Content, whether it is televised, streamed or audio, has always been a disposable commodity for the consumer. For the producer and television broadcaster, content is an expensive asset to be controlled. Consumers now want not only the free content, but also to be able to control it for free. The content shift from analog to digital represents the difference between a content-viewing consumer and a content-exchanging consumer. The permeation of the Internet into Canadian homes, along with Napster and other applications enabling the exchange of digital content, reinforces the cultural demand for such exchanges being free.

The communications industry is trying to fight this mindset by establishing digital rights management committees, encouraging the development and funding of technologies such as content watermarking, and requesting that manufacturers ensure hardware cannot copy content. And if all else fails, they will sue any company that chooses to embrace the new cultural paradigm over traditional values regarding content.

Napster is a prime example of how old-school values no longer work. Since the forced introduction of copyright screening on the site, hits to Napster have dropped by more than 20%. While it is too soon to determine if the introduction of screening will translate into increased sales and new revenues, we do know it has further irritated and provoked the demographic that already points its finger at ‘the establishment.’ This is the youth, the leading authors of the digital Cultural Revolution.

The industry has lost sight of business rule #1 – give consumers what they want. In the case of digital broadband or narrowband content, that would be the ability for the consumer to exchange, edit and forward it, and participate at their convenience. The industry has also lost sight of marketing rule #1 – giving away for free is the best marketing tool, bar none.

It is commonly said that when there is a tidal wave, find a surfboard – because there is little to be done other than to ride that wave. Alas, the search for the ‘killer application’ business model.

There are areas one might consider when also discussing iTV or other digital business models: first, timing; and second, the free exchange of content.

The venture capital collapse in the dot-com sector, due mainly to lack of demand from the broadcast and production industries, has hurt the growth of iTV content-creation companies. Even when these companies had millions to create huge booths at NAB, the industry and venture capital community were sharing iTV production costs. Without a proven business model, the industry will not commission and pay for iTV product. The iTV business model requires standards, and those require more time to be implemented.

The part of free content exchange that the industry might want to consider is a vertical subscription base, where consumers subscribe, by the season and/or on demand, to an additional half-hour of their favourite programs. And with respect to ad revenues, give the consumer a choice. Pay 25 cents to not watch commercials for an hour or watch the commercials but pick your area of interest. Contextual advertising is also a consideration, or how about downloading that (however long) Ford infomercial.

The broadcast and production communities will no longer be guided by a clock and therefore have ample opportunity to be more creative in the content they produce and the way in which they generate revenue. There will be new kinds of partnerships, and opportunities leading to that elusive business model will materialize as we practise our surfing over time.

Beverley Milligan is the development executive for the Interactive Broadcast Development Group at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto. Her work brings together industry members and researchers in interactive broadband to formulate technical, business and content strategies. *