The global TV audience will reach 4 billion people by the end of this year - roughly half of the world's population, making ''in today's world, TV the the medium around which all others revolve''.
So said Anne Sweeney, the president of Disney-ABC Television Group who delivered the keynote address at this year's Mipcom in Cannes this afternoon in a very insightful, and spot-on stock take of the TV industry, saying that television is set to become not just the most powerful medium in the world - but also the most personal.
''It may be impossible to predict what television will look like 5 or 10 years from now — because the odds are, it will look different to everybody. The more personalized television gets, the less passive the experience will become,'' Anne Sweeney said. ''Television has always been something you watch. Now, increasingly, it's also something you do.''
''From the beginning, the television business has always been forward looking – to the next episode, the next season, the next advance in technology that will change everything and take us to a new level. That's why I was drawn to it in the first place … and why I continue to love it,'' she said.
''The line between content and technology is blurring. We're working together to create seamless viewing experiences that can be increasingly personalized by consumers. Today the Disney-ABC Television Group is evolving as a content creation engine and a technology innovator – with at least two dozen patents in process for technology we've invented to further our business.''
''With digital technology, we're doing things no one even imagined when I started in this industry. We're doing things none of us could imagine just a couple of years ago for that matter. We're putting our popular ABC Studios content on screens around the world within hours of its U.S. broadcast – and sometimes simultaneously – instead of months later.''
''We're adding flexibility to our distribution window, premiering new series in global markets before they’re available to U.S. audiences,'' she said.
''Digital technology didn' 'disrupt' our business – it transformed it. Digital didn’t weaken the power of television – it unleashed it. We're giving people more quality and options than ever before. And they're responding – tuning in, logging on, downloading, streaming, buying, renting – devouring our content any way they can get it.''
''This year, people around the world will watch 140 billion more hours of television than they did last year – for a total of 4.5 trillion viewing hours.''
''This year alone, 52% of social network users in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific say they've watched a video that was shared by a friend, while 68% of the people on social networks in Latin America did the same. They're also sharing via Twitter – and the percentage of Twitter users increased by triple digits last year in every region in the world. That's the reality our audience lives in – and they expect it to be part of their entertainment experience.''
Anne Sweeney mentioned Disney Channel ''which has grown to 101 channels worldwide, reaching more than 300 million homes in 169 countries''. ''We followed our Disney Channel success with the launch of Disney XD as a global multiplatform brand for boys. We've also re-imagined our preschool brand, launching the new multiplatform Disney Junior for our youngest viewers.''
''Everything we've done over the past five years – and everything that comes next – is focused on giving consumers around the world the kind of television they want.''
