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April 2014

Jeffrey Katzenberg Predicts That Future Moviegoers Will "Pay By The Inch"

Jeffrey Katzenberg has an intriguing prediction for the future of film distribution.

The DreamWorks Animation chief says that within 10 years, movies will only get three weekends in the theater, and then will be available everywhere, at which point viewers will pay based on the size of the screen they watch it on.

"A movie will come out and you will have 17 days [of theatrical exclusivity], that’s exactly three weekends, which is 95% of the revenue for 98% of movies," said Katzenberg. "On the 18th day, these movies will be available everywhere ubiquitously and you will pay for the size. A movie screen will be $15. A 75" TV will be $4.00. A smartphone will be $1.99. When that happens, and it will happen, it will reinvent the enterprise of movies."

Given the rapidly growing use of smaller screens to consume media, a reduced theatrical window makes sense to allow for multi-platform distribution. The "pay by the inch you watch" element, however, is a little more left-field. Right now, services that offer the same media on multiple screens, such as Netflix and iTunes, charge by flat subscription or single purchase price, regardless of screen size.

It seems that there would have to be some gradual shift in these business models to change consumer expectations of the cost of multi-platform delivery.

Can Android Conquer the US?

[Commentary] My iPhone- and Mac-wielding friend from the US had been eager to make the jump to Android. She was willing to defect from Apple to join in on the Xiaomi hype, so I purchased an Mi3 for her.

After one week, I nudged her for feedback, and her response shocked me: “I’m going to get the iPhone 6 when it comes out. Android is too complicated.”

Her feedback hints at the core of why Apple’s operating system, despite iOS fatigue setting in, continues to hold its ground in the US while the rest of the world has embraced Android.

Speculation suggests that Apple’s closed ecosystem is slowly losing to Android on the back of Android’s commanding 78.1 percent global market share, according to the IDC. In the global market, iOS accounts for just 17.6 percent. However these same metrics within the US market size up a stronger competitor: iOS accounts for 41.6 percent of the US market, with a 1.2 percent gain in Q4 2013 compared to Android’s 51.5 percent share.

[Shen, Co-Founder and CEO, AppFlood]

National Press Club briefing
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
10:00–11:00 a.m.
http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2014/04/american-library-associat...

Education, government and library experts will explore the growing skills-based digital divide

  • Clarence Anthony, executive director, National League of Cities
  • John B. Horrigan, communications and technology policy consultant, and author of “The Essentials of Connectivity” report
  • Richard Reyes-Gavilan, executive director, District of Columbia Public Library, and former chief librarian of the Brooklyn Public Library
  • Barbara Stripling, president, American Library Association, and former director of school library programs for the New York City Department of Education

Federal Communications Commission
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0429/DA-1...


Why you should care about the mobile Web’s advertising problem

[Commentary] Remember when using your smartphone or tablet to access the Web was a relatively ad-free experience? Now there are seemingly ads everywhere you go -- pre-roll segments on videos, paywall roadblocks, subscriber messages that ask you to sign up for newsletters, ads in your news feeds, floating ads that cover inconvenient parts of the screen.

Now that the number of mobile Web users has eclipsed the number of desktop Web users, it’s no wonder that companies are introducing a growing panoply of mobile advertising options, all competing for your attention.

By 2017, there will be more money spent on mobile advertising than on radio advertising.

Combined, Facebook and Google now control two-thirds of the mobile advertising market. Expect that number to increase once Facebook launches its new mobile ad network. All of this has very real implications for the way that we use the Internet.

It’s already the case that 86 percent of users access the mobile Web via apps and that percentage could inch even higher as companies dedicate more and more resources to winning the mobile app game.

In short, we’ve quickly transitioned from a situation in which Web companies have a mobile advertising problem, to a situation in which the mobile Web experience has an advertising problem.

What Congress will and won’t get done

Lawmakers are back in Washington with a sharper eye on the midterms and an ever-mounting pessimism about the legislative possibilities ahead of November.

What’s on Congress's plate?

Aside from proposed laws on government funding and immigration, possibly patent reform. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has scheduled a markup on legislation aimed to rein in "patent trolls," after working for months behind the scenes to address concerns with members of both parties. But it remains uncertain if he has the votes to get it out of the committee, let alone pass the bill on the chamber floor.

Motorola Mobility, Samsung Escape EU Fines in Apple Clash

Motorola Mobility and Samsung Electronics avoided fines as European Union antitrust regulators said “patent wars” with Apple shouldn’t allow consumers to get caught in the crossfire.

Motorola Mobility, which Google is selling to Lenovo Group, broke EU antitrust law when it sought and enforced a German legal injunction against Apple over patents for technology for industry-standard products such as mobile phones, the European Commission said. Samsung and the EU finalized a settlement that ends a similar antitrust probe.

Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s competition chief, said the EU’s decisions provide “legal clarity on the circumstances in which injunctions to enforce standard essential patents can be anti-competitive.”

The EU is cracking down on patent abuses as Motorola Mobility, Microsoft, Apple and Samsung trade victories in courts across the world on intellectual property. Industry-standard technology helps ensure products such as mobile-phone antennas and global-positioning system software can operate together when made by different manufacturers.

Survey: Cord Cutters Clamor for TV/OTT Combos

If cable operators are eager to keep the budding cord-cutting trend in check, they’d be well served to offer an integrated, aggregated one-stop-shop that combines traditional TV services with fare delivered over-the-top, according to a new study from Amdocs.

About 76% of purported cord-cutters or consumers who had reduced the size of their video subscription -- sometimes referred to as “cord-shaving” -- said they would reconsider if they were offered a service that aggregates all video content, according to a survey of 750 consumers in North America commissioned by the customer care and billing specialist. Roughly 66% of all respondents said they would prefer this TV/OTT mix, while 40% said they would pay more for that kind of combination, Amdocs found.

Although cable operators have fared poorly in recent consumer studies, Amdocs said its survey found that multiple service operators (MSOs) outperformed OTT players in terms of customer service (92%), content (89%), and video quality (83%).

Federal Communications Commission
Thursday, July 17, 2014
http://fcc.us/AccSocMedia

On Thursday, July 17, the FCC's Accessibility and Innovation Initiative will host a public event called "." The purpose is to promote collaborative, cross-sector problem-solving on how to produce and consume accessible social media, considering authoring tools, client apps, and best practices for various disability constituencies.

The event will be held in the Commission Meeting Room at FCC headquarters and will include panels of industry, consumer, and government representatives. We will also have technology demonstrations in an exhibit area on the same floor. The #AccSocMedia hashtag on Twitter is designated for the event.

We invite expressions of interest from organizations or individuals who may wish to participate in the event as a speaker or exhibitor.


Does Kenya's National Broadband Strategy Position it for Second-World Status

In July 2013, Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology along with the Communications Commission of Kenya launched the National Broadband Strategy, one piece of the nation’s ambitious Vision 2030 program.

But is the nation is ready to give its people the power of the Internet? Some fear broadband could become a tool of the powerful in Kenya, further dividing the classes. There also are fundamental infrastructure barriers to the success of a broadband rollout.

A 2011 World Bank survey found an average of 6.9 power outages in Kenya monthly, and the lack of reliable electricity was cited as a major constraint by more than 25 percent of Kenyan businesses.

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