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The Big Picture, Still Stuck in the Backseat?

Has the buzz about small, portable devices detracted from the cachet of large, decidedly non-portable HD TV sets? Cox's Joe Rooney, ESPN's Bryan Burns and In Demand's David Asch gathered to assess the state of HD and discuss how small screens may actually help.

By Simon Applebaum

You can often tell how important a subject is to a company by where it appears in an investor presentation, and how much is said about it. Last month Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt spent a lot of time at UBS' annual investor fest touting digital phone, ITV and wireless. More than midway through his talk, Britt turned to high-definition TV. He spent less than one minute on it. Comcast operations EVP Dave Watson followed the same path in his presentation.

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Even though the universe of homes with HD sets is growing (it's at 20 million) and two more HD cable networks launch this month, some feel HDTV has become an afterthought for cable. Not true, is the consensus of our HD roundtable of Cox Communications SVP, marketing, Joe Rooney, ESPN's HD chief Bryan Burns and In Demand Networks SVP, programming, David Asch. They feel HD will thrive this year. Still, in a wide-ranging discussion, they acknowledge concerns, particularly with consumer confusion. They also discuss simulcasting and how video games can assist HD marketing. (Following is an extended version of the interview that appeared in the print edition of CW.)

CableWORLD: It's January 2006. Where's HDTV in your company's priority list?

Joe Rooney, Cox Communications: It's toward the top. Clearly, it's important to consumers and therefore, it's important to me as a marketer.

CW: What's at the top?

Rooney: It's the bundle, baby. Still number one, but the elements within the bundle are key, and HD is one of those. What's making HD more critical, more quickly than things like interactive TV, is the fact that it's the number one win-back strategy we have against satellite.

Customers are coming to us from satellite because of our high-def product. In addition, when you buy an HD set, retailers like Big Box have very impressive displays, and it forces the consumer to look at their [multichannel] video provider and say, 'Well, I really want to watch HD on here. Do I have the right provider to get it?'

It's important for us not only to do the best we can on the marketing and sales front, but also that our retail presence is the best it can be, and we have the right value proposition for the consumer. We think we have the best HD out there.

CW: Are Joe's thoughts the exception, or the mainstream in operator HD thinking?

David Asch, In Demand: I'll speak to that more from the network side. Our goal with our three platforms--two linear HD channels, a HD PPV service and a HD VOD service--and we're fortunate to have three platforms to play with--our goal is just to put the best programming on all three of those fronts all the time.

CW: What platform (linear HD, HD PPV and HD VOD) works the best?

Asch: The easy answer, to be honest, is all of the above. But I can be more specific. Obviously, on-demand is a growing platform that gives consumers a great amount of choice and convenience. When you're able to bring a new technology and a great viewing experience like HD to that, it does add to the effect. Consumers are responding to HD VOD and HD PPV. Buy rates there tend to be a bit better. On the HD network side, HD is hard to match, whether it's sports, movie or music programming. Anything we can do to enhance those experiences is going to be well received.

CW: When Joe says HDTV is toward the top of Cox's list, not at the top, is that similar to what other operators are saying? Is HD not as sexy or alluring as what operators can do with digital phone, VOD, ITV or DVRs?

Asch: I'm not hearing that. It might be because in terms of the different platforms, we provide to cable operators the product they will use to retain their best customers and attract new ones.

Bryan Burns, ESPN: Joe's right in that HD for operators is a toward-the- top priority. I don't think it's our place to comment about the priorities an operator makes. They have their own economic situations, plus there are some economic models for other products they have these days that are very compelling, and I respect that. We're undergoing such a transformation in TV that if HD is not at the top of the list, it will be there soon.

CW: How's that?

Burns: We know now that for the first time, this year, there will be more HD sets sold than standard-definition sets sold in this country. That's a defining event. We also know from our research here, based on the consumers we reach, that consumers buying these products are equipped to spend money to feed them, which is a good thing for us and our distributors, which is what we want to happen. So there are good economic reasons to push HD going forward.

CW: There's still plenty of consumer confusion--half the HD sets aren't hooked up to a cable system's HD offering. How can you change that?

Technology Industry

The Big Picture, Still Stuck in the Backseat?

Cable World, Jan 9, 2006

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