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May 9, 2007
 
News & Announcements
HRTS Announces "State of the Industry" Luncheon
HRTS TV Beta Site is up and running
HRTS Member News
From The Executive Director
Newsmaker Luncheons
HRTS Cable Chiefs 2007
Membership
Welcome new HRTS Members
HRTS Member Profiles
Deborah Bothun
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein
Jr. HRTS
Viewpoint from the next gen...


Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana)
& Jason Earles at Kids Day 2006
 

HRTS
Kids Day 2007
Coming in August!
Interested in getting involved?
Call (818)789-1182 or email info@hrts.org



Thursday June 21st, 2007
Newsmaker Luncheon: The State of the Industry
Tickets available for HRTS members beginning on May 10th. Call (818) 789-1182, email events@hrts.org or download pdf order form to order.

What kind of events would you like to see HRTS add in the future?
More Newsmaker Luncheons
Smaller, more focused events
Evening, Social activities
Other




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Get your message out to leading execs from across the industry.  For more info:
Call (818) 789-1182 or email info@hrts.org

 




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Deborah Bothun
PricewaterhouseCoopers

 

Deborah Bothun
Principal in the Advisory practice in the Los Angeles office of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

By Chris Davison.  Davison@intelcap.com  
 HRTS Member Deborah Bothun is a principal in the Advisory practice in the Los Angeles office of PricewaterhouseCoopers. She also leads the US Advisory Entertainment, Media and Communications practice and is the Global Leader of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Digital Convergence initiative, focusing on assisting clients in adapting to the changing content and distribution marketplace.  She also leads the US Advisory Entertainment, Media and Communications practice and is the Global Leader of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Digital Convergence initiative, focusing on assisting clients in adapting to the changing content and distribution marketplace. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management with a Masters of Management and Finance and Accounting, Deborah is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and has over 15 years of experience working with Fortune 500 Entertainment and Media clients.
 PricewaterhouseCoopers has been an HRTS member for several years and will be sharing its expertise as a knowledge leader in an ongoing series of articles in our Society Views member newsletters. I recently had a chance to get the ball rolling by interviewing Deborah on convergence, piracy and Hollywood’s ever-changing business models.

Views: What does convergence mean to you and how is it altering the business landscape?
   I think the best way for me to answer this is as a consumer because that is driving the changes to the business landscape. Convergence allows me to experience the quality entertainment that I miss due to my schedule. Things like Sling box, video on iTunes and direct consumer network Websites that allows me to stay in touch with my family when I travel (Mac iChat), and work while in transit (wireless PC cards), and experience a completely different world together with my son (Second Life), share my views regarding convergence through the PwC Podcast, and communicate with my colleagues around the world about important issues to me personally and professionally through various PricewaterhouseCoopers blogs.
   What this illustrates is that with convergence consumers are increasingly in control. Advances in technology have made this possible, and business models - from the content side to the technology side - are challenged to adapt. Those companies that listen to consumers and harness what technology is making possible- most notably a more interactive, one-on-one relationship with consumers, will see this challenge as an exceptional opportunity to get out in front today in this new world of communications and entertainment. It is very exciting both as a consumer and as someone who is closely involved with many different companies shaping this new world.  Convergence now is just the way we live and do business. Two years ago it was an emerging phenomenon in content, distribution, and technology sectors, but is now integrated into everything we do.

Views:  What does it mean to have an open business model?
Having an open business model means eliminating internal walls between business units and external ones between the company, its partners, and other strategic business allies.
   We launched a white paper a year ago discussing the importance of an open business model in order to manage convergence and realize its full potential. We continue to advocate this approach in all areas that are impacted by the convergence phenomenon.
   We recently released two other white papers, both advocating open business models. One paper on Lifestyle Advertising - advertising and messaging that allows advertisers to respond to consumer feedback in an ongoing and interactive way through a continuous dialogue - discusses creating a collaborative environment across businesses, platforms, and channels that enables executives to execute on their advertising strategies in both existing and new forms of advertising. Leaders across businesses must have internal structures that support innovation in ways that mirror new customer demands.

   Our paper released this week on Enterprise Mobility again talks about the importance of open business models. An agile business model will be the most important capability for companies wishing to succeed in the new EMobile market. This market approach encourages innovation via alliances and partnerships, and values long-term growth above short-term control.

