Commentary

Will New Pay TV Distributors Face Content Problems?

More media companies might need to be “publishers” — responsible for the distribution of information — not just hands-off operations like social-media platforms.

Twitter recently made this an issue; it will no longer be a bystander. Will this position extend to traditional-looking media distributors?

Though it has dropped TV-based news related apps in the past, Roku, the set-top box/smart TV interface which distributes thousands of apps, confirmed to TV Watch it won’t be dumping the One America News Network (OANN), a conservative TV news network, because of widely criticized journalistic issues. 

A year ago, Roku decided to drop InfoWars and one other TV app platform, also due to controversial news stories.

OANN, a San Diego-based TV network aired a story -- with little in the way of confirmation -- suggesting a protester in Buffalo in an on-camera incident with a law-enforcement officer, might actually be a provocateur for Antifa, a group President Trump has labeled as a terrorist organization. 

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The man, 75-year-old Martin Gugino, has been discharged from a local hospital after an incident where he was pushed to the ground, causing bleeding from his ear.

All this followed a recent move by Twitter to take a more responsive overview of content on its site. A recent President Trump tweet regarding current protests said: "When the looting starts, the shooting starts."

Twitter said this tweet violated the company's policies, and it put a notice on that missive saying: "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence.”

Whether you are Twitter, Roku, or other media content distributors, companies can be pulled into issues where they need to respond to misinformation, lies or outright untruths. Facebook still believes social-media platforms need to have a hands-off approach.

The overriding thought for all of these companies is somewhat in the range of what Roku told one publication: 

“We operate a platform with a wide selection of entertainment and content with diverse points of view. While we do not block or censor content based on viewpoint, we reserve the right to remove a channel that has the potential to cause harm to our platform.”

And that draws our attention to one key point: Harm. What is it here?

It could be if Roku loses subscribers and/or advertisers -- since it sells a lot of inventory on publishers' apps, as part of the deal for carriage. Roku didn’t go into detail. But you get the sense it may also be closer to Twitter’s warning of “glorifying violence.” 

To be sure, there are many iffy content operators with sketchy agendas. But the market keeps getting fuzzy.

The question is: If you are just starting up a new “content” business or in the “content marketing” business as a consumer marketer, where do you go from here?  How close to a journalistic enterprise might you want -- or need -- to be?

1 comment about "Will New Pay TV Distributors Face Content Problems?".
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  1. Tom Tyler from GCTVTexas, June 15, 2020 at 2:56 p.m.

    As it turns out, One America News was right about Gugino. It's time to defend Free Speech, Freedom of the Press and Intellectual and Political Diversity, and put the PC Nazis out of business. 

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