Executive Thought Leadership

Reinventing Entertainment

An Interview with Dan Scheinman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Media Solutions Group

We're at the beginning of an entertainment revolution. The entertainment content we consume is increasingly digital, and available to you on multiple devices facilitated by broadband connections. But this isn't just a technical revolution. Our relationship with entertainment content and the amount of money we spend on it is also changing. For example, in 2004 per-capita spending on entertainment, media, and communications became the third-largest category among consumers—surpassing clothing and even food—according to estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

We recently talked to Dan Scheinman, senior vice president and general manager of the Cisco Media Solutions Group, about the entertainment revolution, the role technology plays in this revolution, and what it all means to consumers.

Q: Cisco: Why is Cisco talking about consumers and the entertainment industry?

A: Scheinman: Broadband is creating new forms of content, new distribution channels, new audiences, and new ways to link people. Cisco's role in powering the Internet gives us a unique perspective to talk about how consumers, and the media and entertainment industry, can take advantage of the shift from centralized distribution to on-demand entertainment. Our acquisitions of Linksys and Scientific Atlanta make the network relevant to entertainment all the way into the connected home of the future—in which consumers can easily choose the content they want, when and where they want it, on the device of their choice.

Q: Cisco: What's the big news for consumers about broadband digital technology in entertainment?

A: Scheinman: It's all about connecting with consumers in new ways. Today, consumers want to choose when, where, and how they enjoy their entertainment content—anyone younger than 20 years old automatically expects that kind of flexibility. They want to be able to watch movies on their plasma flat-screen TVs, mobile phones, purposebuilt devices, and DVDs—as well as in movie theaters.

Enabling that new consumer experience is going to be increasingly important to Hollywood's future. We believe that this digital revolution is only going to increase Hollywood's opportunity and ability to make more money and connect with a broader community, while giving consumers choice.

Q: Cisco: Do you really think that broadband is going to revolutionize the way each of us interacts with our entertainment content?

A: Scheinman: Sure. Currently, you either watch a movie at home or at the theatre. It is a linear experience, programmed for you. But what if you could interact with the movie in some way? What does that mean? How does that change things? Every new medium creates new ways of storytelling. We are starting to see new types of content evolve just as television was different from radio, and TV was different from film. Broadband content—which currently is mostly short-form—will continue to distinguish itself. The entertainment industry sees broadband as an opportunity to develop new distribution channels, new business models, and new content, and to connect with consumers in a way in which it has never been able.

Q: Cisco: Is this what you mean by the "empowered consumer"?

A: Scheinman: Exactly. This really is the Golden Age of Consumers. The rise of the empowered consumer is changing the entertainment industry as the network becomes the platform for how entertainment is created, distributed, and shared.

Today, the business revolves less around the content producers alone and more around the audience—the industry is shifting from a model in which the studios are at the center of the universe to one in which consumers are truly at the center because they are in control. This represents an exciting new frontier for Hollywood and the next stage of growth for the industry, and it brings with it many opportunities. For example, broadband helps enable better global distribution, cheaper and faster end-to-end digital production and distribution, new services—on-demand and to multiple devices—and deeper collaboration opportunities for marketing, advertising, and creative purposes.

Q: Cisco: How does the Internet close the distance between the content producer and the audience?

A: Scheinman: The Internet offers the opportunity to connect with audiences in new and exciting ways. Producers can get unfiltered community feedback and cultivate their fans. For example, today, massive online communities form around popular movies and television shows. Producers can interact more deeply and in more pervasive ways with communities to include them in the creative process, and to engage them in an ongoing dialogue.

With broadband, and digital technology, movie making is also more democratic. There is a significantly lower barrier to produce and distribute high-quality movies, and movies can find an audience outside the studio distribution system. You can argue whether that is good or bad. But it is clear that there is a greater opportunity for fresh talent and new ideas to form outside the industry's established boundaries. Social networks are enabling new marketing and promotional opportunities so that films can find an audience, and be marketed in untraditional ways, also lowering the barrier to success.

Q: Cisco: Help us put this digital revolution in perspective. For example, are digital technology and broadband connectivity to the entertainment industry today what the introduction of sound was to movie-making in the twentieth century? Are we talking about a shift of that proportion?

A: Scheinman: Yes, I think we are. Digital technology and broadband are going to be every bit as important as the introduction of sound or color. In fact, they will probably be bigger because they impact both the creative and distribution sides. The industry is already moving quickly to take advantage of this transition. Studios are making movies and TV shows available for video streaming and download services; they are experimenting with new marketing to find audience, and they are forming new studio ventures to create new types of content.

Q: Cisco: What role is the "empowered consumer" playing in this revolution?

A: Scheinman: All of this change is generated by the fact that consumers have choice, and they no longer want to experience entertainment strictly in traditional ways or in traditional venues. Consumers are not only changing our relationship with entertainment content, but they are also now a driving force in the adoption of new technologies. Unlike past technology waves, like voice over IP, that started in the enterprise and eventually filtered down to the consumer, consumers are now the early adopters who are bringing technologies back to work with them in the enterprise. For example, high-definition television is a technology that started in the consumer world and is now making its way into the enterprise in the form of better video teleconferencing solutions. Empowered consumers are not only reshaping the entertainment industry, they will profoundly impact the way the "traditional" IT industry operates.

Learn More

Hear what actors, filmmakers, and industry insiders such as Ken Burns, Laura Linney, and Forest Whitaker have to say about the impact of technology on the entertainment industry at cisco.com/go/etl-telluride .