The ‘traditional’ television industry and its technology ecosystem has become a prime innovator as well as user of streaming video. The lines between broadcast and broadband are increasingly blurred and the technology is now in place for the television industry to do pretty much anything that online start-ups can. Thus established media companies are now disrupting themselves, positioning their brands and establishing new ones to appeal to viewers and customers who might otherwise be lost to YouTube, Amazon Prime, Facebook, Grand Theft Auto, pirate sites and a hundred other ‘distractions’.
One of the big questions facing the television industry right now is how it transforms itself so it can appeal to increasingly diverse consumer expectations and market segments. The future is about MCNs, special interest sports over broadband and Pay TV Lite services (as examples) as well as linear schedules, catch-up TV and eventually UHD.
Media companies have to embrace the ‘digital-first’ mindset and make it their mission to serve people who either reject TV in any of its traditional forms or just prefer their video entertainment online. And they must do this without ever losing sight of the mass-market, or the people in society, like some lonely elderly folk, for whom television is their window to the world and possibly their only company from one day to the next.
It has become harder to serve everyone in the television market. For an industry built on scale and mass audiences the challenge is to be more flexible, more adaptable and more targeted in everything it does. Television needs to maintain its reach into every home, to every consumer. But with broadcast and OTT networks and every type of screen at their disposal, and a new ability to segment markets more precisely, television companies should not be willing to surrender a single consumer to the idea that some people no longer need TV.
This is the background to Connected TV World Summit 2015, where we are considering how ‘An Industry Transforms Itself’. This is the umbrella theme for a two-day thought-leadership and networking event that, among other things, investigates how broadcaster content and distribution strategies are evolving, the strategies and technologies to transform Pay TV (including the changing relationship between Pay TV and OTT), and how streaming video augments television beyond extended reach and on-demand viewing.
One of the key themes across the two days is how established media companies can do more to reach out to millennials and those consumers (of any age) with a ‘digital-first’ mindset, meaning that while they may still watch traditional TV they actually prefer to get their entertainment online in various forms. The conference addresses new distribution opportunities (there are sessions about broadband sports and advanced content strategies) and new market opportunities (sessions include ‘Pay TV and the Internet of Things’ and ‘Immersive TV’).
You can still register for the event and here are some of the highlights:
- Orange, Deutsche Telekom, Nest and others discussing ‘The role of Pay TV in the Smart Home and Internet of Things’ at the Day One breakfast briefing. Topics include whether someone can become the gateway brand for a myriad of connected life services and apps, whether Pay TV operators can become the umbrella UEX for Smart Home services, and how we secure the IoT from outside attack and protect private data. Wednesday June 24, 8.00am-9.30am. Details.
- Viacom will outline how it is ‘super-serving’ young audiences on every screen, Channel 4 will explain how it prepared itself for an increasingly digital and data-driven future, and ProSiebenSat.1 Media will talk about ‘Finding new talent and new audiences worldwide with MCN content’ during the Broadcaster Transformation conference session. You can also hear RTL Group, ZDF, Canal+, RTS and others discussing their changing distribution strategies. Wednesday June 24, 9.00am-11.00am. Details.
- Eurosport is talking about ‘What sports fans want from their online and multiscreen coverage’ and then IMG Media, World Rugby, Sky Sports, BT Sport and others discuss the market dynamics for broadband multiscreen sports, all in the ‘Broadband Sports’ breakout session, Wednesday June 24, 11.30am-1.00pm. Details.
- Orange talks about ‘Redefining the relationship between Pay TV and OTT’ in the Pay TV & OTT session. Exclusive and specially commissioned new research will also be revealed about the evolution of Pay TV retailing and distribution, which includes a look at new OTT opportunities like aggregation of third-party OTT services. This session is on Wednesday, June 24, 11.40am-1.00pm. Details.
