Finding a business formula might not be so easy. For example, how do new linear TV channels delivered on the Internet get priced? Are traditional VOD deals different than those for the likes of Netflix, delivered through the Internet? What about new local digital broadcast over-the-top services that want to pay for programming -- versus companies like renegade Aereo?

TV programmers like having many new distributors to deal with because it forces competition and potentially higher pricing. Traditional distributors might claim to have more trust with consumers and better ways to package product.

Look through any TV window, and you can see that entertainment consumers just want their programming delivered simply -- at the lowest price possible.

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