Lee Masters Bets on Interactive Platform
Former E! chief focusing on investments,content applications for DCT-5000
cableworld.com
By Karen Brown
Lee Masters gambled when he left a successful job as head of E! Entertainment for the strange new world of interactive television at Liberty Digital. And as he prepared to present the company's business game plan to board members in Denver last week, he is still confident that he has a winning hand.
"I'm having more fun than I have had in ages," he said. "This is really a great time and I think it is a perfect time."
Before he accepted Robert "Dob" Bennett's offer to head up Liberty Digital as president and CEO, he had already felt the lure of the Internet and the potential to tie in to cable with the new generation of two-way, digital set-top boxes. Having merged earlier this year with TCI Music under the Liberty Digital banner, the company's focus now is making interactive TV a mainstay in American homes, he said.
That's a tall order. Despite advancements and some cautious trials, the industry as a whole is still waiting for that magical day when fully interactive set-top boxes are available. General Instrument Corp., in which Liberty Digital has an ownership stake, is set to roll out its advanced DCT 5000+ early next year. Through a carriage agreement with parent AT&T Broadband and Internet Services, Liberty has a 6MHz channel to field interactive content, and the plan is to begin with a few channels in three AT&T BIS markets in about nine months.
"Our intent is to have our programming in place so we will be ready, even if it is only in three cities," Masters said.
Among interactive applications, Masters thinks video on demand, electronic programming guides, personal video recorders, e-commerce and gaming will be most important.
Liberty already has investment stakes in some companies positioning themselves in these markets, and is now looking at deals with companies developing operation systems and e-commerce applications. "Our intent is to be a little involved in every part of the value chain," he said.
"What we're looking for is the early opportunities out there where there aren't a lot of big players," he said. "And believe it or not, there are a lot of those opportunities out there."
Even if Liberty Digital forges deals to drive the content, it will still face the challenge of selling itself to the cable operators. And that means proving interactive TV has a solid business strategy, that will generate revenue.
"One of our primary goals is to go to cable operators and say 'Look what this can do for you. You can get this and it won't cost you anything.'"
One advantage in this battle is that cable operators have a vested interest with investments in the digital box technology. Although MSOs' focus is divided between service offerings including telephony, Internet and high-speed data, Masters hopes to catch their attention with the potential of interactive TV.
"Our job is to make sure our economics are compelling - compelling enough so our services are of interest to them," he said.
If successful, Masters said the company could grow from the five or so employees now to a full-fledged operation with departments handling e-commerce, programming, sales and marketing. Choosing to aim interactive content at the television is the best bet to make that happen, he added.
"The real winner is the TV set," Masters said. "TV sets are in a lot more homes. We think the numbers are very favorable when we structure it that way."
Attempts at interactive TV - notably the doomed Full Service Network fielded by Time Warner - failed because of a primitive technical platform to stage the service, high operating costs and propriety programming and systems. Advancements in the field have changed that 180 degrees, he said.
"Those three pieces make it dramatically different from today," he said. "For those reasons it failed in the past, but now it will be successful." |