- The ‘Immersive TV’ session addresses the evolution of the TV user experience and how to deliver a TV experience that is noticeably better than HDTV. Executives from BBC, BT Research & Innovation and Philips are among the panelists talking about ‘Defining and creating the truly Immersive TV experience’ on Wednesday, June 24, 2.00pm-3.40pm. Details.
- In the ‘Pay TV Transformation’ session you can hear how a revolution in operations is impacting Pay TV economics and agility. Sky Deutschland reveals how it is ‘Redefining premium TV for Generation Sky’ and Vodafone Group, VOO and Deutsche Telekom are among those debating ‘What strategies and technologies can transform Pay TV?’. This session is held on Wednesday, June 24, 4.00pm-5.30pm. Details.
- You can hear from Fox International Channels, Modern Times Group, MGM, eOne Television International and ITV Studios Global Entertainment at the ‘Advanced Content Strategies’ breakout. Among other things, this session looks at how independent SVOD players like Netflix will develop and how single country operators can compete with their global buying power. Speakers also discuss whether EST (electronic sell-through) is a new revenue opportunity for Pay TV operators and broadcasters. Wednesday, June 24, 4.00pm-5.30pm. Details.
- To kick off Day Two at Connected TV World Summit there is a breakfast briefing on the subject of ‘UEX as a customer retention tool’. It investigates the extent to which the user experience influences customer loyalty and looks for ways in which the UEX can be used to increase subscriber satisfaction and counter discount-seeking and churn. Executives from Swisscom, Deutsche Telekom, Liberty Global and Sky Deutschland are among the speakers – Thursday, June 25, 8.00am-9.30am. Details.
- The ‘Digital Home Makeovers’ session includes TDC talking about ‘Connecting the user experience across different in-home devices’ and Swisscom discussing ‘A new approach to IPTV with Android TV, nDVR and virtualization’. Thursday, June 25, 9.20am – 11.00am. Details.
- In the ‘Digital First’ session, Maxdome discusses the expansion of its service onto Pay TV platforms and the rationale for introducing live pay-per-view events within Maxdome and whether this points to a broader service offer in future. TV4 Group discusses online exclusives, then SGR (Swiss Broadcasting Corporation), Antenna Group, Magine TV, NPO and ITV (among others) discuss how streaming video augments television (besides the known benefits of extended reach and the addition of on-demand viewing). Thursday June 25, 11.30am-1.00pm. Details.
- Arena Media, ITV, OMD, Liberty Global and Sky Media are among those discussing how broadcasters should handle advanced ad tech during the ‘Ad tech revolution’ breakout session on Day Two. They are tackling questions about the impact of DAI (dynamic advertising insertion) on monetizing on-demand and linear programmes, whether broadcasters must become data masters, and whether channel owners will have to rely on Pay TV operators to enable DAI, audience segmentation and addressable advertising on broadcast infrastructure (or whether there is a role for free-to-air platforms). Thursday June 25, 11.30am-1.00pm. Details.
- The ‘New Horizons’ session explores some of the most notable growth opportunities available to platform operators and broadcast groups today and investigates how traditional media companies can become the go-to providers for binge-viewing and how they can monetize time-shift viewing more effectively. MTGx (the digital accelerator within Modern Times Group) outlines ‘The anatomy of a digital innovator’. Unitymedia Kabel, KPN and eircom discuss ‘How time-shift and on-demand is evolving, and the challenges and opportunities that await’. Thursday June 25, 2.20pm-4.15pm. Details.
You can see a full list of this year’s Connected TV World Summit speakers here. And you can see the full conference agenda here. The Videonet Connected TV Awards 2015 ceremony will also be held straight after the conference sessions on Day One, starting at 5.30pm (Wednesday, June 24). You can see the awards shortlists here.
Over 450 delegates are already confirmed as attending and you can register here and get immediate access to the pre-event networking tool. This event is produced by Videonet and we will report the big stories from it over the next few weeks.
More information at www.connectedtvsummit.com