I Want To Change TV: Mitch Berman, CEO of ZillionTV (Part 4)

SM: As a result, the user is sitting back as opposed to sitting forward. With that, let’s take the next step into the ecosystem. ZillionTV comes into this universe; is it the only player that has established itself in this frame of reference or are there other players sharing the space?

MB: There are many out there who are attempting to get to that TV screen, but they are not doing it in a way that is enhancing this ecosystem we are talking about. They are also attempting to do so in a one-dimensional way.

You have Blockbuster and Netflix going inside of devices. Look at those companies. What they are allowing you to do is view a movie, and a limited number of views in terms of what they have to offer, and you are done. There is no advertising. There is no choice for the consumer to watch with or without ads. There is no choice between renting and buying. There is no e-commerce or real interactivity going on like the ability to search on the television.

Just to get movies to your TV, you first have to go to your PC, pull up their website, choose in advance the movies you may want to watch, send them to your TV set and then watch them when you get home. You pay a subscription when you do that and you have to buy a $99 box for the privilege. Not exactly an instant and impulse viewing experience, which is the foundation of television viewing.

SM: We are avid Netflix users, by the way, and I think they have an excellent library.

MB: The movies that come in the mail are definitely supported by a great library. They have over 100,000 via mail, but only about 12,000 available in their progressive streaming service.

SM: Trust me, it will not be a problem for Netflix to get that up. With that in mind, why is it interesting for us to get a 239th player in this market?

MB: That is exactly why I started the conversation with “experience is the name we give to our mistakes”. I believe the folks at ZillionTV encompass the best in IP Networking, building Interactive television services around the world, creating and effectively distributing movie and TV shows, and doing marketing relating to pay TV programming around the world. Those entities do not exist in one building anywhere else.

We have learned what will work and what will not. We do not charge subscription. We don’t charge for boxes. Yes, there may be 239 video companies out there using the Internet to promote various forms of video on a PC, but the IPTV world is brand new and only a handful of companies have showed up, thus far, to bring video to the television set. It’s a totally new world in which ZillionTV intends to lead and be second-to-none in both content and consumer experience.

SM: As an analyst, I would say that content libraries alone are not a justifiable strategy.

MB: Again, this is not just about content. The right consumer experience and business model are critical. That said, ZillionTV is assembling one of the largest content collections ever built for television. Time will tell whether ZillionTV’s combination of content, consumer experience and business model will win. We are in the process of proving it.

SM: If you are talking about something in your architecture that allows you to deliver content in a different way, then we are talking about significant differentiation as opposed to a collection of content.

MB: We believe content tonnage alone will not get it done. That is something HBO learned early on. ZillionTV’s content ingest system combined with the way consumers can access content will be one of our key differentiators.

This segment is part 4 in the series : I Want To Change TV: Mitch Berman, CEO of ZillionTV
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