Cable operators and channels: TV Everywhere is the best way to keep the business current

(Maribel Ramos-Weiner). For the past three years, platforms for viewing TV content such as Hulu, Google TV, Apple TV, and Microsoft TV, have entered the market, and for the past six months, Netflix has positioned itself as a legitimate competitor to traditional subscription-based TV systems due to its low rates.That was the basic premise of the debate that took place at The Cable Show in Chicago, about how cable operators and channels are preparing themselves for this competitive environment. The discussion panel “The networked network: TV licensing for the everywhere era,” was composed of Bridget Baker of NBCUniversal, Coleman Breland of Turner, Mike Hopkins of Fox, Bill Myers of Starz; Allan Singer of Charter, and Melinda Witmer of Time Warner Cable.When asked what is being done about the fact that in the next few months 50 million TV sets in the U.S. will be directly connected to the Internet, Witmer of Time Warner Cable said: “We try to take advantage of our technology and take it wherever the consumer wants it.” Myers of Starz said: “The consumer wants options and flexibility, and this means being everywhere. We are launching on as many platforms as we can.” Singer of Charter emphasized: “The best way to protect ourselves from this is TV Everywhere.”Hopkins of Fox said that two years ago they began renegotiating their broadcast agreements with cable operators, telecoms and DTH. “With the new agreements we included rights for TV Everywhere,” he added.Some of the key factors in making TV Everywhere effective for all are the implementation of audience metrics for these new screens so that they can be monetized, and having good authentication systems.