Comcast Corp. CEO Brian Roberts gestures as he speaks during The Cable Show 2013 convention in Washington on Tuesday. TV was supposed to everywhere by now – on your smartphone, on your tablet. Your favorite shows were supposed to be watchable anytime, anywhere. But four years into the industry’s effort network executives speaking at an industry conference this week readily admit: TV isn’t everywhere. The promise of “TV Everywhere” has been a key strategy in the pay TV industry’s fight to retain customers in the face of challenges from online video providers like Netflix. Yet many rights deals still haven’t been worked out. Most importantly, audience ratings firms have been slow to encourage advertisers to make the move to mobile.WASHINGTON (AP) – TV was supposed to be everywhere by now – watchable anytime, anywhere, on your smartphone or tablet. But four years into the industry’s effort, network executives readily admit: TV isn’t everywhere.
The promise of “TV Everywhere” has been a key strategy in the cable and satellite TV industry’s fight to retain customers in the face of challenges from online video providers such as Netflix.
With TV Everywhere, customers who pay for packages with hundreds of television channels are supposed to be able to watch them on mobile devices and computers as well for no extra charge. That perk is meant to make pay TV packages seem more worthwhile and keep customers from defecting.
Yet many rights deals still haven’t been worked out. More important, audience measurement firms have been slow to count viewing on mobile devices, so advertisers have been reluctant to pay as much for commercials on phones and tablets compared with television sets.
“We either don’t get any credit at all, or if we do get credit it’s at a fraction of what we would have gotten if they first watched it live on the TV,” Ron Lamprecht, NBCUniversal’s executive vice president for digital distribution, said during a panel at The Cable Show, an industry conference this week.