Where OTT Content Companies Need to Focus
5G internet was introduced in most urban areas in 2022. The new cell networks are working to provide better internet access speeds. According to the latest tests, 5 GSM has a rate of around 100x better than other 4G-based networks. It is said that quality video streaming may become the biggest winner with 5G.
OTT video providers notice this as an emerging benefit to streaming content providers. With the higher speeds, there is less chance for buffering and a smoother experience for the user.
As the demand for OTT content continues to grow, so too does the number of platforms competing for users' attention. With so many options available, it can be difficult for consumers to know which service is right for them. In the eyes of a competitive user, success lies in User Experience (UX).
A well-designed UX is essential for keeping users engaged and ensuring that they return to your platform again and again. To stand out from the crowd, new OTT services are offering specialties such as video chat, virtual reality, live sports, and other niche content. By offering something unique, these services hope to attract users who are looking for a more personalized experience.
Netflix is one of the most popular web-based streaming services available today. With an extensive library of movies and TV shows, intuitive interface, and user-friendly apps, it’s no wonder why. However, with the advent of 5G technology, some other OTT services are able to expand their services and create a better experience for users.
For example, some OTT platforms will be able to offer more HD content, as well as 4K and even 8K content. In addition, they will be able to offer more immersive experiences, such as virtual reality and augmented reality. As a result, Netflix may need to step up their game in order to compete with these new platforms.
Currently, about half of "professional" TV viewers are using OTT subscriptions. OTT providers such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video offer an alternative to traditional cable TV that is often cheaper and more convenient.
However, the proliferation of OTT services has led to increased competition and lower prices. Many viewers are now streaming content from multiple providers, which has led to a race to the bottom in terms of pricing.
As a result, many OTT providers are now offering different subscription packages or even ad-supported content. This is a direct response to the changing streaming behaviors of viewers, who are becoming more budget-conscious in the face of rising inflation.
Over 60% of paying subscribers to OTT services are fed up with streaming media. The cost of these services is becoming more expensive, and the content quality is not improving. In addition, many people are tired of the ads that are included with their subscriptions. As a result, many people are canceling their subscriptions or switching to cheaper alternatives.
This is a major problem for the OTT industry, as it is struggling to keep up with the demand for new content. In order to combat this problem, the industry needs to find a way to make its content more affordable and improve the quality of its offerings.
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Will hybrid business models fuel the next stage of OTT growth?
STUART BOORN,
VP Product Management and Marketing
MEDIAKIND
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Will hybrid business models fuel the next stage of OTT growth?
While building and operating video-on-demand (VOD) streaming services is well understood, delivering large-scale live events at broadcast quality and scale represents our industry’s next biggest frontier. What comes with this maturation of the business is an added layer of complexity in how streaming providers monetize their services – blending subscription, transaction, and advertising in a tailored package for each of their audience segments.
Understanding the core elements that will fuel the next OTT growth will help media companies rapidly roll out new services while retaining the core functionalities of a successful, engaging, and valuable service.
What are the key drivers for creating effective hybrid business models?
If we take a positive outlook, the OTT market is maturing and becoming a significant part of any distributor’s future business plan. The shift towards hybrid business models is, therefore, a natural approach. However, there are perhaps two larger trends that we should all be aware of. The first is the type of model brands adopt. They must be able to understand their market. For instance, is it feasible to push beyond their offering beyond traditional borders, whether that’s domestically or
internationally? Ultimately it comes down to what’s appropriate for each subscriber base. That will be based on how each audience consumes the brand and how the brand can move that relationship forward so that they are even more deeply engaged and involved in their content offering.
Other factors to consider involve entities that can’t scale for various reasons. That could be because they are part of a very fractured marketplace. Or it could be because there are so many different broadcasters in each country that scaling the business outside of the domestic borders is too great a challenge. It’s easy to think about big markets like the United States, but other countries and markets may be limited in their ability to achieve that same level of scale. Instead, for these
entities, the challenge is to concentrate on developing that scale over a more extended period. They need to learn how to address their audience’s needs, and at the center of that is access to data.
Without data, it’s virtually impossible to understand your audience, the requisite pricing models, potential sensitivities, what makes for impactful advertising, and to make reasoned experiments with new content and services. Without this experimentation, it’s impossible to generate any meaningful insights or actionable analytics that can enable a business to evolve, monetize, and continually manage complex viewer needs. Too many first-generation streaming platform services were launched with
the sole intention of “getting the job done” – i.e., just delivering content. Now, to monetize the second phase of this new digital era, we need all content owners and service providers to respond to the market’s maturation.
