Roku, TiVo, Epix Ask if Internet Television Is Already Broken
Internet television has barely just begun, but could it be broken already? Are the types of shows and movies available, and the tools for finding that programming moving in the wrong direction?
Executives from Roku, TiVo, Epix, and Envivio met during a panel at the recent Streaming Media East conference in New York City to address that question. Saying no, internet TV isn't broken, was Greg DePalma, vice president of audience insights at TiVo.
"I say it's not broken because if you look really hard, you can find what you want. But, as a user, you don't want to look that hard, right? You don't want to have to spend 15 minutes to find your show," said DePalma. "I feel like we're moving in the right direction, but from TiVo's perspective, which is all about user interface, we want to make it easy for consumers to find what they want. We just feel right now, the space that it's in, it's getting in the right direction. We just need to help the UI and help people find what they're looking for, when they're looking for it."
Taking the affirmative position, that Internet TV is certainly broken, was Emil Rensing, chief digital officer for Epix.
"When I have something in mind that I want to watch or I want to find, there is no single, consistent easy way for me to get it outside of the business models that Hollywood predicates its entire existence on, which sometimes work very well and other times are a little less obvious. My argument is Star Wars. Why the hell can't I watch Star Wars when I want to watch Star Wars?"
To follow the entire panel discussion, watch the video below.
Internet Television: It's Broken Already
From TV Everywhere to the growing number of connected televisions, channel lineups and content are showing up on the screens of our choice. But finding and accessing the content we want has grown more complex, because the new internet television model doesn't mimic its linear sibling in the living room. And once you find the content, is the quality on par with traditional TV? Does it matter? Further, are these new platforms scalable enough to handle massive amounts of traffic?
Moderator: Jonathan Hurd, Director, Altman Vilandrie
Speaker: Emil Rensing, Chief Digital Officer, EPIX, Studio 3 Partners
Speaker: Matt Smith, VP, OTT Strategy and Solutions, Envivio
Speaker: Greg DePalma, VP, Audience Insights, TiVo
Speaker: Ed Lee, VP, Content Acquisition, Roku
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