Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav said Thursday that he would embrace online delivery of content if it could be monetized, and reiterated that the upcoming launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network could mean a big boost in carriage fees.
Discovery has been slow to embrace online content delivery, instead opting to use its web sites to deliver snippets of video aimed at driving viewership of its TV channels. Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications & Entertainment conference in Newport Beach, Calif., Zaslav said that could change with the onset of TV Everywhere,and an ability to monetize that content.
"Our deals provide that distributors have the right to our content through to the TV set," Zaslav said. "We have been very careful about not putting our content out onto other platforms when the economic model doesn't support it. TV Everywhere is actually something we are very encouraged by. If we can get our content through TV Everywhere authorized out onto the web and Nielsen can measure it or someone can measure it so we can monetize it, it would be very attractive."
While TV Everywhere offers a future revenue opportunity, Zaslav was equally encouraged by the impact the January launch of OWN could have on carriage fees for the network.
