IT’S WITH A WELL-EARNED sense of deja vu with which we stroll through the Las Vegas Convention Center today (Sunday). I’m not certain, but I believe this is my 10th NAB Show, which is the every-April pilgrimage of the world’s broadcast industry to the largest gathering of its kind.
As many Canadians do, I normally stay at the Flamingo Hotel – home of the famous Canadian Suite, where dozens of companies, including Cartt.ca, contribute to pay for three evenings of open bar networking, ably organized each year by the good folks at Applied Electronics. So with the conference locale, the hotel, even the monorail ride between the two, I’m feeling a little “been there, done that.”
Even the show itself the past few years has pounded home that sense of déjà vu, where so much of the discussions in sessions and on the floor has centred so much around monetizing the nth screen, whatever it may be. This afternoon in a session hosted by research company Devoncroft Partners and investment bank Silverwood Partners, Silverwood managing director Josh Stinehour noted all the work being done on the various screens we all can use as consumers but added: “most of the money will still come through traditional business models.” (which is actually good news for those running solid broadcast software and hardware companies as the time is now ripe, for many to be purchased – perhaps by new media companies wanting the people and expertise of those serving "old" media stalwarts.)
Stinehour even had a pie chart to prove how just the tiniest sliver of ad spending is being applied to new digital offerings. But, he also recognized things have changed quickly and continue to change. Quoting PBS CTO John McCosky from earlier this year, Stinehour said the public broadcaster is serving up 190 million video streams per month, up from zero three years ago. Plus, 70% of those streams are to mobile, with almost all of that to an iOS (Apple) device.
Which made us think of the vendor we ran into in one of the giant lines through Pearson Airport this morning who lamented: “I’ve spent my whole career trying to create a beautiful TV picture and everyone just now wants to see video on these tiny screens and don't really care about the quality anymore.”
But then… I dropped in on a presentation on ATSC 2.0, which is the Advanced Television System Committee’s work on a new standard to encompass interactive television and all that can deliver to viewers via a broadcast signal. There, Triveni Digital’s Rich Chernock said people are demanding the best signal quality not only to their TV sets, but their little handsets too.
Plus, ATSC 2.0 also hopes to deliver a more personalized TV experience to the viewer, bringing elements of the web on screen, including interactive content and interactive, targeted advertising (and hopefully more money to broadcasters) – so deeply targeted that, for example, a Ford ad for the dealership in the west end of a city is only seen by people in that end of their ’burg. This new standard would see broadcasters trying to use the full capabilities of their digital distribution along with the new internet connected smart TVs to serve up better ads and more individualized content.
Alas, the standard isn’t finished, and Chernock said studies are showing less than 30% of smart TV buyers are actually connecting the things to their home internet. Plus, there were worries in the crowd about whether or not the new interactive content from broadcasters would be passed through, or cut off, by the U.S. cable, telco TV or satellite TV distributors (that might be less of a problem in Canada, given who owns what back home, I thought.)
So there's lots to bring me those feelings of déjà vu (but not these snazzy duds on sale in the Flamingo lobby, I’ve not seen these styled before) but I am hoping to be surprised by or witness some smart developments in the radio and TV biz while I'm here.
What is new, though, is a ton technology announcements, including from the likes of Canadian companies Ross Video (I’ve lost track of how many announcements they have made in the coming weeks), Evertz and Digital Rapids, all of whom look to draw big business from the crowd here this week.
We’re here until Thursday. Stay tuned.
