Few people in the tech or film communities have not heard of billionaire Mark Cuban.  He sold his company, broadcast.com, to Yahoo for $5.9 billion in 1999.  He turned his money, drive, and business prowess into mogul status in sports (he owns the Dallas Mavericks basketball team), technology (he was an investor in Weblogs, Inc., iceRocket, and RedSwoosh) and entertainment where he helps run 2929 Entertainment, which owns Landmark Theaters, Magnolia Pictures and (last but not least) HDNet.

HDNet is the piece of the puzzle that intrigues Avner Ronen, who is the man behind the much-buzzed startup Boxee. This company has developed free software that allows users to get everything they love about the Internet onto your TV screen.  Boxee's intuitive interface (and it's ability to blend content from anywhere on the Internet with anything  downloaded to your hard drive or home network) has many people wondering why they're forking over $70/month for cable TV. Indeed, in just under two years, Boxee has amassed a million passionate and loyal users.

So which vision of the future of entertainment wins out? SXSW Interactive attendees can hear a spirited debate on this topic at 5:00 pm at "PayTV vs. Internet - The Battle For Your TV". Cuban sees a future where the cable industry continues to dominate and evolve to meet the demands of the market using interactive cable TV standards like Tru2Way and EBIF.  Ronen sees the future of entertainment as being driven by the Internet, where developers can innovate & react quickly to the market, and deliver an immersive experience to your TV, your PC, and your mobile device leveraging much of the same infrastructure.
 
Scheduled in Ballroom D on the top floor of the Austin Convention Center, this session promises to be crowded. So get there early and be ready for an entertaining and informative debate from two of the industry's top thinkers!

Headshot Courtesy of Mark Cuban