How serious a threat are new digital technologies to the TV and movie studios?
You have to realize that both good and bad can come from digital technologies. There’s a huge potential here for us to use the technology to provide great content in more ways with more revenue streams. But any time there’s an advance in digital technology, the threat of piracy increases. We’re realistic about that. Q: What lessons have movie and TV executives learned from the music industry? A: We need to listen to what consumers want. Clearly, music got off to a slow start waiting for the perfect solution. But in just the last couple of months, we’ve learned from music, specifically Apple’s iTunes Music Store, that people are willing to pay for legitimate services. Another lesson is that we need to be out there more, raising awareness about piracy with kids, parents, policymakers, academics, and others. The stealing of intellectual property is wrong, whether it’s from a store or from online. Q: What are you doing internally at Viacom to address the threat? A: We’re all working as a t
