Disney/ABC’s Cheng is Confident About Broadband Video Advertising
VideoNuze | June 19, 2008
Though broadcast TV networks have been aggressively pushing their shows online, there has been simmering angst about what impact this will ultimately have on their traditional economics.
I have explored this issue recently in “Does Broadband Video Help or Hurt Broadcast TV Networks?” and in two posts on Fox’s “Remote-Free TV” initiative here and here. NBCU’s CEO Jeff Zucker has helped to stoke this concern, publicly calling broadcasters’ #1 challenge the risk of exchanging “analog dollars for digital pennies.”
Thus I was both a bit surprised, but also encouraged, to hear Albert Cheng, Disney/ABC’s EVP of Digital Media tell me in a recent briefing that despite the fact that online revenue per program per eyeball is currently less than it is for on-air, he’s confident that online will eventually catch up and surpass on-air.
