One Touch Intelligence’s new podcast series focuses on innovation in the video, broadband, and wireless industries, with some of the more video-centric conversations featured here in partnership with StreamTV Insider.
In the second episode of OTIcast, OTI SVP & Lead Analyst Michael Grebb interviews NCTC CEO Lou Borrelli about how MVPDs – especially the small- and mid-size ones that NCTC represents – are navigating the massive shift from traditional linear TV to streaming amid changing consumer habits.
And with smaller companies now increasingly adding mobile service to the bundle, the trick is figuring out what consumers want in terms of packaging and the overall customer experience.
Watch the full interview here, including additional telecom topics beyond video, and check out an edited Q&A transcript excerpt from the conversation, focused on video, below.
Q&A: A Conversation with NCTC CEO Lou Borrelli
Michael Grebb
Your members are in broadband, video, and even now mobile under the NCTC’s MVNO deal with AT&T. How does that all fit together in 2025?
Lou Borrelli
The idea of the continuity of connectivity is real. I think that having an experience, whether it's a video experience in the home on a traditional video platform or if it's an OTT video experience… and then transferring to a mobile device that is with you, I think, is pretty compelling.
MG
But will wireless evolve into something more important as a companion for broadband than even video, because some of your members are probably looking to get out of video at some point, or to just subcontract out to YouTube TV or another virtual MVPD.
LB
I think that the those that are staying in are happy to continue to support a linear platform for as long as it makes sense, and they're also willing to put in a Broadband TV option for those members that only have broadband. We’re in the business of creating choices and opportunities, and so this is an important component of that. The Broadband TV offering rolling out now is roughly 40 channels… now it's general entertainment. There's no sports, but it's value priced. I think we've told members we wouldn't charge more than twenty bucks for it. I have some members that are probably going to include it as part of a bigger broadband bundle and sort of absorb the cost, but I think that it opens the door for us to do more. I'm not a big proponent of adding to that bundle and raising the price. I'm a proponent of adding what I call snackable bites for like, three, four of five dollars so you add a handful of channels, you can add it to this platform, or you can just buy it by itself.
OTT gives us the opportunity to do what consumers have been telling us for a long time. “I only want to pay for what I watch. I want to choose what I pay for. I want that convenience to take it with me.” You know, real a-la-carte has yet to emerge… But as long as we're still collecting lots of money for the networks for retrans, and as long as we're being burdened with ever growing sports rights, it's really hard for me to feel good about rebuilding what was the old cable bundle.
MG
That’s what I wonder a little bit. With the exception of sports and news and live programming that you do have to watch in a linear fashion, I just wonder if the younger generations are ever going to adopt a habit of watching linear TV - although at the same time, you look at FAST channels and the success that some of those have had, that's basically a linear experience.
LB
What it boils down to is, can you deliver consumers an experience at a price that they view as attractive, and do they feel like they have more control over the outcome? I've been at this since 1978 when there was one satellite channel: HBO. There was probably less than 15 million cable customers in the U.S., and there were probably 4,000 cable companies. Now we have the technology to literally do whatever a consumer wants us to do, and the fact that we can't because of regulatory restrictions and business rules that don't permit it, that is kind of the conflict, right?
There are billions of dollars on each side of the table. Nobody wants to take Humpty Dumpty apart and put him back together. So we have to have these opportunities in bite sized pieces to provide at least some diversity, some clarity, some opportunity for members to pick and choose, right? And that's where we're at. And if anybody tells you they know what to do, they're lying. I mean, this is the part of the show where we make it up as we're going along. And we are smart enough to be agile and nimble and make adjustments as necessary.
MG
But are we learning any consistent things from consumers at this point, or is it just all over the map in terms of what they want? They seem so individually different these days.
LB
You talked earlier about generational differences. I mean, I can remember being so excited about launching all the channels we launched on cable, primarily the kids’ channels. I remember saying this: When the kids who grew up in Nickelodeon grow up and have kids, they're all gonna buy cable, right? Because that's what they grew up on.
MG
And then YouTube came along.
LB
Exactly, and other things came along. And so you never really know where the next speed bump is or the next pothole… You have to have a solid network that provides good, consistent quality, the bandwidth that people need. And then you've got to be able to tack on the things that provide incremental value and service. And I think that's sort of the move from what we'll call a linear platform to an over-the-top experience. I think that's what we're trying to capture.
Article updated to correct the spelling of Lou Borrelli's last name throughout.
Michael Grebb is Senior Vice President and Lead Analyst for One Touch Intelligence, which provides market intelligence and industry analysis services for leading companies in the media and telecommunications space.
The OTIcast podcast is a complimentary service offering industry professionals insights and context around developments in the digital media sphere and may sometimes feature companies that are also One Touch Intelligence clients. If you are a media or telecommunications company with an innovation story that you’d like to share, please reach out to us at [email protected]
The contents of OTIcast and excerpted Q&A do not necessarily represent the opinions of StreamTV Insider.