Matheny Speaks of Need to Develop New Broadcast Standards for Increasingly Digital World

Corp’s Sam Matheny speaks about the convergence of new technology and broadcasting at the IEEE BTS Symposium in October.

Capitol Broadcasting is a leader in digital technology and is furthering that effort with a new position for a mainstay in our efforts in a variety of new technology areas. Corporate Vice President of Policy & Innovation Sam Matheny recently spoke at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Broadcast Technology Society (IEEE BTS) Symposium.

Matheny took on his new CBC position in late spring 2012 when Capitol’s News Over Wireless rebranded to become StepLeader and eventually branched out on their own.

Part of Matheny’s new role includes sharing CBC’s viewpoints on policy and standards issues. He furthered this aim by participating at the IEEE BTS Conference. Matheny served as one of two keynote speakers at the three-day conference; Kevin Gage, CTO of the National Association of Broadcasters, also spoke.

The event took place at the Westin in Alexandria, Virigina, Participants attended both in person and via live and archived web streams around the world. The IEEE claims itself as the world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology

Matheny spoke on Friday, October 19, 2012.

He shared his experiences with capcom:

I was invited to speak by the conference co-chairs because they think CBC is one of the most innovative broadcasters in the industry and they thought their membership would enjoy the benefit of our perspectives. I was given free rein in terms of the topic with my only guideline being that I keep the talk to approximately 30 minutes.

I accepted the invitation because we are at a vital time in our industry where we face a shifting landscape and uncertain regulatory environment. In my new role as VP of Policy and Innovation, one of my responsibilities is to participate in industry organizations and evangelize for our positions and beliefs. Being invited to speak at such a major event made my job easy and I was grateful for the opportunity…

The title of my talk was “Skeuomorphism, Diconvergence and The Future of Broadcast”. In this talk I laid out my vision for future of broadcasting. I used skeuomorphs as a modern lense to our past and a way of viewing broadcast history. Coming to the present I spoke about diconvergence, which isn’t actually a word, but one that I made up to describe the state of broadcasting today. Here is my definitiion…

di.con.ver.gence |diˈkənvərjəns; dī-| noun
A difference or conflict in interests, wishes and technologies that come together from different directions so as to eventually meet in chaos.
Synonyms – Smart Phones, Tablets, Internet TV

Examples of diconvergence include:
1. Moving personal internet applications like facebook and twitter that were designed for personal screens and private interaction such as the cell phone or PC on large communal screens such as the living room TV.
2. Putting what has traditionally been communal broadcast HDTV content meant for large screen TV and shared viewing onto small personal devices such as cell phones and tablets.
3. No longer needing an traditional remote control for your TV because it can be a smart phone application…and you don’t even have to be at home to control your TV.

Moving to the future I talk about a BYOD world, Bring Your Own Device. In this world we as broadcasters must be able to satisfy the diconvergence and deliver to all of the devices that people might bring…from cell phones to Ultra-High definition TV sets.

I talked about the need to develop a new broadcast standard that will enable us to reach all of these screens and to have the flexibility to evolve with user habits.

I gave examples of new technology that has emerged in just the last 5 years (iPhone, Android, iPad, SmartTV, Twitter). I talked about the idea that in the future viewing will not be measured in television households, but will be much more personal and even based on social metrics.

I spoke to our inherent advantages in that we are: wireless, digital, live, local, have great reach, and can be both mobile and high definition. I talked about how this is a challenging world, but one with unlimited potential to serve our communities better.

Thanks to Corp’s Sam Matheny for this capcom photo.