Week in Review: Comcast Dumps X1 For Roku; Facebook Does Not Believe In Interruptive Advertising

 1. Comcast Dumps X1 For Roku One of the more surprising announcements out of NAB was the news that Comcast was dumping it’s X1 set top box for a streaming interface served up via a Roku box or Samsung smart TV.Dumping is a bit of an exaggeration—we have no doubt Comcast will continue to build and support the X1, the next generation set top box that they’ve spent much time and money creating and marketing. While it’s not perfect, the X1 is a huge leap forward from most MVPD set top boxes and Comcast has already sold a bunch of them to Cox. The goal seems to be to use X1 as a data collection device, both on their own platforms and others while enticing viewers with a much-improved interface.So what happened? FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. And President Obama, for that matter. They’ve both gotten it into their heads that the way to speed up innovation in the television industry is to open up the set top box to all comers.That would have been a great idea in 2011 or 2012, but by 2016, the industry has already caught up, and like Comcast, is moving past the set top box. The term “BYOD” (Bring Your Own Device) is a common one and several MVPD CEOs (including Time Warner’s Rob Marcus) have already stated a strong desire to do away with them.Why all the hate? Well set top boxes are expensive, hard to update, prone to breaking down and cost the MVPDs money every time they need to roll a truck. Worse still, cable techs are notoriously unreliable, leading to much angst and frustration and placement of MVPDs on America’s Most Hated Companies lists.Moving the TV interface to an unobtrusive, inexpensive device like Roku or to a smart TV just makes a lot of sense. It eliminates the need for house calls and provides the consumer with a more elegant, easily updatable interface that can allow for the sort of recommendation-based interface we’ve been predicting for some time.Why It MattersBecause this is something that should have happened a few years ago and the MVPDs have no one to blame but themselves for the fact that it hasn’t. And because it will help quell cord cutting desires by actually providing an experience and interface that’s in line with the price point the MVPDs are charging for pay TV And because having streaming services and pay TV on one easy-to-use interface just makes everything easier for consumers.What You Need To Do About ItIf you’re an MVPD, you need to follow Comcast and Time Warner and put a Roku or similar interface together. Ditto something that lives on an iPad and works as either a TVE app or a remote control. If you’re a network, you need to think about what your promotions look like on those sorts of interfaces. If you’re a brand, think about whether it makes sense to advertise on one, or at least promote some branded content. 2. Facebook Does Not Believe In Interruptive Advertising.Bless their little hoodie-wearing hearts, but Facebook is still adamantly against having pre- or mid-roll ads sully their video feeds. That’s why they’ve been soliciting ideas for ways to allow #Creators to make money off their Facebook videos and Facebook Live streams. They don’t seem to be making much progress with it though, as “include a tip jar” was one of the choices.On the other hand, they’ve greenlit the notion of allowing #Creators to do branded content, which sounds like a far more monetizable play.Why It MattersWith the right deals (and 1.5 billion user), Facebook can start to lure #Creators away from YouTube and it’s 55/45 split. The fallout there will be interesting: will we see two completely different ecosystems, or one ecosystem with two different outlets.  Hard to say just yet.What You Need To Do About ItIf you’re a brand (or a network, which is technically a brand) you need to figure out what you’d like to have #Creators create for you on Facebook. Start with which #Creators make sense for your brand and work from there. It’s going to get real in a hurry.Just don’t forget to leave a little something in the tip jar.