AT&T getting serious about developing content

With Comcast nearing a deal for control of a programming joint venture involving NBC Universal and cable TV-telco competition intensifying, the writing is on the wall for major telco TV players: To compete better, they need to create original content.

With that in mind, AT&T reportedly is looking to hire a director of content to steer development of original content and content applications intended for cross-platform distribution. The new job, according to Multichannel News, will be Los Angeles-based and report directly to Dan York, executive vice president of content and programming for AT&T's U-Verse TV.

AT&T has developed original content for the Masters golf tournament and other events in the past, but this job search appears to be a step toward more frequent original content development. At first glance, the area of TV programming where telco TV players would appear able to make the most impact is in news, sports and information programming, but maybe AT&T has something more in mind. 

Read more:
- Multichannel News has this story

Related articles
A possible Comcast-NBC deal would shake up the content world
AT&T's Dan York delivered the TelcoTV 2008 keynote speech
Seidenberg shrugs off Hulu's potential
Verizon woos TV app developers