I’ve been writing the last few days about the Hobson’s choice faced by TV networks and other content providers: either cannibalize the revenue from your TV programs by airing them with less profitable ads on the Web; or keep them on TV — and watch users copy them and post them for free on the Web.
At the 11th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday, I’ll have a chance to flesh out the paradox on a panel with Eric Feng, Senior Vice President of Audience and Chief Technical Officer, Hulu.com; Albhy Galuten, Vice President, Digital
Hulu.com – NBC Universal and Fox’s joint venture that offers full-length episodes from more than 50 broadcast networks and more than 250 TV series, from The Simpsons to Miami Vice – has clearly decided a good offense is better than a play-scared defense (a la record labels).
Sony’s Albhy Galuten –probably the only Grammy-winning songwriter who’s equally at home in high technology – knows better than most the trade-offs content creators must consider to survive in the digital age.
You can sum it up as surfing: put out enough free content to make sure you have a stake in whatever business model comes down the pike; but not so much that you destroy your core business.
A suitable analogy for a Southern California conference.
