Edward Horowitz, Director, U.S. Space, LLC says the satellite sector must adapt to the changing needs of Generation X and Generation Y if it is to stay relevant.
   In a luncheon speech at the SATELLITE 2011 Pre-Conference,  Horowitz discussed the changes of the last 10 years and offered his views for the next 20 years in gauging the impact that the changing media could have on the satellite sector. “There is an impending conflict between media distributors and media providers. New media is growing faster than traditional media. It is about carrying your content around with you. New media consumers want to do more than just consume available information. They want to create it. Five out of the 10 fastest growing websites have user-generated content. Very soon, 50 percent of the workforce will be Generation X and Generation Y. 2011 marks a new rubicon for our business. Traditional media connections are changing. The new model is an open model with a direct connection between the consumer and media,” he said.
    To serve these customers that have grown up in a digital world, satellite may need to form new partnerships to stay relevant. “The concept of prime time is gone. Prime time is all the time. You have Google, Apple, Netflix, etc. TVs are becoming Web browsers. The revolution is global. The convergence of the TV and the PC is happening. Lastly, this generation that has grown up with this empowerment. If you don’t serve them what they want, you die (AOL and MySpace). Satellite must be ready to serve customers on the move. It has to be at the network’s core. This will require the industry to team up with new players.”
   The emergence of Generation X and Generation Y was a recurring theme in Horowitz’s session. He says it will also impact military business. “In the next five years, the military will be Generation X and Generation Y, so the military will have to be in the digital age. Today’s war-fighter is able to multi-task because they are used to digital,” he said.
   Horowitz also touched upon the major developments of the last 10 years, which have included moves from analog to digital in the TV world,  IPTV and 3-D TV as well as Hughes, WildBlue, Eutelsat and SES Astra becoming “poster boys” for satellite broadband to the home. The importance of ministries of defense and the U.S. government as customers for satellite capacity and services also were highlighted as one of the major developments in the coming years.
   With full expensive satellites already in space, Horowitz spoke of the need for the satellite industry not to discard them once they had run out of fuel. “You have to take advantage of assets in space to deliver on orbit upgrades, for example. The idea is to be able to extend the life of satellites that are working fine but have run out of fuel. There are high-value satellites flown all over the world that have complete operating payloads. We want to be able to launch technology that enables operators to continue to fly a satellite.”