MGEITF 2009: Television must focus on monetising content online

The TV industry must focus on monetising content online rather than controlling it, according to industry experts at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh Television Festival.

Speaking about the recent government announcement that it could cut internet access for those found to have illegally downloaded content, Peter Jenner, president emeritus of the International Music Managers Forum, said: “Disconnecting people from the internet is not a good way of growing revenues.”

In a session looking at what television can learn from the mistakes of the music industry, Jenner said that rather than relying on heavy-handed government intervention, the “TV industry has to look at the situation in an analytical way rather than thinking ‘how can I protect my current business model'”.

Will Page, chief economist at the Performing Right Society (PRS), said more has to be learnt about illegal downloading and the effect it has on the market.

“We need to know how value is lost, found and displaced as digital disrupts the value chain,” said Page.

One of the main methods used to illegally download content is peer to peer file sharing, and Eric Garland, CEO of BigChampagne, a company which monitors bittorrent traffic, showcased research showing that sci-fi drama Heroes has been illegally downloaded a massive 54.6 million times in the first six months of 2009.