What are some of the challenges in supporting a hybrid business model?
Once you look beyond the complexity of understanding consumers, including where they are, what they are prepared to do, and what they’re willing to pay, it’s time to consider wider-use cases and purposes for that data and insight. A good example is what you see commonly in sports markets, where sports league teams look at the video service revenue as essentially just one part of a wider revenue stream from that fan. Thanks to other indirect mechanisms, the revenue they expect to earn from
that fan is much higher. For instance, they look for ways for their sponsors to target specific, highly engaged fans and deliver relevant content that resonates with them. That could be anything from presenting the latest automobile or even their favorite soda.
Then they can also look at how people interact at the venue itself; is it possible to deliver an alternative to the physical product and move some of the merchandising efforts into a digital enterprise? How might they install a fantasy gaming function? If the jurisdiction allows, perhaps this could extend to actual betting too? It’s a complex process to monetize opportunities from the existing consumer base. But to have an opportunity to make hybrid business models successful, you need to
first interact with the fan. In my view, our industry is only just entering this space and scratching the service. You need to build a loyalty program into these services to optimize future revenue models.
What will the business models in this space look like in the future?
The OTT space is exciting, and, in the future, a lot of the content will have a deep brand association and connection. This is a big opportunity for advertisers – what way can they get behind certain services or campaigns? Or will we see a lot of in-house advertising instead? Will OTT providers want sponsors?
To an extent, I think there will always be a certain amount of sponsorship in this space. 10 years ago, in the US, there was HBO and Showtime and the likes of ABC and CBS. The North American model has a degree of complexity, and it’s not going away any time soon. But if we look across the Atlantic, there’s probably less of an appetite for advertising disciplines in Europe. That’s a cultural difference; in Europe, it’s more appropriate to look for transactions with individuals or a
subscription transaction instead.
However, in either instance, adapting to a different set of modeling systems will provide the necessary freedom to experiment and try different services and opportunities. That level of choice, flexibility and quality of service are the all-important factors for consumers.
Stuart Boorn is the VP of Product Management and Marketing, Portfolio Strategy, Business Transformation, Leading Multinational teams, Achieving Sustainability through Technology
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ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW, CONDENSED ('CAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE THE TIME!)
1. CHEQ, the global leader in Go-to-market security has released new data today on how much fraud is
happening within affiliate marketing programs. Back in 2020 when they conducted their original study which found 10% of traffic coming from these types of sites were fake costing $1/4 billion dollars lost revenue due to false purchases bedrooms would you believe it now stands almost doubled with 17%.
2. The BBC plans to stop broadcasting its art and documentary focused BBC Four, children's network CBBC within the next few years. Executives said that they will continue producing shows for both channels but those available exclusively through iPlayer in England where there is no need for an extra licence because it already has Palace Of
Westminster Comment: This means we'll have less content!
3. The percentage of people tuning into Amazon Prime at least once a week declined by 5.2% as of March 28 (compared to the end December 2021), with U..S audience reach now standing 41%.
4. NYX Professional Makeup is taking its Pride celebrations into the metaverse this year with a “Paint Your Own Story” campaign, according to an exciting new release. The brand will be hosting one-of kind virtual parades on Sandbox Decentralized gaming platform in June! You can expect digital avatars inspired by their range of makeup shades and intended encompass diversity within LGBTQ community who have been overlooked or ignored before
now.
5. Rewarded TV is an innovative streaming service that rewards viewers with Rplay, a TNT-20 crypto token for watching and engaging content. Bitcentral's industry leading FUEL + Powrtv platform creates dynamic linear channels from the video on demand library of Rewriting Television (RTi) while also syndicating them efficiently through one unified workflow to
your preference at any time whether it be during prime viewing hours or not!
6. I Spent 30 Days Analyzing Airbnb’s Marketing, Here’s What I Learned
Get smarter at understanding what makes ads effective.
7. eFuse, the esports tournament and infrastructure platform, has acquired Esports.GG, the popular media outlet covering the competitive gaming scene. The acquisition will see Esports.GG's website and social media channels integrated into eFuse's own editorial
operation. This move comes as eFuse looks to solidify its position as a leading voice in the esports industry. Esports.GG was founded in 2016 by veteran games journalist Paul Tamburro, and has since built up a large following thanks to its insightful coverage of the competitive gaming scene. Tamburro will join eFuse as editor-in-chief, working alongside the existing eFuse editorial team to produce exclusive content for the eFuse platform. "I'm extremely excited to be joining forces with eFuse,"
said Tamburro. "This is a huge opportunity for Esports.GG to reach a wider audience and help shape the future of esports coverage." Under the eFuse banner, Esports.GG will continue to produce the high-quality journalism that its readers have come to expect, providing an invaluable service to the esports community.
