conax_c 03/10/2014 03:05 Page 1
Tips for pay-TV
success
How the pay-TV industry is
changing - from a consumer’s view
From the consumers’ point of view, payTV has probably changed more the last
few years than during the first decade of
this century. TV is available on a range of
different devices; tablets are used as
companion devices; social media is
Tom Jahr, EVP products
and partners, Conax,
advises on how pay-TV
can win the multiscreen
challenge with retention
of eyeballs.
increasingly influencing TV consumption
and vast video libraries have become
available to the majority of TV viewers –
just to mention a few developments. And
while this has increased choice and made
TV more personal, it also introduces a
more fragmented experience that many
consumers may find bewildering.
What should operators look for as
they move to run content on
multiple screens and over multiple
networks?
There has been a substantial amount of
chatter about OTT over the last few years
and we are now beginning to see some
real solutions and real deployments.
Despite numerous predictions of the TV
dying, television remains a ‘core
necessity’ (only now together with a
variety of new multiscreen and mobile
devices to take the home’s TV viewing
experience to the next level). A wide
variety of advanced technologies available
to guide operators to the next level of TV
content distribution were featured at IBC
2014.
In the current market environment,
pay-TV operators are looking to get their
feet wet, to determine how to best
position for multiscreen/multi-network
content distribution.
Besides offering the content that
people want at a price they are willing to
pay, it is all about creating a compelling
and convenient experience. Stitching
together the new TV ecosystem to a
service offering with a high QoE (Qualityof-Experience) is a challenge that pay-TV
operators need to excel in. We believe
that most operators do well in teaming up
with experienced solution providers to
support them. Handling the complexity of
delivering TV over different networks to a
range of devices, while the rate of service
innovation is ever increasing, should not
be taken lightly. Many operators have
experienced that their first generation
platforms cannot deal with this in a costeffective way.
So, what are some of the key
challenges for operators, besides
monetisation?
Monetisation is of course the most
important, but the operational cost and
the ability of the delivery platform to
grow and to adapt and enable new
innovative services are also key to
remaining competitive.
In order to draw a profit from the
evolving multiscreen/multi-network
content distribution ecosystem, operators
need to ensure their content is secure.
Here are a few tips on how pay-TV can
harness the opportunities provided by the
expanding content distribution universe.
18 ContentSecurity
Operators need a strategy where they
remain a one-stop entertainment shop.
Retention of eyeballs is crucial.
Traditionally, operators needed to
aggregate content so that consumers did
not have to go elsewhere. Now, operators
also need to aggregate other online
services into their offerings – to keep
consumer eyeballs from leaving their
service. This can be other video services
like YouTube, social media services, or
any TV relevant online service. Some
operators even chose to offer Netflix as
part of their service, in a kind of “if you
cannot beat them – then aggregate them”
strategy.
How can pay-TV players manage
security in the rapidly evolving