TV-Related Panels at SXSWi

It’s just as well "The Future of Your Digital Living Room" panel was canceled. Frankly, all the TV-related panels I’ve sat in on have been enormously annoying, if not downright depressing.

First up, I sat in on the chest pounding session between Mark Cuban and Avner Ronen of Boxee, “Pay TV vs. the Internet.” Just thinking about that testosterone mash-up still irks me. I think I’ll save that for the next TV Eye because I still can't articulate just what annoyed me about that session.

Moving on: “Our Digital Future: The National Plan and You,” was held at the unholy hour of 9:30am on Sunday and I might have skipped it had I realized it was not the FCC presentation I was expecting. No, this was a rather clipped presentation by S. Derek Turner of FreePress. The gist of his remarks: The FCC needs to do better. All the wonderful things they were to shepherd as in the broadband plan—like part of the Universal Service fund money we all pay into on our phone bills going to provide access to schools and other community centers; affordable access to broadband services; media literacy efforts—all of it, Turner says, has been bungled by a commission that is really more beholden to maintain the status quo (the duopoly of AT&T and Verizon, at the moment) instead of the great unwashed masses out here. Turner even had some not so pleasant words to say about Google’s wooing of Austin (and other cities) to select it for their Gigabit plan (surely you’ve read about it by now). His response? It’s a P.R. stunt to put pressure on the FCC and the incumbent media players to move (forward would be nice) on our broadband future.

It used to be that the U.S. was fifth among developed nations in broadband development. Now, we’re 22nd, right after Poland. Until the FCC gets their act together, our status is sure to stumble even further. Can you believe that in France, to name one example given by Turner, you can pay $33 for your TV/cable subscription AND your telephony services (in one, neat bill, I’m imagining, too). Here, $35 will buy you 3mbps from AT&T. I can’t even fathom what that is but I do know that I’ve been juggling and dropping phone, cable, and broadband services to find the most affordable deal. It’s no an easy task and I am paying well over $35.

The bottom line: The Digital Revolution President Bill Clinton promised was on its way with the signing of the 1996 Telecommunications Act has not come to pass. There needs to be some serious fence shaking on the part of media consumers. Once a critical mass gets tired of paying too much for too little, I’m hoping that will happen.