With OTT in Industry's 'Bull's-Eye,' Complexity for Consumers Is a Problem, Fox Executive Says

president-consumer business development and strategic partnerships, at a Parks Associates conference. Addressing AT&T’s Time Warner acquisition (see 1812130004), Disney/Fox assets and Comcast/NBCUniversal, Penney cited a “new balance of power” among studios, distribution platforms and ISPs. Media conglomerates hope to turn themselves into direct-to-consumer media companies to get in on the data trend, Penney said Wednesday in Marina Del Rey, California. The battle for market share by large consumer electronics companies and internet companies will make the home “even more cluttered with devices,” said Penney. Pushing for “reduction in complexity,” he said the living room has become a “rats’ nest of wires and boxes,” some due to competitive dynamics. In addition to Amazon and Google, Apple and Roku are trying to leverage hardware to sell services, creating a “mess” for average consumers who just want to discover content they want to watch and make it all work, he said. That’s a “real disservice to how good this can be,” said Penney, saying OTT “can be a lot better than traditional distribution by broadcast and cable,” but large internet and CE companies “have very little desire to pull together and create a more holistic mechanism for search, personalization and the like.” He said “something’s got to give” because it won’t be possible to make video content and distribution work economically. Penney referenced a comment on a previous panel that the new piracy in TV is shared accounts for OTT. Some in industry hope for relationship breakups so each member of the ex-couple ponies up for a separate paid account, quipped Michele Edelman, Vubiquity executive vice president-marketing.