Commentary

Wanted: Portable TV To Liberate Traditional Model

Why isn't there a device that will liberate the television experience the same way Apple's iPod revolutionized recorded music for consumers?

Possible reasons include: a) creating the right portable small screen, b) securing necessary content rights, c) striking new advertising and pay models, or d) consumers are "one" with their passive TV sets. The complicated answer--all of the above and more--is buffeted by two powerful headwinds: a recessionary economy and a temporary lull in tech innovation. It could be years before consumers have more personalized, fully integrated TV viewing to go.

Makers of laptops, PDAs, mobile smart phones and broadband-enabled TV sets as well as the most powerful aggregators and distributors will cry foul. They all claim to have the digital TV solution. They have taken significant steps. But no one has the entire mobile iPod package for TV that will take the mass medium to the next interactive level--not even the consumer-centric Apple. Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and other tech giants continue to focus on devices and strategies with television as part of a larger digital in-home hub.

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For now, cable's DVR-equipped set-top box and bulk-priced packaging of content (the fees to which cost Comcast more than $2 billion annually) is the most cost-efficient and simple option. But it is a bar that must be raised. Even cable is loath for a mobile video solution outside the home.

Even Apple's iTunes will further evolve into a more "elegant" portfolio of solutions and services, as Forrester Research says. It will be billing, downloads, updates, content production and editing, and all-around management from cloud servers aimed at a more intelligent interface between everything mobile and the digital home.

The average three-minute attention span for Web video and shifting consumer and advertiser attitudes toward user-generated fare indicate that we are a long way from solutions. Changing the legacy structures, processes, and mindset of content, advertising and hardware companies is a slow process. A weak economy could make hybrid device adoption a casualty of prolonged churn and normal attrition. Although savvy consumers complain that not all screens are equal, the masses seem content with downloading and viewing video on their available Internet-connected PCs, smart phones and PDA.

Still, it is likely that the introduction of a true so-called TV iPod--just like the original music iPod--would represent a revolutionary enough break from the past and dazzling enough value proposition to be an instant hit with consumers.

Another major impediment is the inseparable trio of hardware and content providers as well as advertisers. They must resolve the complex logistics of such a device, knowing they are assured clear new economic models and ROI. But the approach is scattershot, evident in last Friday's headlines. Nokia sees its dominant share of the global mobile devices falling along with prices, although partly in response to cheaper competitors. CBS insists it can use the Internet to bypass cable in a bid for bigger, more direct digital video profits. E-commerce king Amazon launched an on-demand streaming video service. Kellogg says it has achieved higher ROI from its recent digital marketing than its broadcast advertising efforts.

Such are the wide-ranging expectations, demands and certitude of players that can deliver a radically new television experience. In the end, advertisers and agencies may discover digital's golden egg if they can solicit universal support to craft a truly integrated tailored ad template that follows consumers cross-platform. Such win-win collaborations--as well as skillfully crafted CPMs--present formidable challenges.

Google has successfully penetrated the advertising establishment with AdWords and AdSense, primarily because it did not need permission from gatekeepers to launch a better way of doing things. Using YouTube to contrive new video models has it running headlong into copyright fee issues with Viacom and other professional content creators. Learning how to play in other people's pools by new rules is tough for everyone. Even Sony, which has the advantage of controlling global hardware and software, is wrestling with itself.

The solution is as simple, and as complex, as creating new paradigms and metrics. Judith Estrin, CEO of JLabs LLC and Walt Disney board member, argues in her new book "Closing the Innovation Gap" that risk-aversion and a short-term mentality have handicapped Silicon Valley and all of the technology world in pursuing that objective at a time when legacy-bound media and advertising need their help most.

The Feb. 17 government-mandated conversion from analog brings an elemental level of digital service to U.S. TV households--and may, in fact, bust a handful of struggling small and mid-sized local TV stations. Consumers will continue to use a patchwork of tools to personalize content and communications where possible: from RSS feeds, widgets and social networking to cable VOD, TiVo and Netflix. More customized digital pay-for-play and premium services could be a logical extension.

While the digital conversions will improve the quality of TV viewing in the home, they will not create a new TV viewing experience. Apple may yet champion the cause as its iPod reaches market saturation and its valued ecosystem needs new legs. Considering how deeply embedded and complicated the television experience is, it could take a while. Even the most buoyant projections for mobile video and TV are painfully small, perhaps due to the absence of a catalytic iPod-like device that can put affordable, portable, selective TV in the consumer's pocket. It could be as simple as this: all parties acknowledging that interactivity is new age television's killer app.

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