Memorandum

To: Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation

From: Ben Levy, Strategic Planning Committee

Subject: Television Disrupted, by Shelly Palmer

“Television Disrupted,” by Shelly Palmer

Shelly Palmer, in his book, Television Disrupted, makes the argument of how network programming on television is becoming a lost cause with the development of technologies.  Palmer discusses how there are two types of television viewers.  There are casual viewers and directed viewers.  He describes casual viewers as consumers who sit on the couch and watch a show with a bag of chips while a directed viewers is a consumer who “takes a proactive role in their television viewing experience, they plan what they are going to watch and they plan when they are going to watch it (Palmer 128).”  With the development of technology, the directed viewer is a lost art.  Consumers no longer have to go through the effort of making sure they are in front of the TV when the show is on because of all the different options a consumer has to watch their content.  With second-screen viewing, Digital Video Recorders (DVR’s), the internet, side-cars, game consoles, and piracy, the consumer has the freedom to watch their show “anytime, anyplace, anywhere.”  Comcast needs to continue its development in these different platforms because the movement away from original TV programming is trending up.  Continuing to develop second-screen viewing technology and keeping up with these trends is pivotal for the success of Comcast.  In addition to this, the opportunity of interactive television is a technology that is “out there” and needs further development to become a major profit for media companies.

Shelly Palmer is an excellent source on this information as he is the Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group, LLC and President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which is the organization that gives the Emmy Awards.  In addition to this, he is the host of “MediaBytes,” which is a show that gives daily information on the top stories in technology, media, and entertainment.  Having said this, Palmer is very resourceful when considering the development of technology away from TV.

“Personal computers and the internet have removed the financial and technological carriers to entry, which has effectively removed the role of the gatekeeper (Palmer 93).”  Palmer says this to mean that the gatekeepers, who are the people holding the content, no longer have the pull on the consumer they used to have.  The modern content distribution system, which can be seen below, is irrelevant and one of the reasons for this is the internet.  Content is openly available at anytime on the internet from anywhere.  Something that Comcast does a good job of is allowing access to this content through an Xfinity account.  This allows the consumer access thousand of titles on-demand.  Because of this consumers become their own program directors.  The problem that Palmer discusses with this is the complexity of on-demand technology.

Comcast needs to make it easier for “the average person” to navigate through in order for them to find the content they want and possible new content for the consumer.  Palmer suggests that on-demand technology should use recommendation engines and collaborative filtering.  Another possibility Comcast should explore is a social aspect for this technology.  This would allow you to see what your friends are watching and give recommendations of shows for you to watch.

Comcast needs to make sure that their content is available on game consoles and “side-car” systems, such as Apple TV.  Referring to game consoles Palmer says, “When hooked up to a television monitor, they create an HD-ready, Internet-based distribution network that is customized and heavily skewed toward males 13-32 years of age (Palmer 50).”  He goes on to talk about how this demographic is “solid gold for an extraordinarily large segment of brand and lifestyle advertisers (Palmer 50).”  After hearing this it is hard to deny the importance of this medium and to exploit it.  Comcast, especially with their acquisition of NBCUniversal, needs to position themselves better in this space.

The same thing can be said about side-cars, or small boxes that you link to your television so it can receive additional programming.  With many consumers cutting the cord on cable, game consoles and side-cars will become two of the most popular ways for consumers to access the content they want.  In addition to this, there is a huge profit to be made by Comcast through advertising revenue.   This will also allow for further distribution of content made by Comcast and will allow more consumers to be contacted and this is important because Palmer says, “Contact is King (Palmer 184)!”

Another way technology has influenced the disruption of television is with placeshifting.  Placeshifting is something that is very mobile and allows you to access your DVR from your mobile device or tablet.  The first company to invest in this technology was Sling Media.  Sling Media created the Slingbox and gave consumers the opportunity to have access to their DVR and television over a wireless network in another room or even another country.  This technology already exists today, but it may become important to develop and invest more in since consumers are currently consuming their media content when they want and how they want.  This trend will only continue to rise and Comcast should ensure that their consumers have the ability to do this as a Comcast Xfinity subscriber.

Something that Palmer discusses in his book is the opportunity for interactive and enhanced television and this is the future technology that Comcast should look into.  The possibilities of two-screen enhanced television are endless.  One-screen enhanced television viewing could include game play and information gathering, but the single screen is the television itself.  With second-screen viewing, the television would combine with the mobile device or tablet to create a different and more interactive experience with the content you are viewing.  “The enhanced programming can include literally anything that can be displayed on a computer screen in relative synchronicity with the television programming (Palmer 38).”  Some of this already occurs with fantasy football apps while watching a NFL game, but the technology can take consumers to a whole new level of interacting with the content in front of them.

Palmer uses the example of watching an episode of “Friends” and when Jennifer Aniston walks in wearing a sweater that you like you can click on the sweater and find all of the information you need on that particular sweater.  The development and use of this technology is endless and is where the industry is headed.  This technology will bring more advertisers in and create more product placement in shows, which, in turn, will raise the advertising revenue.  It is important that Comcast realize the opportunity this new technology allows and they take advantage of the money and profits that can be earned from it.

In conclusion, television is becoming a disrupted medium with the development of new technologies.  The internet is not the only disruptor as game consoles, side-cars, and placeshifting technology are changing the ways in which consumers get their content.  Consumers want to be their own program directors at times and this causes them to access their content when they want.  Because of these disruptors, Comcast needs to make sure they are advanced in the media realms that are separate from the physical television set.  This will allow them to continue developing as a media company and stay relevant in the media realm.

Bibliography

Palmer, Shelly. Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV. 2nd Edition. Stamford, CT: York House Press, 2008. Print.