research_research 21/04/2015 20:34 Page 2
the-Top (87.5%) will remain key
drivers of innovation, while
linear broadcast (only 7.5%) will
slowly lose to personalised TV
services accessed via the cloud
or on connected devices. Big
Data, the Internet of Things
(IoT) and short-form digital
video will also enable the
content industry to offer
services tailored to end users’
viewing habits and preferences.
“The TV and video industries
have been leading towards the
Internet of Things since the
advent of the first connected
TV ten years ago,” explained
David Mercer, vice-president
and principal analyst, digital
consumer practice at Strategy
Analytics. “All these
developments are related: TV
Everywhere enables consumers
to access content on every
platform and to interact with it,
and personalisation will allow
end users to create their own
schedule and programming,
moving away from linear
broadcast. At the same time,
User Generated Content is
forcing the industry to redefine
what TV means, to rethink the
business models and how the
industry works. TV Connect will
provide a perfect platform to
see how all these trends will
converge to create the TV of
tomorrow.”
According to Dave Alpert,
Vice-President of Operations
and CTO at HBO Europe,
shorter timeframes represent
the main challenge that the
content industry must
overcome in 2015: “The old
tradition of release windows
has changed, and it’s due to
digital distribution. This year,
we will see broadcasters
premiering shows
simultaneously at the same
time around the world. To
achieve this, broadcasters need
to process multiple materials at
a fraction of the time, file
transfers need to happen
instantaneously and tight
workflows must be put in place
to simultaneously deliver that
all important episode of a new
show to the world.”
Ed Barton, practice leader,
TV, at Ovum, added: “TV
30 TV Everywhere
services have traditionally been
sold to households while
streaming services tend to be
addressed towards individuals.
This potentially generates
additional revenues for both
streaming services and their
content partners, as well as
offering further opportunities
through more targeted
advertising. A new era of
entertainment technology
promises to offer more tools to
audiences to control their
viewing experience, which will
be particularly relevant to
younger audiences that tend to
be more active about their
media consumption. It will be
interesting to see how
broadcasters and pay TV
operators launch direct-toconsumer streaming services at
TV Connect, reasserting their
power against nimble,
aggressive and technology-led
OTT specialists.”
Joanna Jones, events
director at Informa Telecoms
and Media, commented: “Over
the years, TV Connect has
become a springboard for
companies looking to launch
new interactive video services.
This year’s show will see even
more developments allowing
consumers to become active
members of the content chain,
as well as enabling the industry
to better understand subscriber
behaviour on every platform. It
is clear that the conference
streams and the show floor will
prove a perfect laboratory to
prepare for the next
innovations in the industry.”
1.4% quarterly increase
in pay-TV subs
The April issue of the
informitv Multiscreen Index
report shows that the
industry index of 100 leading
pay-television services
around the world added
5.11m subscribers in the last
quarter of 2014, a rise of
1.42%. The ten services with
the most subscribers added
5.53m during 2014, with a
combined total of nearly
130m television customers.
Worldwide subscribers
Service
1,646,000
Comcast
DIRECTV
DISH Network
Dish TV
Sky (UK and Ireland)
Tricolor
Time Warner Cable
Videocon d2h
Airtel Digital TV
Hathway
Change
quarter
129.98
7,000
149,000
-63,000
400,000
202,000
259,000
-38,000
360,000
270,000
100,000
Subscribers
m
22.38
20.35
13.98
12.50
10.93
10.92
10.79
9.82
9.81
8.50
Residential digital television subscriber numbers at the end of
December 2015 for the 10 leading pay-television services worldwide in
the Multiscreen Index.
Two-thirds of services in the
index reported net subscriber
gains in the last three months
of 2014. Satellite service
providers gained the most
subscribers, with net addit