“ Linear TV is not going anywhere anytime soon ,” asserts Craig Buckland , technical director , Broadcast Traffic Systems . “ You only have to look at the ad revenue that the big players are reeling in to see that they continue to have a good business case . This proves that there is still a strong consumer appetite for linear channels . While some consumers are turning to ad-supported linear TV , many remain happy to pay for a subscription for access to the right content and that is not likely to change , especially for certain types of content , such as live sports ,” he notes .
“ However , it is clear that the OTT market is continuing to grow and pay-TV operators need to adapt to give viewers more value from one subscription . That could be about delivering those channels across multiple platforms or bundling multiple services from different providers into one subscription , for example . The short answer is that , at the moment there is room for a lot of different models in the market . We ’ re seeing big , larger broadcasters exploring AVoD and start-ups doing linear OTT .” CO-OPEERATION . “ In the future we foresee a higher level of co-operation between content providers and operators ,” comments Nivedita Nouvel , vice president of marketing at Broadpeak . “ As the owners of ‘ smart pipes ’, operators offer access to unique features , such as multicast for live streaming , edge caching , and superior control over the quality of experience to reduce buffering , decrease latency , and reduce start-up times . These KPIs make a significant difference and are not accessible with a CDNaaS [ Content Delivery Network as a Service ] only approach ,” she adds .
“ The traditional pay-TV sector is certainly not a booming sector , but it is far from dying ,” says Simon Murray , principal analyst , Digital TV Research . “ Subscriber declines in the US have been alarming , but they are unlikely to be repeated to the same extent anywhere else . In fact , the number of pay-TV subscribers in many developing countries will continue to rise . Pay-TV is immature in many of these markets and broadband penetration is either low and / or expensive . In many countries , pay-TV operators have moved into triple-play provision to keep revenues buoyant . Subscribers to bundles pay less for TV services but pay more to the operator overall . Bundles also improve customer
“ The subscription model will continue to thrive and both OTT and managed networks will have their place .” - Jamie Mackinlay , Amino loyalty ,” he advises . FRAGMENTATION . “ This assumes there will be a ‘ final blow ’, contends David Sidebottom , principal analyst , Futuresource Consulting “ Pay-TV operators will need to continue to evolve and focus on experience , innovation , quality , search and discovery and the continued aggregation of quality content , providing a rounded package to content hungry customers . Perhaps of growing concern is the gradual fragmentation of sports rights and new streaming competition in this area . Sports has continued to be a major differentiator for pay-TV , however , as the purchasing power and scale of streaming services grow , this sports provision is becoming under increased threat .”
“ There is an opportunity for everybody to succeed , and it is not about which industry will survive ,” says Shane McCarthy , COO for Video at Irdeto . “ It is more about which player , within each industry will deliver the best experience at the best value . When you look at content providers you see studios , sports rights holders , traditional TV channels , super aggregators , all active in the direct-to-consumer space , leveraging their brand and riding on the infrastructure of the broadband providers . The question is , ‘ Is there room for them all to succeed ?,” he suggests . “ Over the last 40 years , we have seen pay-TV services carry over 200 channels on their platforms ; so if hundreds of channels have survived , why would only a handful of OTT video streaming services succeed ?”
He notes that many of the pay-TV operators either are or are becoming content rights owners ( e . g ., Comcast buys NBC Universal , Liberty Global ’ s sister company Liberty Media buys F1 ). “ This enables them not to get priced out of content and to create a new brand that is attractive to different types of customer ( e . g . Peacock ). We can also expect that they will leverage their infrastructure ( both fixed and wireless ) to generate a new phase of growth ,” he adds ECONOMICS . “ So long as video is contributing to broadband economics , nothing is going to kill pay-TV ,” declares Bill Routt , president at MOBITV . “ Many MVPDs ( or ‘ pay-
TV operators ’) define themselves as Internet service providers who
“ There is no real differentiation for me subscribing direct to Netflix or through Sky .”
– Guy Bisson , Ampere Analysis sell video as a value-added service to drive overall customer lifetime value ( LTV ). From this lens , it ’ s about how to integrate content consumers are interested in into an overall experience that is easy to use ( single interface , good customer care ) with value pricing through bundling ,” he advises .
“ Whether the pay-TV operator is getting paid via bounties or licensing / reselling represents new value exchange experiments especially afforded to those who live in the app-based , streaming world . For example , we will see pay-TV bundles that include MVPD packages + D2C offers . TV interfaces will unify these catalogues and playback more and more seamlessly .”
“ These experiments will benefit those who guess correctly on the value of the exchange that occurs when the user is linked out to the D2C service . Particularly notable is that these experiments will benefit those who execute well on maximising the value of the user ’ s attention as they are linked back and forth from operator-owned interfaces to content providerowned interfaces . In initial experiments of pay-TV operators moving their service to streaming , we have observed that consumers are highly engaged – well over eight hours daily – indicating high demand for unified interface , billing and care . Other game-changing experiments are currently underway as MVPDs complete their migration to streaming . How large are the gains from impression-based advertising ? How much cost is saved in headend support , network bandwidth recovery and CPGA ( reduced truck rolls ),” he asks . CONSUMER . According to Shan Eisenberg , CCO at Netgem TV , it is the consumer who will deliver the final blow . “ Consumers do not want the old ‘ mum and dad pay-TV ’ model where you spend £ 30 minimum and then add an expensive range of channels (£ 10 for movies , £ 5 for kids , £ 25- £ 35 for sports ) – they want to pay an everyday low price for quality free content and a few channels , and then be able to get the streaming services they like on top ,” he suggests .
“ This is exacerbated by the proliferation of D2C services ( so in a way it is they who are triggering the ‘ final blow ’) such as Disney + or more recently Paramount +. It is also further driven by a number of ad-funded quality content services . Network Providers such as BT or TalkTalk have started to adapt to this trend and to open to streaming services , whilst moving away from traditional pay-TV approaches , whilst Sky and Virgin Media have only optimised their bundles . Altnets and challenger ISPs are turning to Netgem for their ‘ Skinny TV Bundle , the UK way ’. The consumer will deliver the final blow but it is not an implosion , it is a welcome reinvention of pay-TV ”.
“ There ’ s been talk for years about pay-TV
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