Calgary: What do you get when you cross the Old West with the New Media? Marshall McLuhan with a Stetson on his head and a wireless keyboard in his hands.

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters went new media all the way, all the time with its annual convention Nov. 12-14 in Calgary, exploring the virtual reaches of broadcasting’s future online from an Old Economy building (fittingly, the Telus Convention Centre) set in the heart of the New West.

With iCravetv safely blown off the web-waves in the past year, cab president Michael McCabe directed the private broadcaster association’s 400 convention delegates to the challenges of communicating to computer-savvy consumers. The main point? Let’s discover how to move tv content onto emerging online media, right now.

McCabe opened the convention by noting that broadcasters – even in small markets with Net-skeptical managers – have to take control of their brands on the Web themselves because, even with iCrave sidelined, ‘a new contender threatens’ to blast its way onto territory that can be marked by broadcasters. McCabe says cab has been working with telco giant and ctv owner bce on a code to govern broadcast distribution on the Net, and hopes that example will ‘encourage others to do work on such a code.’

Consultant Ken Goldstein updated his 1999 FuturePlan. ‘A year ago, we didn’t know Canadians would lead the world in the percentage of people having high-speed Internet access,’ he said.

The past year has also shown that broadcasters, like other content providers, are increasingly using websites in cross-platform marketing programs. Goldstein delineated the types of online marketing as business-to-consumer, business-to-business (‘get ready to do more business with your advertisers over the Net’), and the newest, consumer-to-consumer.

‘Changes in advertising are accelerating,’ Goldstein said, noting that Volvo ‘launched a new car ad campaign on the Internet rather than on tv because of the high cost of advertising during a presidential election campaign. Volvo says it spent the same money as it would have on tv during a non-election period.’

Goldstein also described changes coming to cyber ads. He says the rise of ‘portable Internet’ devices such as cell phones will mean about 30% fewer people surf the Net via a pc.

He also discussed ‘t-commerce’ in which advertisers target consumers who buy ‘personal video recording’ devices such as TiVo and send customized ads directly to these devices. Another big ad destination will be the electronic programming guide, used by 75% of digital tv users in the u.k., and of course the set-top box as the filter for digital transmissions.

Goldstein sees ‘the various types and categories of media’ as layers. ‘Now you’re going to be sharing content with different players on different layers….Do you concentrate on one genre [of content] across different layers, or do you [distribute] more general content on one platform?’

The Dot-Com Showdown was another convention highlight. Five teams of entrepreneurs pitched interactive media projects before a panel of radio and tv broadcasters and venture capitalists for a $10,000 prize.

Winners Charly Smith and Carolyn Newman of Renegadz pitched a half-hour live tv show aimed at allowing teens ‘to discuss their issues.’ They want the show to run 52 weeks a year featuring eight interactive elements.

Both alumni of cbc, Smith and Newman seek a first window broadcast, second window specialtycast, and have some fascinating plans for additional revenue potential. For instance, each show would have four dedicated zones: relationships, entertainment, sports and teen news, plus an undedicated fifth ‘zone.’

Suppose that for the fashion zone, Renegadz ran a contest challenging teens to design the ultimate fall outfit with the Club Monaco look in mind. The producers could partner with Club Monaco to sponsor the contest website and cover the cost of producing the segment. Teen participants could design the clothes, scan the images and submit their presentations online. This approach extends the tv brand to the Web, and entices the advertiser to pay some costs. Exactly the thrust of the entire convention.

(For more on the cab convention, see Editorial, p. 6.) *

-www.cab-acr.ca