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Roberts On Demand

In a move that could have broad implications for all cable operators, Comcast will push video-on-demand - not personal video recorders - throughout its system next year. CEO Brian Roberts last week said the move is necessary in order to keep content in the control of cable operators rather than consumers - and to secure a constant revenue stream.

Content's control inside the home amounts to "the Napster of the future," Roberts said, adding, "I think we should let that model go."

Speaking at the BroadbandPlus conference in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, he stressed that the cable industry must develop a safe, viable pay television model to bring consumers more programming choices without losing license and advertising revenue.

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MSO control makes it easier to keep ads in the programs as well as raise rates, he said in a session with CNBC anchor Bill Griffeth.

Roberts's plans could well set the pace for the cable industry given Comcast's huge footprint of 21.4 million subscribers after acquiring AT&T Broadband last month.

Most operators at the show, stressing the need to push the industry out of its economic slump, agreed that VOD is key to keeping subscribers from switching to satellite. For its part Comcast now has VOD in 16 municipalities within ten states. And, while it hasn't officially launched in the city yet, 500,000 Philadelphia customers already have VOD, Roberts said.

After testing PVRs in 2000, Comcast found that downloading programming to a hard drive in a consumer's home via a PVR such as TiVo, which satellite leader DirecTV uses, threatens the lifeblood of TV entertainment, Roberts said.

"The world of the bad guys is moving just as fast as the good guys," he said of programming theft via digital copies and the Internet. "And if we don't develop a viable, secure pay model, I think the technology will be used in a way to destabilize the existing businesses."

Several operators on another BroadbandPlus panel the following day generally agreed with Roberts on the fate of PVRs. When Mediacom CEO Rocco Commisso was asked if PVRs were a good solution for operators, Edward "Ted" Rogers, president and CEO of Canadian cable operator Rogers Communications, jumped in with the answer: "The answer is no."

Commisso laughed and then repeated, "The answer is no."

But Michael Willner, CEO of Insight Communications, stuck up for PVRs, explaining that the technology has a place within a cable operator's system. Time Warner Cable also is testing the PVR waters, increasing its deployment of set-top boxes with hard drives nationwide.

In the end, however, the biggest cable operator probably has a greater say on the subject. And as Comcast rebuilds the AT&T Broadband systems next year, including a $650 million investment in California alone, Roberts will bring either VOD or perhaps network-based PVR to consumers system by system.

That would keep control in the cable operator's head-end rather than the consumer's household.

THE NEXT QUESTION:

*With his newly established leadership role in place, will Roberts's stance on personal video recorders prompt other cable operators to rethink PVRs as well?

Technology Industry

Roberts On Demand

Cable World, Dec 9, 2002

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