CES 2019 Wednesday: More Big Names, More Wearables, More 5G, And Flying Cars

Wednesday

By PERRY MICHAEL SIMON in LAS VEGAS: WEDNESDAY's schedule at CES includes several big names in sports and entertainment, plus much ado about 5G, wearables, and even a panel about flying cars, although jetpacks do not appear to be on the horizon.

Panels and presentations at the ARIA will include NBA Commissioner ADAM SILVER and TWITTER CEO JACK DORSEY, STEVE HARVEY, CHRIS DAUGHTRY, TURNER's DAVID LEVY chatting with CNN's BRIAN STELTER, VIACOM CEO BOB BAKISH, WWE Chief Brand Officer STEPHANIE MCMAHON and Co-President MICHELLE D. WILSON, and several others.

The VENETIAN/SANDS convention complex is once again home to the health tech and wearables booths and presentations, while the LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER offered sessions on 5G, automotive technology, and a panel on the development of flying cars, which would have helped with the traffic around the LVCC during CES.

One Better than 4G

Perhaps the main theme of the convention (the CTA's preferred "Are You CES Ready?" theme notwithstanding) is the arrival of 5G wireless broadband technology, and while the deployment is limited to date, the promise of the technology and its transformative possibilities is looming over practically everything at the show. At an early session that offered an overview of what 5G can do, QUALCOMM's JOHN SMEE predicted that what people will do with 5G will change as the technology becomes more ubiquitous and consumer behavior adapts to it. He pointed to the automotive category as one in which 5G will be transformative as the roadside ecosystem develops and impacts safety. In regard to the timeline for deployment, SMEE pointed to the ease of upgrading existing cells from 4G to 5G as making the 5G footprint grow more rapidly.

But 5G will also have an impact on the entertainment business, which was the focus of a separate panel moderated by UTA's BRENT WEINSTEIN. On the panel, 20TH CENTURY FOX's JOHN PENNEY recalled the arrival of 3G and the lack of standardization at that time, then 4G with the unification of CDMA and GSM under LTE, and the industry's realization that the new technology allows for delivery of longer-form content via streaming. HULU's RAFAEL SOLTANOVICH cited 5G's potential to improve the quality of the user experience for his service's subscribers; as for the timeline for when HULU will jump on the 5G bandwagon and provide programming (8K, etc.) that takes advantage of the technology, SOLTANOVICH suggested that while HULU will provide content, it will not push the transition on consumers and will continue to provide 4K and lesser options.

On the issue of standardization, INTEL's SANDRA RIVERA called it "critical" and warned against fragmenting the market as it was with 3G, but added that open source projects are accelerating the timeline; PENNEY called 5G a "complete reconfiguration" of carriers' use of spectrum and that the industry needs to keep the 5G marketing hype and the true benefits of the innovations separate ("keep everybody honest," he advised).

As for the benefits from 5G that HULU might enjoy, SOLTANOVICH said that "it starts with the quality of the service we provide," better and more stable, and then, for live programming, goes to the improved frame rate for sports programming. Finally, being able to prioritize latency across the network will allow for less lagging between live and reception.

NBA And Twitter Get Hitched, Turner's Levy On Sports Video's Future

As expected, SILVER and DORSEY, in conversation with ESPN's RACHEL NICHOLS, announced a deal for TWITTER to stream 20 games per season in an unusual fashion, airing only the second half and focusing on a single player voted upon by fans during the first half, using a separate set of announcers. SILVER said that the experiment is targeting young viewers who do not presently subscribe to cable or pay TV.

LEVY's chat with STELTER included LEVY's assertion that "we're about three years away" from incorporating betting into live streams, allowing viewers buying individual games through TURNER's B/R LIVE OTT service to place legal bets via referrals. He professed not to be worried too much about the incursion of FACEBOOK and TWITTER in bidding for broadcast rights, pointing to the desire of leagues to maximize reach, which is still the domain of traditional broadcast and cable TV, although, previewing the NBA-TWITTER deal, adding that TWITTER "is an important part of any sports rights deal" while noting that TURNER's deals are designed to include a wide range of platforms. And on the future of advertising, he listed "audience, addressability and attribution" as critical elements.

We Were Promised...

CES encompasses both the practical and flights of fancy, so it was not unusual to find a panel discussion on the state of flying cars on the agenda. BELL HELICOPTERS' concept vehicle on the exhibit floor -- an "air taxi" for UBER applications -- is one example of how riders will one day be trapped in air traffic rather than be trapped on the 110 freeway, but the question is more about the time frame for the technology. Regulation and safety, the panel, which included STACEY RANDECKER, the co-host of "THE FLYING CAR" radio show, noted, are among the issues delaying the introduction of flying personal vehicles; SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS Sr. Automotive Technology Specialist JEFF WARRA suggested that a mature, trusted company rather than a start-up will be more likely to succeed in the category, while RANDECKER pointed to city governments as a roadblock, quoting a LOS ANGELES official as telling her "you may make them, but we're in charge of letting you land them." ITALDESIGN Head of Mobility Solutions MASSIMO MARTINOTTI noted the lack of infrastructure to handle flying cars ("where are you going to park them?") and warned of the emotional impact on the public once a flying car crashes. As for the timeline, moderator WERDE INTELLIGENCE Sr. Industry Analyst, Mobility DOUG WERCOMB pointed to at least a ten year approval process from the FAA, although RANDECKER, saying she is more bullish, added that UBER has been working on flying vehicles already and the timeline may be pushed up. But MARTINOTTI set the likely timeframe as 15-20 years.

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