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by Simon Tuck
The Globe and Mail
Dec 1, 2004
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OTTAWA -- Canadian broadcasters will face
a critical battle over the next few years, as the digital revolution
ushers in the greatest overhaul of the conventional radio and television
industries in decades, industry officials were told yesterday.
While the overhaul could create new opportunities for some broadcasters,
industry officials said, there are no technological inventions to create
easy paths away from the storm.
Mike Lee, vice-president, strategy and development for Rogers Cable
Inc., said the industry needs to prepare itself for the change, even
if it doesn't want to.
"Consumers are driving the change, not necessarily industry driving
the change," he said.
Speaking during the final panel session of the three-day Canadian Association
of Broadcasters annual convention in Ottawa, Mr. Lee warned broadcasters
not to rely on regulation or litigation to try to preserve the status
quo. Technology has given consumers the tools to fulfill many of their
wishes, and the industry will face the consequences if it doesn't find
ways to respond, he said.
It's much easier to keep a customer than convince them to return once
they've left, Mr. Lee added.
"And when they leave the system, they take all of their revenue
with them," he said.
The television and radio industries haven't experienced a major technological
overhaul in decades, industry officials were told, since the advent
of colour television and FM radio more than a generation ago.
Kaan Yigit, president of Toronto technology market research firm Solutions
Research Group, warned that broadcasters should focus more on the customers'
wishes and needs than the devices themselves. "It's not about technology,
it's about freedom."
Industry experts said the trends will likely also include:
Growing demand for interconnectedness between products and users.
Increased prominence of wireless, including within the home.
Mobility of devices, including television.
Increasing market dominance of younger consumers who grew up in the
digital era and who expect their devices to work quickly and be available
immediately.
Growing adoption of high-speed Internet, and a host of interconnected
consumer electronic devices.
Continued growth of all things digital, and the death of analog.
Increasing marginalization of the federal broadcast regulator, the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
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