We believe there’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity for telco and pay TV providers to diversify their retail offer, by moving beyond quad-play to ‘omni-play’ and beyond super-aggregation of video content, to the aggregation of our increasingly smart lives.
By ‘aggregating more’ operators will be able to increase customer loyalty and raise ARPU, from services as diverse as multiplayer live gaming and home security, to smart domestic energy management.
In the world of modern content production, the choice between cloud-based solutions and traditional hardware solutions has become increasingly critical. This is a question that Chyron has tackled along with customers and prospective customers, gaining insight into common assumptions, requirements, and opportunities with regard to cloud-based solutions for live production.
Media is now a global business. Audiences anywhere are clamoring for content from everywhere.
The K-Pop phenomenon means that a concert taking place in Seoul can attract a huge audience in Seattle and Sienna. In recent weeks sports fans globally have been gripped by world championships: cycling in Scotland; netball in South Africa and football in Australia and New Zealand.
Media connectivity is more than just television coverage of sports or concert relays to theaters.
IP is a fundamental component of modern computer networking and internet communication. Technical staff need to be familiar with IP to effectively manage, troubleshoot, and optimize networked systems and services in a wide range of technical disciplines. For this reason, IP is the accepted Protocol for almost all information transfer, including KVM, which allows remote access and control of servers and devices over standard IP networks. KVM enables efficient management of remote equipment, which makes it ideal for live events, news and sports, where systems and operators are often located in OB vans at remote locations.
If you run any but the smallest media business you have hundreds, and probably thousands, of pieces of technical equipment from multiple approved vendors. Not just cameras or servers, but radio microphone transmitters, portable monitors, lipsync testers and lighting stands. The number of individual items quickly spirals.
Technology is set to play a crucial role in the fight against climate change by helping us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy efficiency, and promote sustainable practices. Is there potential for AI to also play a part in this? Google DeepMind certainly thinks so and is using the latest AI developments to help fight climate change and build a more sustainable, low-carbon world. But although AI has received a lot of attention since the launch of the large language model, ChatGPT, last year, AI and machine learning (ML) are not new concepts. Content creators, technology vendors, and service providers in the video industry have been using ML for some time. The difference now is that generative AI models have become more advanced, and are now being used by a wider audience. If organizations like Google DeepMind aim to use generative AI to fight climate change, can the video industry also use generative AI to optimize systems, create more sustainable consumption habits, and reduce the industry’s carbon impact?
The current economic situation has meant many viewers are looking carefully at how much they’re spending on subscriptions, which has a knock-on effect on the whole industry. At the same time, media companies are facing an increase in the cost of creating content. These challenges are forcing them to re-align their business models to prevent operating spend and maximize average revenue per user (ARPU); the latter leading to experimentation around varied monetization methods, such as subscriptions, ad-funded, free ad-supported TV (FAST) syndication methods and in many cases a hybrid approach. They must also identify any optimizations in their technology stack to find cost savings for the escalating cost of buying or creating high-value content and drive cashflow-positive business models in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Traditional linear television has been around for more than 80 years, and in that time audiences have got used to its look and feel. They appreciate a lot of what it gives them: there are values in linear television that appeal.
Programs are shown at appropriate times. There are regulations around the amount of advertising and the way it can be presented.
The linear advertising experience is the result of all those years of striving to deliver for both audiences and advertisers. It is in everyone’s best interests if spots are not repeated too often as audiences will disengage. Choosing the right commercials for the program ensures that audiences are likely to be receptive.
Scheduling and commercial campaign placements have become core skills in running a successful linear channel. We tend to call this superior experience the “broadcast premium.”
But new entrants to the market, like the digital-first providers, now see the broadcast premium as something they aspire to. They want to give audiences the convenience of watching when and where they like, but still with the qualities associated with linear channels.
In simple terms, digital and linear media services are converging. This is an inevitable, inexorable process. But it does throw up three big issues that need to be addressed.
Media and entertainment is a well-established industry, with a heritage to be proud of. But maintaining a pivotal role in the consumer landscape for several decades comes with a unique set of challenges. As media and broadcast has evolved from a handful of linear channels through to a multi-platform ecosystem, more content needs to be reformatted and repurposed to reach an increasingly fragmented audience.
It is worth stating, at the very beginning, that there is nothing inherently exciting, engaging or sexy about the cloud. Or about IP media connectivity. They are, in the very best sense of the term, enabling technologies.
What they enable is a massive cultural shift in the media industry. This is the opportunity for a completely fresh look at how we do business, how we satisfy our viewers and subscribers, and how we make money.