TelcoTV: AT&T evolves three-screen strategy

ANAHEIM, Calif. – While still “the phone company” to most Americans, AT&T’s vision is to enable communications plus entertainment that goes beyond just video on the television, according to Dan York, executive vice president of content for AT&T, in a keynote address today at the Telco TV show. AT&T’s goal is to bring together its platforms -- TV, PC and mobile -- and extend its services across all three.

“Limiting the definition of entertainment to TV misses the larger point,” York told attendees. “When we talk about bringing it all together at AT&T, we are not just talking about a bundle. They are important, but it goes beyond putting everything on one piece of paper. It’s about integration that goes beyond what our competitors offer.”

York, who’s in charge of content strategy for AT&T, leads the content acquisition and negotiations for linear and on-demand programming deals for TV, broadband and mobile. Of late, the difference between content on the three is becoming increasingly less distinct. Consumers want entertainment at their fingertips, on every device, and services have to be built around the consumer’s lifestyle, interests and hobbies, he said, pointing out that AT&T has delivered on its three-screen promise with coverage of the Masters golf tournament, Beijing Olympics and Swampstock, a nonprofit Tim McGraw concert, with interactive content and coverage across three screens.

“Everything must be consumer-centric, not technology-centric,” York said. “Gone are the days that services are built around technology and consumers have to accept their limitations.”

IPTV, mobile, and video-on-demand are the main catalysts for the change, York said. On the IPTV front, AT&T has 781,000 customers for its U-Verse service, totaling 14 million units passed, putting it on track to exceed 1 million customers by the end of the year, he said. The benefits of U-Verse to date include remote access, software-based picture-in-picture functionality and intuitive search. AT&T also announced this week it has rolled out total-home DVR to 10 new areas, completing its entire planned rollout ahead of schedule, according to York. Customers in all 69 U-Verse-capable markets can now access the service, which lets them play back recorded programs from a single DVR on any connected TV in the home, a capability cable cannot yet match.