Mipnet Keynoters Upbeat On Future Of Convergence

Two keynote speakers painted a mostly rosy picture of a happy marriage between television and new media during the opening session of MIPNET, a conference focused on television in the new economy.

Columbia TriStar International Television president Michael Grindon and BBC Worldwide Internet and Interactive managing director Andrew Kaza made no reference to recent mishaps in the convergence field. The only mention of the troubles of such ventures as DEN, MTVi and NBCi came during opening remarks by moderator Chris Forrester, contributing editor of Television Europe.

Quoting a Forrester and Jupiter Communications study that posits a limited growth of broadband penetration worldwide — from 5 million households in the United States now to 30 million in 2005 and from 1 million households in Europe to about 30 million in 2005 — Grindon concluded that the full realization of new-media capabilities is still five to 10 years away and that the changes will come gradually.

"I think it's going to be more of an evolution to that new media rather than revolution," he said.

Kaza believes the broadband future is much closer. "I think it's a three- or four-year horizon for most of Western Europe and the U.S.," he said.

Grindon said broadcast media and new media will complement each other because both rely on electronic distribution. In comparison, the music business is largely geared toward physical distribution of its content, so the introduction of immediate electronic distribution of content via the Internet has led to a crisis, Grindon said.

When Grindon was reminded about the title of the session — "What Does TV Expect From New Media and Vice Versa?" — he said he immediately thought of "Great Expectations."

"You're really looking at the new media and its interplay with television coming out a bit like a Charles Dickens novel," he said. "There's a new installment coming out every week in the newspaper, and while we're recognizing the fact that we're on this interesting trip as we're going forward, nobody is quite sure what twists and turns are going to happen before it comes to an end."

Kaza also has high "netspectations."

"Yes, content is still king," he said, "but maybe the chariot is changing."