Is New Media about Convenience or Control?

Filed in archive IPTV on November 3, 2006

7/5th of all people do not understand fractions

A popular mantra is that consumers are increasingly taking control of their media. In fact, I've even trotted out this little ditty a few times when having to explain to advertising professionals what force is driving change today.


However, an article written by Joe Mandese suggests that the average American is actually opting for convenience over control. The prime evidence: the "triple-play" offered by telco's and cable providers.

According to a Knowledge Networks/SRI study, 22 percent of U.S. TV households now have at least one telecommunications service bundled as part of a package from their TV service provider. You should expect that percentage to head higher as AT&T, Verizon and Sprint begin playing catch-up with the cable TV industry.

Cable companies were able to offer voice sooner than telephone companies could offer television, so that same study indicates that 90 percent of homes with bundled TV, Internet and voice services are currently owned by cable companies. I find that statistic irrelevant because AT&T is about to aggressive market their U-verse package which includes a very compelling IPTV platform supplied by Microsoft.

So are we gravitating toward more centralized services (a-la the triple-play) or the decentralized and personal control (a-la the iPod) of the consumer?

A VP at Knowledge Networks/SRI speculated that "iPods and other personal media devices for managing media content may be the exception, not the rule. And their popularity may have more to do with a form of convenience - mobility - than it signals control."

I believe that is mistaken.

There is no huge convenience in paying one bill instead of two or three. The correct interpretation is that consumers respond to an equilibrium that balances quality and price. Improve the quality and cut the cost and it becomes a no-brainer. This is what will drive the triple-play. In my book, that is not a 'convenience' play; it is a 'value' play.