In this digitized world of renting, streaming and downloading, three executives from major content creators agreed on at least one remedy – monetizing ownership.
That is why Sony’s John Calkins, Warner Bros.’ Thomas Gewecke and CBS’ Jim Lanzone took the stage on Tuesday at TheGrill, TheWrap’s annual media conference, to discuss, among other subjects, Ultraviolet, the cloud-based home- entertainment system.
(Photograph by Jonathan Alcorn)
“This is the first step in making ownership a stronger proposition for consumers,” said Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “Historically, they have had a good experience buying DVDs and Blu-ray. Going forward what consumers want in addition is the ability to access content in the cloud.”
UltraViolet will let consumers buy a digital copy of a movie at a standard retailer and upload it to the cloud, making it available whenever they want to watch it.
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The major studios are trying to get a handle on the market for their content by spearheading the program — though Disney did not sign on.
All three executives, speaking with TheWrap’s founder and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman, agreed that while DVDs and Blu-rays are key to the home entertainment business, UltraViolet presents an important opportunity to advance content ownership. This is especially significant when people can just stream those same movies or TV shows online.
“The challenge is how do you make ownership more valuable in a digital world,” said Gewecke. “In a world where there’s lots of streaming, ownership has to be more than repeatability.”
(In the below clip, Gewecke explains the benefits of keeping your head — and your media — in the cloud.)
Reply Reply to all Forward Invite Frank Anderson to chat Video Presence – HD Video Conferencing Solutions. AD Nationwide Video Experts since 1986 www.vsgi.com They believe the answer is in the cloud, which is why Sony announced Tuesday that it was releasing its first two titles for Ultraviolet – “The Smurfs” and “Friends with Benefits.”
Also Read: 'Friends With Benefits,' 'The Smurfs' Will Be Sony's First UltraViolet Titles
As Calkins, EVP of Global Digital an Commercial Innovation at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, explained, UltraViolet not only offers the opportunity for repeated viewing but also a “degree of portability and multiple device interactivity you don’t get” when using something like video-on-demand.
While consumer ownership is the focus of this still developing industry initiative, studio ownership is where the discussion began.
What about Hulu, the online streaming and subscription service owned by a consortium of major studios?
Though it is for sale — and owned by companies that rival those of the speakers’ — no one seemed willing to guess who would step up to buy it. Only Lazone, president of CBS Interactive, really touched the topic, explaining why CBS wanted no part of it.
Again it came down to one word – ownership. “We believe in controlling our own destiny and being in control of our own content,” Lazone said.
While the other sites have given a lot of their content to Hulu, CBS has kept it all on its own site.
“There’s a reason CBS has been the #1-ranked network website for 33 months in a now,” Lazone said. “You join Hulu, and the traffic for your own sites goes down.”
And that is why more and more of these studios are trying to keep the distribution of this content in-house.
So what of Netflix, the once flawless streaming service that recently angered consumers and analysts alike with its recent price hike and splitting off of its by-mail service into a new brand, Qwikster?
There was a difference of opinion on that one.
Calkins found Netflix’s latest moves “confusing,” while Gewecke was surprised by the scale of consumer reaction.
But it was Lanzone that took an unlikely stance, defending Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.
“The best CEOs of internet companies are the ones who are willing to take risks,” Lanzone said.” “[Amazon CEO] Jeff Bezos stuck to his guns, which didn’t reflect in the stock well in the short-term but worked in long-term. Reed has been right over and over again.”
When it comes to Netflix’s future, all three speakers agreed that the service will focus on streaming TV series instead of movies, leaving the market for new movie releases wide open.
Where will this new release store come from?
Hint one: It will be based on ownership.
Hint two: The studios will want some control over it
Got it?
The cloud.