Connected TV : how European broadcasters are responding to the legal and commercial

challenges Moscow, March 2012

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What we do :

(1) Develop business relations among broadcasters;

(2) Representation of member companies at the EU/international institutions

• Advertising

• Public television

• Copyright

• Digital

• Freedom of the Media

(3) “Voice of European television” in communicating key trends

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Connected TV : what is it?

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Connected TV : Why is this such a challenge?

• Pace of change

• Impact on value chain

• Commercialisation of the schedule

• Regulatory questions

… and how should broadcasters respond?

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• State of TV today : viewing, advertising, and pay revenues are all holding up … underpinned by viewers’ demand for content

• High level of innovation and risk-taking among commercial broadcasters

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Pace of change

• Connected TV needs to be seen in context of proliferation of platforms – which will be most consumer-friendly?

Impact on value chain

• New entrants are a fact of life – European TV has grown from 47 to 9000 “channels” in twenty years;

• But Connected TV is more than “some more television channels”;

• Could allow manufacturers access to revenue (after sale) and potentially at least encourage the entry of vertically-integrated global players … raises the key issue of who controls the last section of the chain?

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Commercialisation of schedule

• Single most important strategic question : who can earn revenue from the [broadcasters’] content and relationship with viewers?

• Never called into question in any previous new platform – might connected TV be different?

• Which impacts on …

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Legal/Regulatory Questions

• These issues are often debated in a context of micro- management (“how many minutes of advertising?” “what criteria for a broadcasting licence?”);

• Connected TV potentially goes beyond this to the heart of how broadcast media are regulated : i.e., the notion of editorial responsibility for all on on-screen output;

• How do operators, regulators and indeed society react if that responsibility can no longer be guaranteed?

• Hence need for fundamental rethink not “amendment” of laws

• “If the TV screen is just one among many portals, if the same moving images, apps and services can be used on different devices … that is also a challenge for media regulation”

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How should broadcasters react?

• Vital to remain open to new forms of distributing content and to respect competition law;

• What matters here :

• protection of the signal;

• anti-piracy provisions

• commercialisation of the schedule

• One approach : French broadcasters’ charter

• But in the end, the consumer will decide…

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Thank you! Questions?

Contact: ACTAssociation of Commercial Television in EuropeRue Joseph II, 9-13, BE - 1000 BrusselsTel: + 32 2 736 00 52 - Fax: + 32 2 735 41 72www.acte.be

Ross BiggamDirector Generalrb@acte.be