Parsons: Release windows will 'live together'
Parsons does windows
Dec 9, 2005
NEW YORK -- Current film release windows will collapse over time, and the industry will "get close to the day-and-date paradigm," Time Warner chairman and CEO Richard Parsons predicted Thursday.
Parsons' remarks echo similar predictions made by Walt Disney Co.'s CEO Robert Iger, who also has raised the possibility of collapsing theatrical windows.
That idea has drawn a strong rebuke from John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, and was the subject of much discussion at October's ShowEast exhibitors' convention, where Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures, told the Hollywood Reporter that simultaneous theatrical/DVD release dates "are not going to happen at Warner Bros." (HR 10/28)
Speaking on the last day of the Credit Suisse First Boston Global Media Week conference, Parsons also said the film unit is TW's most revenue growth-challenged division because of strength in recent years and growth in the U.S. DVD market.
Overall, he said TW is on track to meet its full-year 2005 growth projections and expects "another strong growth year" in 2006.
As far as film release windows go, Parsons said new technologies will lead to a situation where theatrical, cable on-demand, Internet, DVD and other versions of movies "live together" and collapse traditional windows. He wouldn't predict how long that process would take.
Along with Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable is "working on different approaches" that would respond to the FCC's recent call for a la carte pricing by cable operators but at the same time not hurt the cable business, Parsons told reporters after his appearance. "The cable industry needs to find a creative and appropriate response," he said, without providing further details. Parsons didn't say if other big cable operators also are involved in the process, nor did he provide a likely timeline.
Speaking Thursday at the UBS Media Week Conference across town, Comcast co-chief financial officer and treasurer John Alchin said a la carte pricing could hurt consumers by reducing diversity of programming and boosting per-channel costs.
On the other hand, he endorsed the idea of a family-oriented cable tier. Comcast has "catered to certain groups" in the past, Alchin said. For example, it has provided channels and subscription packages for the fast-growing Spanish-speaking population in the U.S. and developed a package for sports fans.
"It could well be that some concept of a family-oriented tier would give both a cheap pricing construct to consumers and help things on the indecency front," Alchin said.
Asked during his luncheon appearance why TW's magazine brands such as Fortune and Sports Illustrated haven't launched niche cable networks using their brand power, Parsons predicted that there will be "a lot more risk in network creation" in the coming years. While broader-based entertainment networks will see the biggest growth, "many little ones won't survive," he said.
Parsons on Thursday also lauded TW's film operations and said they had another "fabulous year." However, strength in recent years along with "a flattening out of the growth line in DVDs in the U.S." will make future revenue growth more difficult, he added.
New technologies that put TW's film and TV libraries to use provide new revenue opportunities, which could become sizable, but likely only down the line over several years, Parsons said.
Asked by an investor why TW has set its $12.5 billion stock buyback program for a two-year time frame and whether it could accelerate it, Parsons said the two-year approach allows his firm to "hit the right balance" between the demands of returning money to shareholders and keeping powder dry in case acquisition opportunities come up.
For example, asked if he would still be interested in MGM if it came onto the market again, Parsons said yes, "if we could get it at a reasonable price."
The TW CEO again received questions about a possible deal between his America Online division and either Microsoft Corp. or Google Inc.
He said AOL "needs to catch up" to other Internet giants in terms of online ads, which is one of TW's fastest growth areas with a lot more upside potential, adding that AOL discussions continue. He didn't provide a timeline or other details.
However, he said AOL's goal is to get better search technology and more control over it, as well as boost traffic to its free AOL.com site.
Meanwhile, Alchin said Comcast plans next year to explore a means of generating ad revenue via its online properties. "We have not yet, but I guarantee we will be able to take advantage of advertising opportunities with the reach we have," he said.
Recent rumors that Comcast and Google will form a partnership that would strike a deal with AOL were just speculation, Alchin said, adding though that such a partnership made perfect sense.
Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
Parsons' remarks echo similar predictions made by Walt Disney Co.'s CEO Robert Iger, who also has raised the possibility of collapsing theatrical windows.
That idea has drawn a strong rebuke from John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, and was the subject of much discussion at October's ShowEast exhibitors' convention, where Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures, told the Hollywood Reporter that simultaneous theatrical/DVD release dates "are not going to happen at Warner Bros." (HR 10/28)
Speaking on the last day of the Credit Suisse First Boston Global Media Week conference, Parsons also said the film unit is TW's most revenue growth-challenged division because of strength in recent years and growth in the U.S. DVD market.
Overall, he said TW is on track to meet its full-year 2005 growth projections and expects "another strong growth year" in 2006.
As far as film release windows go, Parsons said new technologies will lead to a situation where theatrical, cable on-demand, Internet, DVD and other versions of movies "live together" and collapse traditional windows. He wouldn't predict how long that process would take.
Along with Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable is "working on different approaches" that would respond to the FCC's recent call for a la carte pricing by cable operators but at the same time not hurt the cable business, Parsons told reporters after his appearance. "The cable industry needs to find a creative and appropriate response," he said, without providing further details. Parsons didn't say if other big cable operators also are involved in the process, nor did he provide a likely timeline.
Speaking Thursday at the UBS Media Week Conference across town, Comcast co-chief financial officer and treasurer John Alchin said a la carte pricing could hurt consumers by reducing diversity of programming and boosting per-channel costs.
On the other hand, he endorsed the idea of a family-oriented cable tier. Comcast has "catered to certain groups" in the past, Alchin said. For example, it has provided channels and subscription packages for the fast-growing Spanish-speaking population in the U.S. and developed a package for sports fans.
"It could well be that some concept of a family-oriented tier would give both a cheap pricing construct to consumers and help things on the indecency front," Alchin said.
Asked during his luncheon appearance why TW's magazine brands such as Fortune and Sports Illustrated haven't launched niche cable networks using their brand power, Parsons predicted that there will be "a lot more risk in network creation" in the coming years. While broader-based entertainment networks will see the biggest growth, "many little ones won't survive," he said.
Parsons on Thursday also lauded TW's film operations and said they had another "fabulous year." However, strength in recent years along with "a flattening out of the growth line in DVDs in the U.S." will make future revenue growth more difficult, he added.
New technologies that put TW's film and TV libraries to use provide new revenue opportunities, which could become sizable, but likely only down the line over several years, Parsons said.
Asked by an investor why TW has set its $12.5 billion stock buyback program for a two-year time frame and whether it could accelerate it, Parsons said the two-year approach allows his firm to "hit the right balance" between the demands of returning money to shareholders and keeping powder dry in case acquisition opportunities come up.
For example, asked if he would still be interested in MGM if it came onto the market again, Parsons said yes, "if we could get it at a reasonable price."
The TW CEO again received questions about a possible deal between his America Online division and either Microsoft Corp. or Google Inc.
He said AOL "needs to catch up" to other Internet giants in terms of online ads, which is one of TW's fastest growth areas with a lot more upside potential, adding that AOL discussions continue. He didn't provide a timeline or other details.
However, he said AOL's goal is to get better search technology and more control over it, as well as boost traffic to its free AOL.com site.
Meanwhile, Alchin said Comcast plans next year to explore a means of generating ad revenue via its online properties. "We have not yet, but I guarantee we will be able to take advantage of advertising opportunities with the reach we have," he said.
Recent rumors that Comcast and Google will form a partnership that would strike a deal with AOL were just speculation, Alchin said, adding though that such a partnership made perfect sense.
Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
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