CEO Lowell McAdam offered a few more details this morning about Verizon’s plan to offer a TV-like service over the Internet, a market that Sony and Dish Network also hope to lead. The telco expects by mid 2015 it will offer mobile users a “bundle with major broadcast providers” plus a collection of “custom channels,” he said today at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference. “It’s the Big 4 for sure, and I would tell you that the very exciting part of this is some of the digital media out of the west coast” including DreamWorks Annimation’s AwesomenessTV “that really goes after the Millenials. It’s targeted content.” He also noted that Verizon Wireless offers fast speeds for those who want to upload content. “When you get more and more to user generated content, that’s a competitive advantage.”
McAdam says Verizon’s still talking to big content providers, including some that once feared a virtual pay TV system might jeopardize their ability to require cable and satellite subscribers to pay for channels they don’t watch. “There’s no doubt in my mind we can make it a win-win….Over the last six months to a year that dialogue has changed dramatically.”
But he adds that the days of the pay TV bundle are numbered. “No one wants to have 300 channels on your wireless. Everyone understands it will go to a la carte. The question is what does that transition look like.”
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McAdam says Verizon’s still talking to big content providers, including some that once feared a virtual pay TV system might jeopardize their ability to require cable and satellite subscribers to pay for channels they don’t watch. “There’s no doubt in my mind we can make it a win-win….Over the last six months to a year that dialogue has changed dramatically.”
But he adds that the days of the pay TV bundle are numbered. “No one wants to have 300 channels on your wireless. Everyone understands it will go to a la carte. The question is what does that transition look like.”
deadline.com
