Web 2.0 Displaces Traditional Movie Industry Distribution

"The Internet is the new media, and it's all about interactivity," said Stephen Andrade, senior vice president of digital development and general manager at NBC.com.

The act of consumers taking content into their own hands began with music. Widespread swapping of music files over the Internet sapped record sales and ultimately forced music industry executives to accept the idea of selling singles rather than CDs.

Rather than resist the trend, as the music industry did at first, Hollywood needs to embrace the new technologies, NBC's Andrade says.

NBC has done that in various ways. It's adding social networking features to its numerous Web sites. It also is working to make content available on as many platforms as possible. For example, NBC TV shows can be viewed on Apple's AAPL iPhone and other mobile devices. The shows also are available on the Web site Hulu, a joint venture between General Electric's GE NBC Universal and News Corp.'s NWS Fox Network.

On the panels, a common refrain was that producers need to make their content available on as many platforms as possible, including video-sharing sites, mobile devices and services that provide video on demand. It's a big break from old distribution models.

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Sean Atkins, senor vice president of digital media at HBO, says TV networks will act more like a carnival barker, loudly touting what it is they have to offer and the many places to find it. "Syndication's not what it used to be," he said.