Why We're Here
By Jay Linden, NBC Universal
As a "founding father" of NBC Universal's presence @ CES, I'm more sure than ever that we have a critical role in what goes on at this, the biggest consumer electronics trade show in the world.
Three years ago, when we proposed that NBCU take on the role of "official broadcast partner" of CES, it was because we wanted to make a statement...that content like ours is the fuel that creates the demand for the technolgy and innovation that CES is all about.
Yesterday, I spent some time walking the show floor. The major players are all about their screens...3-D, HD, LCD, LED, OLED. While it's fun and impressive to see what the future holds, so much of what's on these screens is just video...of fruit, of flowers...you get the idea. Once you understand the particular technology feature of that screen, the pictures hold your interest for about 15 seconds. My point is that the potential of all of this technology is only realize when those screens are filled with great content...and that's the business that we're in...we ARE the fuel!
This year our booth is themed around the upcoming 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. It has been proven time and again that the Olympics is the ultimate "fuel," and that was never more true than it was during the 2008 Olympic Summer Games from Beijing. There's no reason to think that the engagement of our viewers and users with our content across all of their technology options won't continue to grow when the Games begin next month.
What seems to be happening is that consumers are going to be able to have a more meaningful relationship (like the one they've had with TV for decades) with a greater variety of screens. One could argue that the most important screen in one's life is the one that's with you almost all the time...the phone. When we visited to Motorola booth we learned that Adobe Flash is coming to their screens... that means that we'll be able to push content to a phone as easily as we do to a PC. Clearly Apple has figured how to make the video experience credible on their devices...now more of the world will be able to take more of our content wherever they go.
This presents even more opportunity for us to generate revenue as we can attach our advertisers to that content, given the right business model and execution. Nothing new in that challenge, as we've seen before...
Our presence has made us a magnet for those who have a big stake in the future of content and technolgoy. The content we push out to CNBC, MSNBC, the Today Show and our stations speaks not only to the interests of consumers, but to the impact of this industry on the economy.
Last but not least, it's extremely rewarding to see how the ad hoc team that comes together under the leadership of Mark Lukasiewicz, Bill Hartnett and so many others pulls this off. Special note should be made of the efforts of Jon Accarino, who actually got me to post my first-ever blog!
