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FutureMedia heralds end of broadcast TV A perfect storm of digital media evolution is set to wipe out the traditional television business within the next few years, according to a medley of views delivered at C21's FutureMedia 2005 conference yesterday. Speaker after speaker referred to the rapid changes taking place in the entertainment sector that, all believed, will see the end of scheduled television, the arrival of time-shifted viewing and personalisation, and fundamental changes in the way audiences interact with their media. Adam Singer, group chief executive of MCPS-PRS Alliance, said: "In the new world navigators will become the new aggregators. The television business is slow to recognise that the search for personalised entertainment is about to redefine the business models. The empty savanna is being filled by companies like Google who will become a major force in the future of entertainment." Singer said that with players like BT set to come into the 'television' market and 3G and broadband rolling out, the audience will become used to being "permanently connected" and will get used to leasing content rather than owning it – a model more akin to the music business than television. In this environment "the challenge is figuring out as a broadcaster what we won't do, not what we will," said Andy Taylor, MD of Channel 4 New Media. "We have to set new priorities that look to the long term rather than the short term." Speaking in relation to the current battle to define ownership of content on off-air platforms, in which Channel 4 is bidding for a 30-day window for new-media rights, Taylor said: "In 2010 Channel 4's audience share will be smaller. There will be more digital channels and, as we approach analogue switch-off, lots more on new platforms. It has to be good for the production community, and the consumer, if Channel 4 is protected in this new environment." The importance of this window for a terrestrial channel reflects the growing impact broadband and mobile will have on the traditional business. While Channel 4 fights, along with other broadcasters, for a stake in IPTV and mobile, those currently paying for television see the model changing too. Mark Boyd, head of content at ad agency BBH, said: "Somebody has to pay for television. People get the television they deserve, and as the model changes it is going to be easier for brands to go direct to consumers rather than reach them through a broadcast channel." Boyd added that to launch a dedicated brand channel could cost as little as producing two advertising campaigns for television. "You can see the logic of looking for alternative routes to market," he added. Jonathan Sykes, MD of content strategy at the world's oldest IPTV provider, Video Networks, said: "In the US, NBC is now selling its top series to iTunes within 12 hours of airing them on TV. Anyone who doesn't recognise the significance of this for the television business is missing the point. Red button interactivity has come and gone. We are now seeing the arrival of a truly interactive platform that will see content providers behave like retailers and develop a much closer relationship with the audience." David Jenkinson 9 Dec 2005 © C21 Media 2005 
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