Broadband interactive, or interactive television, will probably focus more on the television set than the PC, and may end up developing out of networked gaming environments, not the old video-on-demand and home-shopping hook other companies seem to be hanging their hopes on.
Predictor: Horowitz, Ed
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Wired magazine, managing editor John Batelle interviews Frank Biondi CEO of Viacom Inc., and Ed Horowitz, head of Viacom Interactive Media. In the 1980s, the two were executives trying to establish a little company called Home Box Office. In the ’90s, they were working to bring Viacom into a new media age. Batelle writes: ”Ed Horowitz lays out how he looks at new media, which he calls ‘the nonlinear environment,’ with the precision of a business case: ‘When I look at the nonlinear environment from the point of view of a content creator, the first issue I face is, How do I divide up this nonlinear environment into usable work plans?’ Horowitz divides that ‘nonlinear’ market into three distinct segments, each with its own problems and potential. First are cartridge and CD-ROM titles, a segment beset by platform wars (‘we have to develop the same content three or four times,’ he says) but harboring enviable growth and the possibility of Donkey Kong-like megahits. Second is narrowband interactive, the world of the Internet and America Online. True to his Viacom character, Horowitz sees this venue as worthy because of its growing acceptance in the home … Third is broadband interactive, or interactive television, which Horowitz thinks will probably focus more on the television set than the PC, and may end up developing out of networked gaming environments, not the old video-on-demand and home-shopping hook other companies seem to be hanging their hopes on.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Internet Appliances
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Viacom Doesn’t Suck: How Viacom is Leveraging its Brand Strength to Create the First 21st Century (New) Media Company
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.04/viacom_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney