Quote:
Entertainment: Digital recording may turn off free TV, TBS chief says
Copyright © 2002 AP Online
By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer
PASADENA, Calif. (July 12, 2002 8:15 p.m. EDT) - Television viewers could face paying for channels they now receive free if digital video recorders kill commercials, said Jamie Kellner, chairman of Turner Broadcasting System.
The wider use of systems like TiVo and ReplayTV, which allow viewers to easily skip through commercials, would force a change in how broadcast and basic cable television is supported, Kellner said Friday.
"Don't think for a moment there's a free lunch involved in this," Kellner told the Television Critics Association. Viewers could end up paying about $250 a year above any cable or satellite fees, he said, based on his own rough calculation.
Kellner had been asked to expand on remarks to CableWorld magazine in which he said viewers who skip commercials are "stealing" programming.
His comment was misinterpreted and not serious, Kellner said. But he said he was concerned about the impact new technology could have on television, just as the music industry has been affected by Napster and other inventions.
A recent survey showed that about 70 percent of DVR users skip past commercials, Kellner said. Although only about 1 percent of homes with televisions have the devices, their use could proliferate if they are routinely included in set-top cable boxes and satellite systems.
With such expansion, it would be easy to project the end of commercial-supported television in five to 10 years, he suggested. Product placement within shows can't fill the void, Kellner said, calling it a "drip in the tank."
Television viewers are probably unaware such a fundamental shift is possible, Kellner said, although he said he was confident TBS would prosper under the current system or an entirely fee-based one.
AOL Time Warner, parent company of TBS Inc., seems poised to fight or switch in the DVR revolution. Time Warner holds a 13 percent stake in TiVo. TBS includes CNN, TNT and the WB broadcast network.
Americans should consider what would happen if the commercial industry was hit by the loss of television revenue and what that could mean to the U.S. economy as a whole, he said.
TiVo Inc. president Morgan Guenther offered a different assessment of digital recording's relationship to television in an interview published Friday in The Hollywood Reporter.
"The 30-second ad is dead, but we don't think the $60 billion ad industry is going away," Guenther said, adding he expects new ideas to emerge from those not "threatened by the new models."
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According to this thing if you skip comercials they are eventualy going to start chargeing you for basic programing.I have 3 big problems with this.
#1 HOW DO THEY KNOW IF YOU SKIP COMERCIALS ?!?!?!?!?! Is there some kind of unknown spyware in a TiVo box that sends the T.V. company a message every time you skip a comercial?? Do they have some type of television gnome monitoring your T.V. habits?? What about bathroom and snack breaks?? Do thoes count as "Skipping comercials" as well?
#2 They say you will have to pay an additional $250 a year for T.V. service if people keep skipping comercials. WTF is up with that?? Last time I checked with both satalite and cable T.V. there was a monthly fee of around $20 for just the basics , not to mention the upwards of around $100 for instalation!! Now these blood suckers want more money!! Kind of makes me glad I dont watch T.V. any more.
#3 Useing the "if you skip comercials you are a thief" mentality of AOL/TimeWarner, if you use anything they provide in a manner that they havent dictated then you are "stealing from them". What a crock !! According to that if you own a restaurant and use recipies you saw on the food network then you are a thief, if you work on wall street and use stock tips from the financial channel to get rich then you are a thief, if you are a land scaper and use gardening tips from Martha Stewart then you are a thief. That makes me very glad that the only thing I use AOL for is the decorative coasters they keep sending me [img]smile.gif[/img]
[ 07-21-2002, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: The Hunter of Jahanna ]