Ben Silverman calls on digital platforms to ‘step up’

Ben Silverman used his MIP TV keynote address to call upon the leading digital platforms to ‘step up’ and start investing in premium content.

The ex-NBC programming boss and now CEO of IAC-backed Electus, told MIP TV delegates that “Microsoft, Google and Yahoo looked like the Disney, Warners and Universal” of the digital marketplace. But, Silverman added, they are not yet paying for premium content in the digital space.

“They need to step up and start investing if they want to be plugged into the back of our flat screens,” he said, adding that he hoped it was only a matter of time before they said they did want the kind of premium fare that Electus and others are making.

Electus has a content deal with Yahoo and details of the first fruits of that agreement will be announced soon.

Silverman also said that in modern day media there is a need to shorten the time content becomes available on different platforms.

“We’re seeing the need for compressed windows as we move to an on-demand, anytime anywhere environment,” he said. Consumers no longer have the patience to wait for content to clear the various windows in place, according to Silverman: “I think that time is over,” he noted.