NCTA: Media execs fear government, not Google

LAS VEGAS--Major media executives expressed more impassioned concern over unnecessary government regulation than encroachment on their turf by new media companies such as Yahoo! and Google. Speaking in a general session panel at The Cable Show here Tuesday, the top executives from Viacom, Time Warner Inc. and News Corp. all expressed confidence in their companies’ ability to capitalize on new means of content distribution including broadband and wireless.

“These things get blown out of proportion,” said Richard Parsons, chairman and CEO of Time Warner. “Television viewing is still going up. Last year, everyone was questioning movies because attendance was down five percent--it was a bad year for movies. But this year is going to be a blowout. Things are changing but changing slowly and over time. The revenues we get, except for AOL with online advertising business, we are taking our fair share there--the rest of our businesses are robust and strong. The notion that the new kids on the block are taking over is a false notion. Ten years from now, these same companies are going to be here. I’m not so sure about the new kids on the block.”

Peter Chernin, president and COO of News Corp., received a rousing round of applause for his diatribe against possible government intervention to reduce the amount of violence on television, as he argued for parents’ rights to control what their children watch. He admitted earlier that piracy and destruction of current business models were both potential threats in the new broadband world but said News Corp. is moving into mobile content, through its investment in Jamba, and expects to forge deeper ties with its customers by being in more ubiquitous contact.

The new relationships content players are forging with their customers on the Internet and on cell phones is additive to their value, said Viacom CEO Phillipe Dauman. He even called himself “a reluctant plaintiff” in his company’s lawsuit against Google and YouTube for allowing clips from Viacom shows to be shown in YouTube, saying he would have preferred a negotiated solution. Parsons predicted the conflict between the Internet players and major media companies would be resolved soon, possibly even in the next six months.

“Within months, things are likely to get better,” he said. “We are largest content owners in the world. Google is acknowledging they can’t just take all this stuff. We are going to have to find a way to take pieces, and compensate legitimate content owners. We are trying to work our way through answers to those questions.”