"Over the top" content now is emerging as a key issue for cable operators, telcos and programming networks, reports Contentinope writer Ryan Lawler.

 

Terry Denson, Verizon FiOS (News - Alert) programming and marketing vice president, says service providers need to "preserve the integrity of network-based distribution" of content.

 

"We need to protect ourselves from devices, over-the-top, and all kinds of ancillary content consumption, which can only serve to erode our import as being the key delivery option in the living room," Denson says.

 

"If we have a pipe that pushes a massive amount of content through there and we're not getting a return on that, it's probably not a good business for us," says Warren Schlichting, Comcast (News - Alert) Spotlight VP.

 

Carolyn Everson, executive vice president of strategy and operations for MTV Networks (News - Alert).

 

"The consumer is going one way and the business models are going another way, and we struggle with it, too," says Carolyn Everson, MTV Networks executive vice president.

 

"Our business model has been based on getting subscriber fees from our partners at the table, and it's been based on selling advertising into that model," she says.

 

But Everson said that business model no longer works in the online video world. "Now, suddenly the consumer wants it coming in over the top," she says. "They've got it for free; we're training them to get it free."

 

"What you're going to have is two competing programs, two competing ad models, two competing consumption models that are going to collide on the same screen," Denson warns.

 

"You can have an over-the-top version of a Viacom (News - Alert) product, and you can have the broadcast subscription version of the same product and have them both there, and you may erode your value proposition to the customer and the advertiser, but the network operator as well," Denson says.