As the proliferation of streaming service launches has dominated media headlines, a quieter, yet seismic global shift is happening alongside it. Pay-TV providers are racing to augment their bouquet of video services, becoming true aggregators of content and digital services.
Pay-TV providers are bundling direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming services, introducing ad-monetized channels, and offering users new ways to search and explore content. And that is just the beginning!
It is all wonderful progress indeed. But the age-old adage remains; customers always want more for what they pay. Pay-TV providers must deliver to not only satisfy their customers, but also to produce the profits needed for increased shareholder value. It is a challenging tightrope to walk, and the media transformation required to deliver this value is fraught with risk.
So, it begs the question, what are the key elements for a successful media transformation? To find the answer, I went straight to the source and consulted with a mix of both unbiased industry experts as well as customers with heavily vested interests. These conversations generated spirited opinions and feedback, revealing the realities of what is working and just as importantly, what should be avoided.
To highlight the salient points, I have identified five principles that can significantly impact the success or failure of a Pay-TV service:
- Embrace hybrid monetization for the right content
Subscription monetization will remain the primary source of predictable and recurring revenue. But ad monetization is growing rapidly too. Careful attention is needed to ensure relevant content is placed in front of the paywall to drive ad revenue without cannibalizing subscription and transactional VOD. So, as the industry focuses on developing and refining the technology solutions in this area, the importance of selecting the best content solution must remain equally as high. - Seek technology and processes that speed time-to-market
When was the last time you played Pokemon GO? The point is that trends rise and accelerate quickly. We need to have the tools to take advantage of them in a timely fashion. The right technology enables the right partnerships to launch quickly, allowing the business to have a single-minded focus on their go-to-market strategy to capitalize on the opportunity. - Drive innovation without dismantling existing investments
It takes time for investments in people, technology, and processes to come together cohesively. The end-product is something that should be valued and leveraged, rather than completely replaced and discarded. So, look to re-use the core structure and then build innovative overlays on that foundation. The Gartner bimodal architecture is a fitting example of rapidly introducing new capabilities into an organization without requiring a wholesale replacement of everything already in place. - Empower the Product Manager
Product Managers must curate the real estate on the user’s screen. It must be done rapidly in real-time, with personalized content and offers for each individual, or at the very least, each customer profile segment. Brilliant marketing plans can be stymied by long and expensive technology change requests that often over-promise and under-deliver. Launching a new offering should be quick and with the least risk possible. - Ensure easy content discovery and frictionless purchase flow
It is easy to overwhelm the customer. Too many choices can lead to indecision and lack of action. The goal is to reduce the complexity of the customer’s decision-making process. For example, accurate metadata and deep linking are essential for relevant voice and text search results and recommendations. The Pay-TV provider’s portal and user interface should be the ultimate destination for customers to easily find and consume a variety of content.
So, there you have it. I hope you have enjoyed this stream of thought, and hopefully it has spurred your thinking about how you can grow your business. At Vubiquity, we want to help ensure your customers have powerful and meaningful entertainment experiences. We would be happy to talk further about our Entertainment Suite. It is our robust solution, to stream, monetize and consume VOD and Linear content. This comes with pre-onboarded global and regional OTTs with a full suite content offering, that has been specifically designed for content providers, telcos, and CTV operators to launch or supplement an existing OTT streaming service with a lower cost of provision. To learn more, visit: https://www.vubiquity.com/service/entertainment-suite/
