Cannes: Media groups had to nurture content and value it, leading TV executive Jeremy Darroch told a digital media conference.
Darroch, chief executive of pay-TV group Sky in the UK, said value could go up as well as down.
"We need to think hard and, more importantly, take action to nurture the value of our product," he said yesterday in a keynote speech at MIPTV, the entertainment content market and conference.
He said the industry had to be aware of the huge risks from the likes of piracy, cannibalisation and excessive regulation.
Piracy was too easily seen as involving a "few geeks" on the net, but it was now much more widespread, and for many now "seen as normal practice". People had to realise it was not a victimless crime. It was theft "pure and simple", he said.
Sky was ready to battle these attitudes and threats because it was "a long-term believer and investor in content", Darroch said.
"Next year we want to invest even more than before," he said. "We want not only to satisfy existing customers, but to reach out to more and more new customers over time."
It was vital to have a durable economic model to support content investment.
"Content creators should be able to secure a fair and profitable return."
Darroch said there was optimism because of audience enthusiasm for quality content for which they were willing to pay.
Innovation
There was also the desire to innovate via the likes of 3D. Its success on the big screen had cut scepticism that it could work for TV too. HD had already proved consumers responded to an increase in quality, he said.
The third element for optimism was the emergence of new platforms, such as mobiles, the internet, games consoles and broadband TV, according to Darroch.
"They're helping us to make our content investments work even harder," he said. "It's about ensuring customers can access our content on their terms."
