AT&T & Verizon: We're Video Playas

Written by R. Scott Raynovich - Light Reading

Wednesday, November 12. 2008 at 01:00 PM EST Post a comment

Digg   Del.icio.us   Reddit   Email This

no ratings

• Login to Rate

UPDATED -- ANAHEIM, Calif. -- TelcoTV -- Telcos see themselves as major players in video content that can deliver multiple-screen integration and interactivity, said executives from Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) here in their keynote addresses this morning.

AT&T executive vice president Dan York said that AT&T will continue to pursue exclusive deals that allow it to broadcast content over multiple networks, or the "three screens" -- PC, TV, and mobile.

John Harrobin, Verizon's senior vice president of marketing and digital media, said that telcos would help content owners deliver their assets over more networks and help them in providing monetization schemes.

"Verizon and AT&T are the best platforms for the content owners who want to monetize their assets over multiple platforms," he said.

Harrobin pointed to NBC's recent coverage of the Olympics, which was a true multi-network event with an audience measured in millions of users across multiple platforms.

"Limiting entertainment to television misses the point," said York. "We're not just talking about a bundle -- it goes beyond putting everything on one piece of paper. It's about integration."

In the IPTV world, Dan York said that AT&T had 780,000 U-verse broadband TV customers at the end of the third quarter. He said they will exceed 1 million subscribers by the end of the year, and that AT&T has passed 14 million living units that can access the service. 

York said major differentiators of IP service are more HD channels, the ability to control the DVR remotely through the PC, and more flexibility in accessing and recording different channels while TV is being watched.

York gave examples of recent exclusive deals that allowed AT&T to distribute high-quality content events over PC, TV, and mobile platforms. These included the Masters golf tournament, the Beijing Olympics, and the Swampstock rock concert.

"We meet our customers' needs by developing around these three screens," said York. "Everything must be consumer centric, not technology centric. Services should be built around consumers and their lifestyle."

Verizon's Harrobin pointed to Verizon efforts in Web interactivity and integration, as well as the development of new features such as the "widgets" based on the ETV BIF standard

Harrobin also said that telcos can take the lead in targeted advertising, which until now has been a big disappointment for media buyers.

 "We need to ability to deploy targeted advertising," said Harrobin. "Without that we will not advance the ball. We know that TV is the most effective means to [advertise], but TV is inferior to the Web when it comes to measurability and targeting."