This Was the Year That Was

Todd Chanko | December 30, 2006, 10:34 PM

The turn of the secular New Year always brings with it the urge to assess and prognosticate. The year past saw:

· The rise of consumer generated content aka the “YouTube” effect…
· resulting in anxiety among mainstream content providers…
· who countered with full-length, primetime, broadband initiatives on their own…
· forcing the ur-Time Shifter itself, TiVo, to team up with Verizon Wireless...
· whose parent company really, really wanted to overtake Comcast et al – 2006, the year of Telco TV!…
· while Murdoch pretty much saw a mature market in Pay TV, abandoning the US satellite business while increasing his exposure online…
· which Comcast seconded in its acquisition of thePlatform and its launch of FearNet…
· while NBC focused on its own digital ambitions, firing everyone in its path, showing David Zaslav and Randy Falco the door, yet giddily launching a successful primetime comedy, 30 Rock, which mocks just about everything on this list.

What will 2007 bring? Will John Malone have a credible response to cable’s bona fide triple – and in some cases, quadruple – play? Will YouTube mature into just another platform for trailers, sinking under the threat of lawsuits? Can broadcast affiliates survive in this volatile environment?

Check your local listings for times and showings.

Happy New Year everybody. Have a blast.