One can only pray that GCN has some of that pot of gold.
In all of this, internet TV - also known as IPTV, is the elephant in the room. For many years it has been sidelined in the debate as broadband-grade content that was unable to match the production value of ''traditional'' television.
But major studios worldwide are investing in IPTV because most have, accurately, predicted it will allow them to launch channels into what will quickly become a crowded multichannel space.
These channels would be largely niche, but they would have television-like content and, through a raft of emerging content platforms such as the X-Box, the T-Box and IPTV-capable televisions, be able to reach increasing audiences.
So rather than a fourth free-to-air licence crashing the oligopolists party, it has been IPTV and to a lesser extent pay TV, according to David Kingston, who foresaw a decline of free-to-air a decade ago and sold his regional South Australian free-to-air Spencer Gulf Telecasters for a tidy profit. ''Viewers now have so many alternative choices to get their entertainment or information,'' Kingston says.
In Australia, Fennessy believes the tipping point will be the switch-off of analog television. At that point, the five ''big'' channels become the equal of the ''small'' digital channels in terms of footprint. Everyone, good or bad, is equal, he says.
That will accelerate with the NBN's rollout , and IPTV businesses begin that process.
TV networks will ''take their place on the grid with a lot of other content providers, as opposed to being in pole position'', Fennessy says.
At stake is a pot of gold. Australia's advertising industry is, per capita, the richest in the world. That cash flow, says Mitchell, has helped turned Australia's media owners into titans. ''If content is king, then cash is even more so,'' he said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/storm-of-change-coming-soon-to-tv-20121019-27wrn.html#ixzz29mw9dNjZ
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