The annual techie gathering, South by Southwest Conference (SxSW), kicked off this past weekend in Austin, Texas. The much anticipated debate titled “The Battle For Your TV: PayTV vs. Internet” between HDNet founder Marc Cuban and Boxee founder AvnerRonen, got so heated that the fire alarm went off, literally. So, the panel discussion had forced intermission while spectators evacuated the building. Not to worry, it was a false alarm.
You may recognize Cuban from his stint on Dancing with the Stars (season 5) or for becoming a billionaire in 1999 after selling his company, broadcast.com, to Yahoo for $5.9 billion.
Cuban’s challenger, Ronan, has a low profile but a big invention. Boxee is a much buzzed about media-interface giving users the software to get content from the Internet onto their TV screens.
The debate between the two entrepreneurs over online vs. broadcast video content began a year ago through a fierce exchange of words on their personal blogs. It inspired SxSW to invite them for a one-on-one debate and address, will Internet TV take over?
Cuban believes that the current model of delivering content for free has no future since the majority of internet video producers and distributors aren’t making money. The model must show Cuban the money before he even considers Internet TV.
Ronan envisions that internet video will replace cable TV by letting users purchase programs a la carte. Short form video has proved to be a huge success, but users have been slow in opting to watch long form video on the Internet.
The future of television continues to be analyzed and debated.
Make sure to tune into GetConnected Radio show this weekend; Mike and AJ will be chatting with Avner Ronen from Boxee on March 20th at 10:35am PST. We’ll ask him his thoughts on how the debate went? Will Internet TV take over? What’s his vision for his media interface, Boxee?
Source: GetConnected
Tags: Boxee, GetConnected, HDNet, South by Southwest, SXSW