Views:  Is piracy a growing problem or is Hollywood already starting to minimize it, starting to win that particular battle?
It’s a very serious problem. There’s no question of that. With MPAA data showing an $18 billion annual worldwide cost to the industry, we certainly cannot minimize the ongoing threat. Protecting the basic rights of our intellectual property industries is essential to the health of the U.S. economy.
   But I am encouraged by what I’ve seen over the past year: Places like China and Russia, where we have some of our biggest challenges with intellectual property theft also saw real growth at the legitimate box office. This fits with what consumers are telling us at PwC: Our research is quite clear that quality is a timeless value to consumers. We’ve had great, quality films this past year and people around the world turned out in record numbers at the legitimate box office to experience them in a high-quality way (statistics released by MPAA in advance of ShoWest: US domestic box office up 5.5% in ’06; worldwide box office up 11%).
   And, the success of Apple iTunes - more than two billion downloads since the launch of the service - further confirms that legal downloads are very much in demand, as does the launch of a number of iTunes competitors such as Napster and Microsoft's Zune.
   Plus, we surveyed 8,000 US and global PwC employees, and found that customers are willing to pay for legal downloads with 40% of respondents paying for the music they download. And by the way, this does not mean that 60% of the downloads by PwC employees are pirated, but rather that they receive them through any number of other methods including promotional downloads at subscription services and downloads from several sites that offer free music from independents and unsigned musicians. Also, in the future Ad-supported free download services such as SpiralFrog are anticipated. This is encouraging.
What lessons can the television business learn from the music business?
The music business historically has been out there a little further and faster in the area of digital rights management facing head-on the challenges to traditional business models. They have been fighting piracy and have been working through litigation on this issue for a long time. It’s not always comfortable facing the challenges of changing business models, but they are impossible to avoid today in a world where the consumer is in control. These challenges are universal to all content today.
   I think the television industry has learned from watching this litigation unfold, and is taking a position of trying to work with the market versus fighting it. The television industry is also interacting with consumers in new and innovative ways - not something we saw from the music industry. Television has the advantage of watching the experience of the music business and using it to inform their own decisions about how best to get their content out there to consumers, in all the different ways consumers wish to enjoy it today, and to be successful as businesses in doing so. Things will certainly get more complex before an elegant model arises.

Views:  How can PWC be knowledge leaders for the HRTS membership and for the industry as a whole?
I’ll take the answer back to your first question. In this world of convergence, I think perhaps the most unique value we can offer is our perspective working with companies across the ecosystem: distribution companies, content companies, advertising companies, and major U.S. brands. Company business strategies have to take into account what is happening across the landscape today. With things evolving so quickly today, having a relationship with PricewaterhouseCoopers who has visibility into all of these different trends can be very empowering. We also have a regular, ongoing conversation with consumers - we conduct regular consumer focus groups around the country and check in with consumers around the globe. They don’t look at convergence from one company context to another, but as one event in their life - so hearing their perspectives and understanding its impact not just on your company, but all the companies you do business with, is very important to informing your business strategies. No matter where you sit in the ecosystem, each company is wrestling with very similar questions today, just from a different vantage point. So, there’s a lot that we can learn from one another, and do together, to make the most of the opportunities today.

Views:  Any thoughts on the HRTS during its historic 60th Anniversary year?
Don’t be a fine wine that gets mellow with age. This is such an exciting time for our industry. So much change is underway. There’s a real opportunity to shake things up. Forums like HRTS where everyone can get together and talk through the challenges and opportunities as an industry and make connections with their peers, they will be more important than ever.

Look for PWC's regular feature article on topics of import to the entire industry in upcoming editions of Society Views.

 

 
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HRTS Since 1947 the HRTS has been the entertainment industry’s premiere information and networking forum. HRTS events are the only place where leading executives from across the industry gather under one roof, multiple times a year to discuss issues relevant to the ongoing success of our business. HRTS Members and our industry partners represent the best and the brightest in town. Is your company ready to join the ranks of HRTS? There are many ways for individuals and companies to get more involved. To find out how, call (818) 789-1182 or email info@hrts.org

 


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