Zucker: Television Facing 'Wrenching Changes'

ZUCKER: TELEVISION FACING 'WRENCHING CHANGES'
[SOURCE: tvnewsday, AUTHOR: Arthur Greenwald]
At the NAPTE convention in Las Vegas, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said that people will always want to be touched and entertained by great content, cheer their sports teams ... the creation and marketing of this content "is not changing." What is changing, he contends, is everything else. Technology is driving startling changes in consumer behavior. New technology is no longer just the domain of "early adopters." Citing the rapid penetration of DVRs, he says, "the people who covered the blinking VCR clock with black tape have no problem operating the DVR." But the shift in business models for the networks is seismic. “Ten years ago Bob Wright said NBC was not in the TV business but in the ‘video in the home business.’” It is amazing, Zucker says, how much things have changed since then. NBC can be viewed in supermarkets, gas stations, taxicabs and cell phones. The appointment is made by the viewer and not the scheduling department. "In past years if a TV executive was speaking here at NATPE, he would always say that the outlook for broadcasting is bright ... but I can't say that. We are in the middle of a wrenching change in technology and consumer behavior." Zucker describes the industry as "in a gentle downward slide, disguised by a robust economy."
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/01/29/daily.11/

* Zucker: Stations are NBC's 'Greatest Asset'
"We know from our own stations that whatever we do nationally affects us locally. But we know if we don't do all we can to make our newscasts and programs available in new ways, then we will [all suffer.]" The key, Zucker says, "is to find ways for stations and affiliates and the network to exploit these new opportunities together."
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/01/29/daily.15/