|
 By Dave Ferrara, HRTS Executive Director
I'm starting to understand...
At our kickoff luncheon this month the focus was on the challenges and opportunities available in migrating content into the digital space. Moderator Bob Iger, who has one of the better track records in our biz when it comes to navigating the digital evolution posed questions to an esteemed panel of leading voices from the new media space. Jason Kilar from Hulu, Jonathan Miller from NewsCorp, Chad Hurley from YouTube and Chris Anderson from Wired Magazine all spoke eloquently from their various perspectives about how they viewed the digital evolution and each brought important, valuable insights to the discussion. What did I learn? Well, there are as many opinions on how to do it as there are voices in the conversation. No one has a magic bullet, nor does anyone completely understand how to fully capitalize on the tremendous opportunities that do and will exist in this digital future.
Now, after launching our first ever major digital initiative and going through the learning curve of just what that entails, I’m beginning to understand why the many questions our panel discussed can seem so daunting to those of us who grew up in a simpler, more TV-centric age!
Allow me to digress just a bit to bring us back to where this all started.
Several months back our HRTS Board started discussing “the future of HRTS.” In theory, HRTS is and always should be a reflection of the ever-changing face of our industry, and with the business’ relentless march into the digital space we felt that our organization more so than most needed to keep pace with this march. That meant new media companies joining. It meant orienting our panel topics to include a digital perspective. And it also meant that HRTS would join the ranks of companies and organizations that provide digital alternatives to the traditional “live” luncheon aspect of our events and activities. Seemed pretty straightforward. At first!
Since we had decided to launch our digital initiative concurrently with our September “Digital Chiefs” panel moderated by Bob Iger, the clock was ticking towards a September 8th target. The lynchpin of our new media strategy would be the first ever “live” streaming of our flagship Newsmaker Luncheon Series. Since HRTS has historically (at least since I’ve been here) captured our luncheons with a multi-camera video set-up, and then made available the program via both DVD and online “archival” views, to me it seemed a fairly simple “next step” to beam this event out to the web and let the entire world in on our content. Live 8 did it. NBC did it with the Beijing Olympics. I can even watch pay-per-view UFC fights live online. So piece of cake, no? Well….
Some of the questions to be answered included: What kind of streaming player? Flash, Windows Media? How would we encode and uplink the feed? Straight DSL, T1 line or satellite? Where would the streaming host and player live? On our website, or hosted elsewhere? Could our site even handle the load without grinding to a screeching halt? And how do we control access to the stream? Would we sell “tickets” (or tokens as they are called in the live stream world) and then how do we limit access to the url to just those “approved” to view? And even how much should the pay-per-view stream cost? Too much and it wouldn’t be a perceived value. Too little and we might cannibalize our live event ticket sales. And how about time shifting? Would we make it available in an “encore” play or do we open it up after a suitable “window” to everyone? How soon should it be available to not adversely affect our pay-per-view sales? And we’re not even talking about content specific issues such as how does our video director frame shots to effectively “read” on a 640 x 480 computer screen, or alter our stage set and lighting to work best for the limitations of the online window…. So many questions… and very little time to sort it out.
So what to do? When in doubt, go to Google! A quick search of “live streaming services” provided me with a plethora of options to help plow my way through the confusion. I first contacted Limelight Networks, one of the major CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) and laid out my needs. They were incredibly helpful. Scott, the person I spoke with was able to explain to me (to some level of my limited understanding) what various pieces are needed to accomplish my goal. The CDN is the pipeline that the digital content would actually be distributed through, bypassing the “general” internet and providing a dedicated network that would enable the content to stream efficiently and in higher quality than I would normally expect via the generic net. They then introduced me to Digital Rapids, a leader in the encoding and uploading of content live to the net. (Basically, a video and audio line come from my production truck into this cool little box, which turns it into a digital stream and outputs it via a dedicated high speed internet line directly to Limelight’s servers.) And we are planning on bringing a new partner, CSG Systems aboard for future events to help manage and more effectively monetize the “customer facing” part of the equation to complete the HRTS digital “team!” I can go on and on about the details but suffice to say, the resources are out there to do this. And they are incredibly helpful for those of us who may be a bit more technically challenged!
I won’t bore you with all the details, but I can say that the end product of all of this was a very high-quality, live stream of the Digital Chiefs event to viewers across the country. This was exciting for the organization because we now have the ability to extend the reach of HRTS, and the incredible panels and the valuable information contained therein to a whole new audience regardless of geography! We’ve also opened up new revenue opportunities both via pay-per-view sales as well as advertising and sponsorship of the live stream. And most importantly, we’ve more widely positioned HRTS, long the media industry’s premier information and networking forum as a broadly available source for the important conversations that ultimately impact the future success of the media business.
So as I stated at the beginning, I’m beginning to understand. While HRTS does not even remotely approach the levels of business complexity that our member companies and individuals may have to consider throughout this evolution, I do know that no matter how challenging it is, the answers are out there. Our industry is founded on innovation and creativity, and if HRTS’ recent experience is any indication, we as an industry have the ability to adapt and grow into this new environment and be successful. It’s our goal to continue to bring the right companies and individuals together to address this new business environment and thank you to all those who are helping make this evolution a reality.
See you at the next luncheon (or live stream!)
Dave Ferrara
|
