Not only does cable have a bandwidth advantage over telcos, it has a two-way connectivity superiority over satellite, a technological conundrum for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. This Business Week piece highlights how New Corp. fought to buy DirecTV only to find out that cable’s interactivity puts satellite at a competitive disadvantage.
The problem at the heart of DIRECTV’s model is that it can’t yet offer the two-way technologies that are so hot now — from Voice over Internet Protocol to VOD. Satellite’s one-way feed can send shows to TVs, but there’s no path back to the satellite, making its pay-per-view offerings much less popular since they start at scheduled times. Plus, cable is a more attractive platform for ads because it can target spots to specific neighborhoods.
But no one is counting News Corp. out, not by a long stretch. DirecTV has already developed its own answer to VOD and News Corp. is on the hunt for companies that fill the high-speed Internet and VoIP holes.
Cynthia Brumfield at 10:45 AM|Comments(0)
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