To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the video industry needs to consider every aspect of its complex ecosystem, and that includes reducing the energy consumed by end user devices when streaming content. There’s been a lot of focus over the years on developing electronic devices to be as energy efficient as possible, as well as improving the energy efficiency of the overall media chain (servers, encoders, cloud storage, etc). What’s less well known is what impact changes made at application level can have on energy consumption when content is streamed. And crucially, what impact do changes made at application level for the purpose of reducing energy consumption, have on the User Experience (UX)? This is a critical factor to establish because UX is a central pillar of any successful video service. Because after all, if video providers have to make a choice between UX and sustainability, UX will win every time. But does UX have to be compromised in the quest for a more sustainable application? Or is it possible to reduce energy consumption on OTT devices by optimizing the application and using energy-efficient UI/UX strategies, all without sacrificing user experience?
Balancing Monetization and Sustainability – Accedo
Advertising is a crucial source of revenue for video service providers. In 2023, global ad spend on TV and digital video is projected to reach $210.2 billion. Just as video providers look to increase advertising revenue, there is a simultaneous drive to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. How does the TV and video industry’s drive for monetization, which so often includes advertising, square with the need to make video operations more sustainable? What responsibility do TV and video service providers have to reduce emissions from advertising that they show and how can positive change be achieved? Before answering these questions, we first need to better understand the relationship between advertising and emissions.
Sustainable Broadcast Transmission
Despite the continuing growth in audiences for streaming content, the established broadcasters remain popular. Indeed, market predictions are that, while streaming services will gain viewers and revenue, traditional linear television will remain stable; Statista even suggests a slight rise in daily viewing hours.
Content Choice and Sustainability
In recent years, the choice of video services has multiplied, as large media organisations add a plus symbol to their established brands and roll out new platforms. In addition, many incumbents in the VOD space are now supplementing their main subscription models with AVOD options. In some cases, these ad-funded tiers will be differentiated with new content, but at the very least they will require new versions of the original media files with markers for ad insertion. Linear TV has not been left behind, evolving its offering with more content choice, and diversifying with themed FAST channels.
Rohde & Schwarz: BaM Shortlist – Publish
TH1 from Rohde & Schwarz takes a radical approach to high-power transmitters, reducing energy consumption, increasing resilience and unlocking new revenues.
Ateme – The world is under threat, but what is our industry doing to protect our fragile ecosystems?
The recent extreme weather has shown us that climate change appears to have arrived in force. The human cost is already extremely worrying – last year, for example, over 180 people perished in floods in Germany and Belgium, while over 500 people died in a heat wave in British Columbia, Canada alone. And this year, Europe has seen its worst drought in 500 years, with two-thirds of the continent “under distress”.
Amino – The sustainability vs. profitability debate
Today’s business leaders are coming to the conclusion that profitability and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. In fact, creating strategies on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) programs has been gaining significant momentum for companies that are looking beyond the traditional bottom line to measure their impact. Yet, balancing thin profit margins with long-term sustainability goals and regulatory compliance requires sound principles, a well thought-out plan, and strong leadership to achieve optimal shareholder and stakeholder value.
Content Protection – more things to consider
The recent IABM report on content security trends in conjunction with our good friends at Axinom made for some interesting reading. As Roger Thornton mentions in his summary article, perhaps the most surprising takeaway is the discrepancy between a stated intention to invest in content, and a far lower priority in investment in content security technology to safeguard against the theft of that content, especially given the financial, operational and potentially creative resources that will be required to produce or acquire it. As Roger summarises, this seems counterintuitive, but budgets are finite and it could be argued that prioritizing content over business processes is where dutiful media providers should concentrate their majority resource.
The Argosy family
Argosy was founded in 1984, originally to supply broadcasters and systems integrators with cables and connectors. Today we are known as infrastructure solutions specialist and have rapidly expanded our portfolio in recent years, with an extensive range of products and services, including racks, power management, conversion devices and KVM technology – and we serve a number of industries alongside broadcast – such as Pro-AV and IT.
BT Sport United – a co-ordinated, company-wide commitment to Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability
BT Sport won the IABM Award for the Most Inclusive Company in December 2021. The sports broadcaster collected the award in recognition of a wide range of action across its operation to promote Diversity and Inclusion. We followed up with BT Sport COO*, Jamie Hindhaugh, to uncover he story behind his inspiring BT Sport United initiative, dive deeper into the programme, discover what’s coming next – and also talk about BT Sport’s sustainability push, which is delivering astonishing results.