HRTS eNews - 03/23/2009 (Plain Text Version)
In this issue:
HRTS News
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HRTS Next: Broadcasting Reality
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The Cable Chiefs 2009 Event Recap
HRTS Online
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Job Board, Video and Searchable Roster featured on new website!
From the Executive Director
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Aloha! Greetings from Hawaii
Member Profiles
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Ali LeRoi
•
Franz Kurath
Member News
•
Welcome New Members
JHRTS
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JHRTS News & Announcements
About HRTS
•
Officers, Board of Directors, Staff
Franz Kurath
HRTS Member -Executive Director, Broadband Content, AT&T
A Member Profile by Chris Davison, davison@intellcap.com
Franz Kurath is Executive Director, Broadband Content, at AT&T. Franz began his career at an ad agency and has since worked in many areas of the business, from animation to post production to helping launch a network. I recently had a chance to interview Franz to discuss broadband content, interactive advertising and the Olympics.
Q. Can you tell us about your background and what made you want to work in entertainment? How did you get involved with the HRTS?
-well, probably like many, it was more of a series of fortunate accidents than a well thought out plan. I graduated from college at the time of the last great recession. I opted for the most interesting job that came my way – a tech position at Chiat/Day inc. Advertising. Besides sharing space with Jay Chiat’s private art collection, the office was a block from the beach. It was at Chiat that I realized I was interested in getting closer to actual production and headed to Paramount where I ended up doing a lot of digital post production work for television and the launch of UPN. Next up was a brief stint producing 3D animation for “The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest” cartoon series at Hanna-Barbera before joining UPN rival, The WB in Marketing. Although I wasn’t there on day one, I do like to mark my time at The WB by saying that I started before “Dawson’s” and left sometime after “Smallville” and “Gilmore Girls”. I had a great time at the Frog network and realized that somehow I had ended up on a career path that seemed ideally suited to entertainment and new media.
I attended a few HRTS luncheons while at The WB and after a brief hiatus from Los Angeles, I thought it would be an interesting way to reengage with the entertainment community. Prior to my current position, I had been doing business development for our video product group, which includes our IPTV service, AT&T U-verse TV.
Q. In looking at AT&T’s original content, what is your development process like?
-to be honest, on the content side, we are still very much in the process of evolving from the 100 year-old phone company that we grew up with to a true communications and entertainment player. What that is exactly is still a work in progress, but we know we can play a vital role in connecting people with content and offering new capabilities to extend and enhance that content. As we become a larger player in the pay TV space, I think it is only natural that we will begin to take a more active interest in original content. Already we have relationships with the likes of the MRC and we have an internal group that has done original production that frequently builds on our large sponsorship relationships with the Olympics, the Masters and the large music festivals like Coachella. Finally, as the largest broadband provider, I believe it follows that as online becomes more and more of an original programming venue, rather than just a promotional or complementary channel, we will want to play there as well.
Q. How are things looking for interactive advertising in 2009?
-well, let me start by saying we are bullish on interactive advertising in general. As the 2nd largest wireless provider, the leading broadband provider, and an emerging player in the pay TV space with the most sophisticated, fully digital platform, we believe we are uniquely positioned to support emerging advertising models across the board. That said, I believe that there is a bit of an unfounded hope that interactive or addressable advertising is some sort of magic bullet. The basic business model of ad-supported content is severely challenged today by the DVR, Internet-streamed content, and probably most important, user behavior. We will need to work with our content and advertising partners to make the new models work, so we will have compelling, quality content to run across our networks and to play on our cool new devices.
Q. How would you compare being a TV network executive to working for a Telco?
-I tell people that I realized that I had never really worked for a corporation in the true sense of the word before joining AT&T. This statement usually confuses people who have known me for some time, since I was at Paramount for the acquisition by Viacom and lived through the disastrous AOL Time Warner merger. Neither compare. AT&T is extremely disciplined and a company that understands the virtue of scale. With over 300,000 employees and the largest Capex budget of any U.S. company, AT&T has the resources to launch a pay TV service while building on its mobile success. And AT&T culture is rooted in five 9’s, which means that AT&T services should be delivered with 99.999% up time. But the biggest difference is the amount of consensus required to move projects forward - that, and an insane love of Powerpoint decks.
Q. Anything you would like to add?
-just that I think it is a really an interesting time at AT&T and in the industry overall. Convergence has finally arrived, along with a number of other disruptive technologies that are challenging multiple business models. Consumers – and Hollywood – are benefitting from the choices resulting from competition in the video space from new entrants and from new distribution channels. Unfortunately, free content without a functioning advertising model is a choice few in the industry can afford.
Thank you.