Cable TV Group Withdraws from eBay Ad Initiative
—April 6th 2007

Online auction leader eBays effort to create an integrated cross-media advertising network has taken a major blow as the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau (CAB) withdraws its support.

There were high hopes for eBays Online Media Exchange, which would enable automated purchasing of print, broadcast and cable ads online. It currently has support from 10 major brands including Toyota and Home Depot, but without the participation of the CAB, which represents cable networks like Discovery and ESPN, the cable end of things may be permanently off the air…

FULL STORY LINK:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/06/business/ads.php
OR
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=ebay+cable&btnG=Search+News

THANK YOU FOR COMMENTING ON HOW THIS MIGHT AFFECT THE MEDIA INDUSTRY AS WE KNOW IT, AND ABOUT HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO BECOME A REALITY.

HOW LONG UNTIL BROADCAST TV NETWORKS CAN ONLY MAKE AS LITTLE MONEY AS A WEB SITE?

Best regards always,
Perry from
Phoenix, AZ

To me, it\’s this simple, take a diagram of the way a virtual DVR works and compare it to a diagram of the way a DVR sitting by the users TV works. The only thing that changes is where the DVR equipment sits. Sure, the virtual DVR will be hosted in a datacenter on different hardware but the consumer experience, including control, could be identical.

In fact, one could reasonably expect the consumer experience to be better. I used to use a rotten DVR provided Dish Network and then a rotten DVR by Comcast. Each one of them cratered at least once in the time I had it, taking all our recorded shows with it. Moving the DVR in to the datacenter would let cable, and sattelite, providers take advantage of high-availability and redundancy features inherent in those environments.

Finally, the irony of all of this is that it would be harder for individual users to violate copyright using a Network DVR. With a network DVR you would have to buy additional hardware and do a lot more work to make shareable copies of your recorded content. Most casual consumers wouldn\’t do it. DVR/DVD Recorder comibnations are all over the place now and a lot of people are moving to \”Media Centers\” based on purpose built PCs. So, all that stifling Network DVRs does is push more people toward devices they can use to easily create illegal copies. If they were smart, content creators would be falling all over themselves to embrace Network DVRs.

Today the tables have turned. DBS, IPTV and the Internet have opened up competition into the home. Now that the programmers have various last mile solutions, they have all the market power they need. For example: when Sinclair and Mediacom couldnt work out a retransmission consent deal, Sinclair worked with the DBS providers to go after the Mediacom subscribers.

I agree with you that the programmers should work with the cable operators to provide a more efficient time shifting experience for subscribers. The end user will not know the difference between nDVR and DVR.only the cable operator in cap-x. I think that the content owners are just upset over DVR in general and the potential loss of a major revenue stream (commercials). We all know that the programmers would fight DVR capabilities as well if it was not for the precedent of the Betamax case.

I completely agree with you. Not only should content providers sign a deal allowing them to have a virtual DVR, they should try to sign a carriage deal with Cablevision to use that technology to regain the ad revenue they are losing from time shifting.

Ryan,

A virtual DVR is different than VOD in the sense that the user is defining what is available on demand versus Cablevision going out and offering every show possible for VOD. It\’s a really smart idea as it allows for Cablevision to know what type of programs its users want to time shift without making an investment in that specific program until it\’s requested. I have never used the service, but they would be smart to allow anyone to access a program that was recorded by another user as they are already using the server space.