“We’re in an arms race,” Public Knowledge CEO Gene Kimmelman told the Senate Commerce Committee at a hearing to explore the prospects for broadband video. It’s “no surprise, content companies bulk up” as Fox wants to do with its $80B bid for Time Warner, which was rejected by the company but disclosed today. Following Comcast’s deal to buy Time Warner Cable, and AT&T’s with DirecTV, “consumers are between a rock and a hard place….They started the ball rolling and as we’ve seen from today’s stories, we don’t know where it’s going to end.”
Dish says that later this year it plans to introduce a low-priced online video service that will include live streams of ESPN, and could be threatened by the union of the two largest cable companies. “Comcast doesn’t necessarily want us to succeed because we’re competitors,” says the satellite company’s Deputy General Counsel Jeffrey Blum. “We are very concerned that a combined Comcast and Time Warner Cable will have an incentive and ability to stifle our service.”
WGA, West representative Shawn Ryan, who was executive producer of CBS’ The Unit, echoed those fears. Big Media companies control the major networks and “almost all the scripted content” — and want to “reap monopoly profits.” That shapes their view of online video. “They would like nothing more than to take their content distribution monopoly and apply it to the Internet.” That’s why he wants to encourage companies including Netflix and Amazon which he says together could spend $1B on original series this year.
deadline.com
Dish says that later this year it plans to introduce a low-priced online video service that will include live streams of ESPN, and could be threatened by the union of the two largest cable companies. “Comcast doesn’t necessarily want us to succeed because we’re competitors,” says the satellite company’s Deputy General Counsel Jeffrey Blum. “We are very concerned that a combined Comcast and Time Warner Cable will have an incentive and ability to stifle our service.”
WGA, West representative Shawn Ryan, who was executive producer of CBS’ The Unit, echoed those fears. Big Media companies control the major networks and “almost all the scripted content” — and want to “reap monopoly profits.” That shapes their view of online video. “They would like nothing more than to take their content distribution monopoly and apply it to the Internet.” That’s why he wants to encourage companies including Netflix and Amazon which he says together could spend $1B on original series this year.
deadline.com
