Feel like you’re having a tough time figuring out what all the new technological developments like Blu-Ray DVDs, streaming cell phone content and satellite video-on-demand really mean to you as a consumer?
You may find this news heartening or unsettling, but it seems the majority of financial executives in the entertainment world are, too.
An Ernst & Young study released last week surveyed 200 finance executives from major media and entertainment companies and found the speed of new media evolution has them scrambling as they try to figure which technological horse to back.
“They are definitely feeling a little pressure because a lot of things are converging at same time. On the other hand, it’s a very exciting time to be able to shape policy,” said Ernst & Young’s Global Media and Entertainment Leader John Nendick. “The CFOs are looking to be more strategic in the planning process, but many companies in the industry are still working to get systems up to current standards.”
Translated to consumer terms, they just figured out how to program their TiVo, and their phone company is pushing them to change to a Web-based digital video recorder.
The firm compared the results of the recent study to a similar one in 2004. In that one, 75 percent of respondents viewed digital video recorders as the primary driver for industry change.
The current study found 86 percent of respondents believe that the changes in entertainment and media content, as well as new distribution models, will be the greatest catalyst for industry revolution.
In addition to trying to hit a moving target, executives must also deal with raised consumer expectations.
“The public now expects that a new groundbreaking technology will come out every several months rather than every several years,” Nendick said.
Rebel Yule
Even at age 50, platinum-haired rocker Billy Idol is managing to surprise and sort of give the willies to the music world.
This time he’s releasing a Christmas album.
Billy Idol’s “Happy Holidays” album drops on Nov. 14, and includes “Frosty the Snowman,” “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Jingle Bell Rock.”
Fans that can’t wait to hear the once-edgy star belt out holiday classics don’t have to. Pre-orders are available on the Internet.
Even better, the “Jingle Bell Rock” and “White Christmas” music videos are posted on Idol’s MySpace page, and the first 500 fans to pre-order the album get a signed Christmas card from Billy himself.
Boomer Comeback
Add yet another channel to the pile.
AmericanLife Television Network a network that targets 45-and-over baby boomers with classic TV programming such as “The Honeymooners” and “Welcome Back, Kotter” is re-launching in Los Angeles this month on Time Warner Cable.
The Washington D.C.-based network for the 40-plus crowd has been around for two decades, first as Nostalgia TV and later as Good Life TV. It is now owned by News World Communications, which is controlled by the Unification Church.
The channel has been carried in the Los Angeles market in the past and is in just 10 million homes nationally. With such a relatively small subscriber base and so much competition, it was axed from local cable carriers early this year before the Time Warner takeover of local Adelphia and Comcast cable systems.
Months of renegotiation with the new operator put AmericanLife back in the lineup.
At the time it was cut, the channel was in about 150,000 homes in the Los Angeles area; the re-launch will send AmericanLife to 750,000 digital cable subscribers.
“We just don’t have the critical mass we need to compete yet,” said Lawrence Meli, the network’s president and chief executive. “It will take another 24 to 36 months to get us where we need to be, and that’s optimistic. It’s a struggle; we are an independent cable network.”
Baby boomers are a demographic worth pursuing, of course.
The re-rollout is to take place over the next three months. The network signed a 10-year affiliate agreement with Charter Communications earlier this year.
Anne Riley-Katz can be reached at
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or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 225.