2010.15 My NAB highlights … the top 10
Over 1,500 companies are on the NAB (click NAB for site) floor, and 479 of them are non-US based. Below is my attempt to edit a huge show into a few minutes. My personal show highlights….
1. 3D is the talk of this show. The lines to watch demos were long at Sony (Sony’s Hiroshi Yoshioka gave an opening keynote in which he stressed consumer demand for 3D), Panasonic and others. Buzz remains that 3D is the next technology invention to save the entertainment industry. Options are growing quickly and costs are coming down.
My specifics: I saw a great panel – with demo videos – on 3D sports. Incredible; and I’m one who generally doesn’t get excited about sports. On the panel were Anthony Bailey, Phil Orlins and Bob Toms from ESPN and Vincent Pace of PACE (and Avatar). Glen Dickson from Broadcasting and Cable Magazine moderated. I learned that the event rights holders were driving the production demand and that viewers are eager to watch the resulting product. Thus far, it is still a next generation experience and not a replacement for regular 2D sports. Not enough legacy work has been done to automate the process. Indeed the cameras often need to be placed lower to the action than are traditional cameras and the graphics must be scaled back so the screen doesn’t look too busy. Listening to Vincent Pace, a true 3D innovator, discuss the aesthetic challenges inherent in shooting 3D sports gave me my own Steve Jobs/calligraphy moment: I now view the images floating across the screen in an entirely new way.
2. Gadgets still sell… regardless of a recession.
How many panelists had iPads? Well, given the so recent Apple introduction they were pretty ubiquitous. One set of panelists agreed that the iPad is great for media or surfing the web on their couch but, as it didn’t fit in their pocket, wasn’t even to close to replacing their cell as number one.
I learned that Android smartphones now make up close to 7% of the market.
And, the GoPro HD Hero Naked is the coolest gadget of the year in my book (so far). The company has a booth at the show and their camera sold out of the NAB store in less than a day (at about $200). They make wearable, high quality HD cameras for sports. Waterproof, many versions (not just the Naked) including ones that fit on your surfboard – race car – bike – or wrist, durable (obviously) and great quality shots either as a video or a series of stills. Want to surf inside the curl of a wave at high definition? See the whole story by clicking GoPro.
3. The lack of available bandwidth and carry fees continue to be core issues. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave a speech in which he discussed the FCC’s broadband plan. Broadcasters will be “encouraged” and “incented” to give up some of their broadband spectrum to be re-allocated to telecom companies.
“We’re at serious risk as a country in not moving quickly enough on our technology infrastructure and in other areas to remain the world’s leader in innovation,” he said.
The day prior, in another speech, NAB president Gordon Smith had compared the Chairman’s request for spectrum to Vito Corleone, in The Godfather, making people offers they couldn’t refuse. Chairman Genachowski joked back about the comment saying that as a result of the analogy “all the good restaurants have been offering to comp me.”
Later that day, a consortium of many of the countries’ largest broadcasters struck a deal to create a joint venture that would develop programming for mobile devices. The content provided could reach up to 150 million people (broadcast by them on their existing spectrum). Click article to read the entire story.
Chairman Genachowski also said that the agency is looking into (and looking for comments about) retransmission fees. We all remember the battle between Disney and Cablevision in March, during which certain Cablevision subscribers were threatened with no Oscar broadcast. He didn’t give any insight as to what the FCC will decide, just that Time Warner Cable and a few other like companies had asked them to look into the issue.
4. Multi-platform is a big buzzword. I liked how Dana Walden and Gary Newman, co-Chairmen of Twentieth Century Fox Television (Joe Flint of the LA Times moderated), described it in the context of Glee (click to see videos), their hit music show . They explained that the goal was to get the content into as many channels as possible – some of which are for marketing and not direct payment. Consumers all still appreciate quality content with universal themes and strong characters. Studios just have to be more creative in finding multiple channels in which to monetize the content. Glee did that, in part, through music, with a show over the summer, albums, etc. And, content needs to be monetized more quickly now (forget the days of relying on syndication or DVDs in a few years – 24 was put on DVD right after the first season ended). However, the idea of the network season, they stated, is still sacrosanct.
I also sat in on a mobile TV panel with execs from companies that included: Transpera, IBM Global Business Services, Flo TV, AT&T, MobiTV and Ion Media TV (if I missed you please let me know – the program differed from the actual speakers). For mobile, do we just use the content that exists? Not exclusively; though we do use it and cross device content portability is increasingly important. Currently, online narrative shows are watched more often on PCs; news and sports are viewed more on a mobile platform. On Flo TV their average viewer watches 25 to 30 minutes of mobile TV daily.
Overall, media viewership time itself is up dramatically. But the related revenue is going to different people (Apple, telecom carriers, concert promoters as opposed to music companies). From IBM’s Saul Berman, 4G will be the real inflection point of mobile television…if only we had the bandwidth to support the coming demand.
5. Ray Kurzweil matters. When I asked people I met what most struck them about the show his speech came right after 3D. In a keynote, he spoke about the acceleration of technology in the 21st century. No matter what the related topic he knew and could speak about it brilliantly. Agree or disagree … he’s an impressive guy. Click Ray to learn more about Kurzweil and singularity.
6. Social networking was another hot button. I attended a few panels on how to create a presence, market, advertize, brand, organize and more. Essentially, we’re in the early stages of the social networking reality. People will add more specialized social networks and means of organizing them but privacy (to a certain extent) is gone. Network.
And, social networking has become content.
7. People were spending. On Tuesday afternoon I couldn’t fight my way through the store and certain items were beginning to sell out (including some books!).
8. One of my cab drivers mentioned that Nevada unemployment is at 23%. For some even softer data, she told me that last month, finally, the larger strip-based casinos were busy. During the worst of times the smaller casinos were the only ones that had any business because they catered to a local clientele.
9. Convergence? The means of production haven’t changed as much as the means of consumption keep evolving. I saw a lot of cameras and reporters from paper based media companies. On display were satellite dishes, companies that build sets or send trucks. But the digital technology companies were out in full force (and filled some pretty large spaces).
10. Harmonic was the only booth (in my experience) whose reps didn’t just scan NAB badges for attendee information. Rather, they asked to look at a business card – it was given back – to get information, then asked about my company and interest in theirs so they could direct the information to the appropriate person within Harmonic (who would then respond). Smart.
The above is by no means a summary of NAB. It’s merely one person’s comments regarding what she saw and heard in a few days. Click Harmonic to learn more about the company.
The above is by no means a summary of NAB. It’s merely one person’s comments regarding what she saw and heard in a few days. Anyone who wants to add their own list please do.
To learn more about our firm please go to hadleypartners.com at link.
