Please allow me to introduce myself: I'm Daniel Frankel, and I am now the editor of FierceCable, taking over the publication amid the greatest disruption to hit the video entertainment sector in the last half-century. I'm pretty excited to have the job of chronicling this technological evolution for what remains its most powerful driving force, the pay TV industry. I'll be providing you coverage every weekday morning on the latest news relating to technology, business, programming and more.
Based in Los Angeles, I arrive at FierceCable having observed several different perspectives of the TV industry. As a television reporter for Adweek and Variety, I covered the day-to-day issues relating to broadcast and cable programming development, distribution and performance. I followed series creation and production from pilot pitch to cancellation, chronicling show runners, cast members and network decision-makers in a somewhat dysfunctional process that--somehow--often resulted in the delivery of very effective and enriching entertainment experiences to mass audiences.
Hollywood (Burbank, actually) was fun stuff, but as time wore on, I became increasingly interested in the innovations in digital technology that were beginning to change the television business.
That led me paidContent.org and the San Francisco tech blog and research conglomerate that bought it, Gigaom, where I served as a correspondent, observing a tech industry that had somehow managed to change the name of the most important medium in American life, television, to simply--and somewhat antiseptically--"video." Those shows the industry I previously covered worked so hard on to create? That was all just distilled into the catch-all "content." And that subscription-based industry that provided the financial underpinnings needed to produce this content? Well, pay TV was merely to be "disrupted," moved out of the way to make room for more nimble video programming providers who are ostensibly better in touch with the lifestyle habits of emerging consumers. My publication even produced a regular online video series, "Cord Cutters," that showcased--and informed its readers--about over-the-top alternatives to pay TV services.
Perhaps buoyed by curiosity--as in, how does my $8-a-month SVOD subscription underwrite Mad Men, Game of Thrones, NBA playoff basketball and my other favorite shows?--I became increasingly interested in the industry that still controls the most vital premium content relationships, not to mention around 100 million subscribers. The future of television is still in the hands of the pay TV industry, which faces strong opposing forces of digital disruption and disaggregation but can still control its destiny, forming new strategic alliances, driving down programming costs and integrating new technologies.
In short, I'm pumped, psyched, jazzed, excited to be covering a powerful industry that stands on the cusp of renewal and rebirth. So lets get started. If you have any story ideas, comments or any thoughts about general pay TV market issues, I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. And I hope you enjoy the read each morning.--Daniel