Going Hollywood II: Return of the content kings

SBC's planned move into TV service, a project advanced by an agreement earlier this month to use Microsoft's IPTV platform (see story below), harkens back to a time when multimedia mega-merged entities walked the planet like the massive and benevolent brontosauruses.

You know where I'm heading with the dinosaur analogy, so I won't elaborate, except to summarize that those previous efforts at assembling converged service providers proved fallible, and that a recent more organic approach to creating the multimedia model so far seems much more promising.

One of the hallmarks of the earlier effort was the move by video-aspiring telcos to hire some of the top executive talent in Hollywood, such as Howard Stringer and Sandy Grushow, who were tapped to manage the Tele TV venture.

Though it didn't work the first time, should telcos such as SBC who are now returning to the TV trough launch into a star search for Hollywood talent?

It wouldn't be a bad idea, though there should be a few caveats.

Any telco looking to deliver TV programming over its network should look for advice from someone experienced in the delivery and packaging of content. Whether that means hiring one-time or full-time consultants depends on how successful these new services are over the next two years.

They should also hire more people from the cable TV industry, at a variety of levels. The first time around, telcos were pretty cocky about how easy it was going to be to master a different kind of business simply by putting their telecom reputations behind it. This time, they should import mid-level cable TV careerists who understand everything there is to know about installing, delivering and managing TV service, and do their best to integrate these employees into their core operations.

While telcos need the help, they shouldn't rush out to hire the best Hollywood has to offer, then set these executives up on their joint venture islands with initially huge but ultimately limited financial support. We've seen them try and fail at that.

The return of telco TV could be a sequel worth the price of admission, as long as telcos seek cable TV and content input at the right levels but manage these video efforts as just another element of their core businesses. They are getting a second chance to make video work, and they should learn from their earlier organizational mistakes.

E-mail me at doshea@primediabusiness.com.