8. It's no secret that the TV measurement landscape has become increasingly complex and fragmented in recent years. While Nielsen has long been the dominant player in the space, other providers like comScore and Rentrak have been making inroads with broadcasters and advertisers alike. This has created a lot of uncertainty around which measurement currency will ultimately be adopted in the marketplace.
However, it appears that Nielsen will still retain its grip on the TV measurement market this year, at least in terms of the upfront. Ad buyers and sellers have admitted that while there is a lot of noise around alternative providers, Nielsen is still seen as the most credible and reliable source of data. As a result, it's likely that Nielsen will continue to be the primary currency used in negotiations this year.
9. Amazon has been aggressively hiring programmatic executives in an effort to expand its advertising business. The most recent hire is Stephanie Layser, who joins as global head of publisher ad tech solutions for AWS. Layser comes from News Corp, where she was product leader for ad tech. Neal Richter, a programmatic veteran, joined
Amazon DSP last year as director of advertising science. And Sam Cox, who has experience with MediaMath and Google, joined in 2020 as director of technical product management. These hires signal Amazon's intent to be a major player in the programmatic space. With the addition of these experienced executives, Amazon is well-positioned to challenge the likes of Google and Facebook in the programmatic arena.
10. Vibenomics, a leading player in the Audio-Out-of-Home (AOOH) market, has continued its rapid growth in 2021. After partnering with Kroger in May 2020, the company launched its first proprietary media player to deliver music, messaging and programmatic advertisements to each of its network partners' individual locations. By mid-2021, Vibenomics had introduced multiple new products and features, including an AI-powered music recommendation
system and support for voice-activated advertising. The company has also expanded its reach beyond supermarkets, partnering with retailers such as CVS and Walmart. Thanks to its innovative technology and strong partnerships, Vibenomics is well positioned to continue its growth in the AOOH market.
11. Second only to managing inventory, data management was cited by 65% of retail executives surveyed as the biggest problem they face in trying to leverage first-party data, according to The Ascension to Digital Maturity, CommerceNext's fourth annual benchmarking report sponsored by conversational commerce leader Attentive. The report surveyed 114 retail executives spanning brand types and found that 43% plan to increase their first-party data holdings in 2020. Additionally, when asked about their top three priorities for the year ahead, 39% of respondents said optimizing their website for search engine ranking was a key goal, followed by
37% who said they planned to focus on driving more sales through their existing customer base and 36% who said they would work on improving customer retention. As the report notes, "retailers are under pressure like never before to find new ways to grow revenue and keep up with the ever-changing landscape of consumer behavior."
12. For years, British automotive publishers have been locked in a fierce rivalry. But now, two of the biggest players have put aside their differences and teamed up with Crimtan to offer post-cookie solutions to advertisers. The move comes as the European Union prepares to
introduce new regulations that will limit the use of cookies and other tracking technologies. As a result, advertisers will need to find new ways to target their audiences. By teaming up with Crimtan, the publishers hope to be able to offer a comprehensive solution that will meet the needs of advertisers. And, by working together, they also hope to be able to stay one step ahead of their rivals.
13. It's official: cookies are dead. Well, they will be in 2023, when Google's Chrome browser stops supporting them. That means companies will no longer be able to track our online activity and target us with ads. But don't worry, those ads aren't going anywhere. In fact, the death of cookies will increase the demand for first-party data. You see, without cookies, companies will have to rely on other methods to collect our data. And who has access to our data? The companies that own the digital properties we use, like apps and websites. So while we might not be seeing as many targeted ads in the future, we can be sure that the demand for first-party data is only going to increase.
14. As the world increasingly moves online, companies are scrambling to protect their brands in the virtual space. In the past few months, there has been a rush of trademark applications filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and other national trademark bodies. This is driven by uncertainty about how existing rights and registrations will apply to new technologies like non-fungible tokens
(NFTs) and the metaverse. Some of the most widely-covered applications in this area have been for brands like KFC and McDonald's, who are looking to protect their logos and trademarks in the virtual world. While it remains to be seen how these applications will be handled by the USPTO, it is clear that companies are taking steps to protect their brands in the ever-changing landscape of the internet.
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