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| Slingbox HD |
I travel to almost an
excessive level for work and that put me in a position very early on for
adopting some kind of a "TV Everywhere" mindset. If my providers
could not deliver it, technology would, hence I installed a slingbox
about 3+ years ago. It of course was not the perfect solution but it was a
reasonable work around while the industry came to grips with getting the
consumer's the product that they wanted. It was slightly before
that time bellwethers Comcast and Time Warner proposed the TV
Everywhere initiative and cable executives were hailing it a savior for
the industry amid new kinds of competition.
So where are we now? Well
earlier this week during a panel about TV at the 4A's conference in New Orleans
the general consensus of an esteemed panel industry leaders was that the TV
Everywhere initiative hasn’t worked so well. “It's awful from a consumer
standpoint and I'm embarrassed," said David Levy, president of sales,
distribution and sports at Turner Broadcasting System. Although the
premise of TV Everywhere seems like a is a fairly straightforward one,
NBCUniversial's new EVP, Lauren Zalaznick said that "TV Everywhere's
biggest problem is that no one can agree on what TV Everywhere really
means".
A growing number of network executives have been
moaning about the disparate iterations of TV Everywhere. Every network seems to
have a different way to handle it and frustration abounds. From a
consumer perspective, knowing that all the video -- live and recorded -- is
truly available from any access point goes a long way in clarifying the
confusion that seems to stymie usage. If the user doesn’t have to second-guess
whether and where each piece of content resides, then TV Everywhere has a shot
at becoming a reflex. There is a big market here Netflix, the Super bowl,
Olympics and no doubt this year’s March Madness are all proof to this. TV
networks, producers and video service providers need to work together
to figure this out — before someone else does! For now I guess I'll just have to stick with my good ole Slingbox. Now where's that suitcase?
I must admit I was jealous when one of my client's IT guys showed me his Motorola Q connected to his Slingbox several months ago. The picture quality and smoothness of the connection was amazing.
He could playback any channel or DVR recording available on his home cable box and he could not only view them but could setup programs to record. For us road warriors with a crackberry habit, this wasn't something available however today all that changed as Sling Media announced that it is extending the mobile version of its service to Blackberry smartphones. The new version which will be released later this year, will cost Slingbox customers a one-time charge of $29.99. In my perspective this is how I would utilize mobile TV while getting better value out of my monthly investment with my cable provider. Although the viewership of mobile TV is on the rise, I firmly believe most consumers will not adapt to it if it requires yet another monthly subscription and higher phone bill. For now the gatekeepers are the telecommunication providers however with companies like Sling Media I think the business model is about to change and will be monetized finally by advertising and not subscriptions.
