IP Democracy: Comcast: Genetically Reengineering Itself

Peter Grant has a good piece in today’s Wall Street Journal that dovetails nicely with the Journal’s scoop on the joint bid between Google and Comcast for a minority share in AOL. Comcast, the nation’s top cable operator, is not, as it turns out, blind to the mounting forces that threaten cable’s dominance in the consumer video market, and CEO Brian Roberts is banking that the company’s unified IP-based platform can ward off the competitive threat.

Brian Roberts, the chief executive officer of Comcast, is betting he can replicate enough of these newfangled services to prevent cable subscribers from defecting. One big advantage is Comcast’s longstanding relationships with Disney, Viacom, Time Warner and other leading programmers. But he acknowledges that a major cultural shift is necessary. “We’re genetically re-engineering ourselves,” he says.

Even one year ago it was inconceivable that cable’s solid role in delivering video services could be usurped by the Internet, but now with the advent of Web 2.0 and the rapid migration of video, audio and even high-speed services to mobile platforms, programmers see new revenue streams in alternative platforms that bypass cable.

But advocates of new TV-distribution technologies question how long programmers will stay loyal to the cable giants. Offering programs and movies on the Web, which is open to all, will be “too compelling from a content owner’s perspective,” compared with being enclosed within Comcast’s proprietary system, argues Jeremy Allaire, founder of Brightcove Inc., a company that helps businesses put TV programs online.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on October 13, 2005 9:00 AM to IP Democracy