Handheld Entertainment Frenzy
By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 3/13/2006
The frenzied announcements by cellular carriers, notebook PC and cellular handset makers, cable TV systems, broadcast networks, Internet search engines, MP3 makers, Apple et al, about providing audio and video content continues unabated.
The trend, which began last fall and accelerated during International CES where it was the talk of the show, shows no sign of ending anytime soon as today's News section amply shows. Starz Entertainment's Vongo cut a cross-promotion deal with HP. Verizon is teaming on a feature where your cellphone can program certain TiVo models. Sprint Nextel is providing a video-on-demand service and Cingular is expanding theirs.
All of this makes for breathless reports on the ability to watch “Desperate Housewives,” “Law & Order” and the like by the same cable and broadcast TV outlets that own the same programming. (Talk about synergy. Or is it convergence? Or journalistically, is it a conflict of interest?)
But I digress ... The point for consumer electronics retailers there seems to be plenty of flash, but where's the cash? Will there be a lucrative role CE retail to play here? All of this activity could be the second coming of satellite TV or HDTV, or another failed format. Time will tell.
From what this reporter can tell, so far, content providers, cellular carriers, broadcasting and cable TV and Internet sites like Google and Yahoo! should be the big winners; that is, if enough consumers buy into the concept.
According to the first research study I've seen on the subject, by Points North Group and Horowitz Associates (see story on p. 6), there is an interest by consumers to get video from Google and Yahoo! But the most interested is the demographic group aged 18 to 34 of Internet users. But when you look at the numbers closely from that group, a total of 7 percent would want to use their iPod, MP3, cellphone or PDA to view Google Video, while 15 percent would want to use those devices to view Yahoo Go! programming.
That's not to say that this study is the definitive word on the subject. As with all new devices and formats that surround audio and video distribution, most consumers know little about it. When they do, handheld entertainment downloads could be very popular, which may mean more CE retailers will sell those handheld devices. This is an area that should be watched closely.
Health Care Is A Selling Point?
Take a look at the calendar and the front page of TWICE and you can tell that we are in the middle of the buying group meeting season. After all the changes in the executive suites of two groups you probably thought there wouldn't be much more to comment on. But you'd be wrong. Members and executives with MARTA, which is now in an alliance with Brand Source, and Nationwide Marketing Group all highlight that the “best deal” isn't enough anymore for a group to survive. Member services are the key, many have said. What surprised me is a health care plan for buying group members has become a big selling point. Health care? It really isn't surprising. Health care costs have been out of control for at least 25 years, and neither major political party has had the will to do anything over the years to rein in the health care industry, to the detriment of this industry, and the country as a whole.
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