For a moment, Janus Friist looked like he'd lost the script at the FT digital media and broadcasting conference yesterday. In 1979, video killed the radio star but Howard Stern's recent multi-million deal shows that never really happened. And then he tailed off...
When he found his place in the script again (and boy - doesn't a second feel like an hour when someone's stuck for words?) he went on to say that change is good, and that the web won't kill TV.
If you're wondering who Janus Friis is, he's one of the guys that came up with file sharing tool Kazaa and Skype, the internet telephony service. His new project is web TV service Joost and this time next year we'll all be using it, apparently.
On the face of it, elements of Joost are very different to Skype and Kazaa, both of which were focused entirely around the user. Kazaa, for the uninitiated, is a file-sharing programme that became famous for helping users distribute illegally copied music and films. That all ended in a big lawsuit and hefty payout to content companies.
The new thinking is around trust and partnerships. Friis carefully set up the foundations of the idea:
"Before, we had to create a great product for consumers, not for content owners and advertisers as well. By creating security for content owners and great advertising systems, we get the ecosystem that we all need. It benefits everyone."
"What we're doing is sometimes dubbed disruptive - but it's not destructive. It's about creating better products for the consumer. Skype has created free telephony for million of people around the world."
He used Walmart and Netflix as examples of companies that had arranged successful content deals, and then offered that content in a new way. That's the same model that Joost aspires to, said Friis.
"The people who survive will be the people who combine the best of TV with the best of the web, and that's what we're trying to do with Joost."
The recent deal with Viacom was important for the whole industry, demonstrating that the model respects rights holders and creates revenue.
"If you take into account the concerns of content owners from the beginning, they will trust you. We wanted to break open the model of ad-supported content online that is really happening now."
Technology is not interesting in itself - only if it lets you do something you really want to do. In the case of Joost, the key elements for consumers are choice and control over content.
He did hint at one obstacle for Joost: many broadband customers are being ripped off by ISPs that are dressing up capped bandwidth as unlimited services. That has ramifications for video services like Joost, of course, which rely on users having high-speed broadband connections.
