IP Democracy: Comcast CEO: If Bypass Happens, So Be It

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts reiterated this morning his stance that if the Internet becomes a video distribution medium that bypasses cable’s traditional role as content aggregator, the cable industry will be just fine. Speaking at a Sanford C. Bernstein conference, Roberts suggested that although Comcast doesn’t want to be just a distributor of bits, it can leverage its role as a broadband provider to make money selling capacity.

“If someone wants to consume something a different way, it’s a unique experience, and they want to pay more for it, I think that’s a good place for this industry to be,” he said. Regarding the irony that cable’s broadband pipes are responsible for the rise of a new video competitor, Roberts said “if it’s going to happen, better that it should be from us.”

Despite accepting the idea that the Internet might supplant cable TV, Roberts doesn’t think it actually will happen. For one thing, linear live TV channels would overwhelm the Internet. “It swamps the internet by a factor of many, many thousands,” Roberts said. For another, traditional TV over the web doesn’t fit with the business models of traditional TV programmers, which are still premised on mass distribution of content to everyone simultaneously.

Comcast is, however, embracing web video in a big way with its upcoming web video service powered by recently acquired Fandango. But web-based video is a different creature from traditional TV video. “We do think web 2.0 is much more video centric. I don’t think it’s live television-centric,” Roberts said.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on May 30, 2007 11:14 AM to IP Democracy