In Broadcast - NABSHOW 2015 - 17

www.inbroadcast.com | NAB SHOW 11-16 April 2015 | InShow Guide

Under the OTT Hood: It's More
Than Just Technology
By Neil Berry, EVP Commercial EMEA

he culture of television is changing
rapidly. Today, large numbers of
consumers are accessing TV services
through their mobile devices, and
research predicts the adoption of
personal smart devices will continue
to rise. Forrester suggests that by
2017, 900 million people around the
world will own a tablet, including 60%
of online consumers in North America
and 42% in Europe. These convenient
screens that allow high quality viewing,
regardless of location, are changing the
way people watch TV, and are part of
the reason for an inﬂux of OTT (overthe-top) players into the market today.
In the next few years, it is expected that
OTT will become even more entrenched
in the media landscape, in many
regions across the world.
Broadcasters, telcos, and Internet
service providers are among the
industries tempted by the promise of
increased revenues and subscriber
loyalty, through specialised online
video packages, and other offerings.
Yet launching an OTT service can
be daunting. For most businesses,
deciding which precise revenue model
to pursue can be unclear, and result
in risky decision-making. Then there's
the obvious challenge of delivering
high quality programming around
the clock. Furthermore, some new
players may see the potential in OTT
as a way to further monetise their
subscriber base, but lack experience
in managing the complex content
acquisition process, including content
agreements, production workﬂows,
and the cost of working directly with
content brokers. To address this, Piksel
is expanding its services portfolio and
saving its customers from investing in
infrastructure and personnel, beyond
its primary business expertise.
Managed Services
Clearly there are signiﬁcant
beneﬁts to be gained from managing
the creation and deployment of
a new OTT service proposition inhouse, particularly around keeping
tight control over strategy, design
implementation,
operational
processes, and running costs. However
an operator seeking to create a really
strong OTT proposition, within a

short timeframe, needs to have the
technical and logistical capabilities
required to implement the necessary
infrastructure, from day one.
Working with a service provider
means the operator can focus on
core business activities - creating
and distributing content, and selling
advertising and/or subscriptions
- rather than diverting resources
towards management of additional
technology and expertise.
For this reason, Managed Services
has always been a core aspect of
Piksel's offering. Launching or
extending an OTT video service that
can deliver guaranteed high quality
performance around the clock is
difﬁcult, and many media companies
can beneﬁt from a helping hand
that ﬁlls the gaps in its technical
infrastructures and skills, for as long
as is needed.

that contribute to the creation of a
healthy Internet TV service.
The path to proﬁtability varies,
depending on the company, but by
inputting all the relevant data that
impacts the running of an OTT service,
Piksel is able to map out unique
monetisation strategies for prospects
and customers, and consequently
remove the signiﬁcant risks associated
with entering the online TV arena.
Content Acquisition
The nature of OTT means that TV is
no longer the domain of traditional
media companies, and we're seeing
a wave of innovative new companies
pop up to take advantage of this
distribution method. Now, all types of
businesses with a customer base (such
as small media companies, telcos and
Internet service providers) can explore
online video as a way to further
engage their audience. However, one
major obstacle is the complexity of
acquiring the content to deliver to this
viewer base, if you don't have preexisting relationships with studios.
To address this, Pixel has launched
a content acquisition services division
to arm new OTT entrants with a full
"procurement to playout" solution,
making it the only online video
provider to offer an all-in-one solution,
with tailor-made content acquisition
services.
One frequent gripe for businesses
wishing to acquire content, even if

they do enlist the help of a third party
to broker the deals, is that they are
offered ﬁxed content bundles to buy,
instead of ﬂexible content options
that ﬁt with their brand. Instead of
determining which content will best
suit their subscribers and seeking out
bespoke content deals which ﬁt with
this strategy, aggregators tend to have
a set of content, which they will sell in
bulk to willing businesses.
What many businesses need is a
service that works with clients to
understand what content will help
to grow their business, and goes on
to broker these speciﬁc deals. In this
competitive market, this targeted
approach to content acquisition is
essential to promoting audience
engagement, and ultimately building a
solid brand.
At NAB Show 2015, Piksel will
be showcasing its solutions that
make online video a reality for its
customers, but also shedding light
on the services needed to make that
technology a success. Through Piksel
Digital Showcase for example, content
creators, aggregators, and distributors
can deliver live and on-demand video
within a multiscreen environment.
However, to guarantee success, media
businesses need to ﬁll that platform
with the right content, implement
the right monetisation approach
and develop the right consumer
experience. And this needs the right
services out there to help.

Strategic Business Modelling
With the online model for content
delivery
becoming
a
serious
consideration for TV service providers
and content owners, another key
challenge is working out how to
calculate the most sustainable
monetisation strategy to pursue.
Hundreds of factors should enter into
the strategic planning process and
inﬂuence the ultimate monetisation
model chosen; market
size,
content
costs,
encoding
needs,
ownership of CDNs,
advertising agreements,
and
consumer
behaviours are just some
of these considerations.
Responding to the
evident market need for
strategic support at the
initial stages of planning
an OTT venture, Piksel
recently expanded its
services portfolio to
include
Internet
TV
Business
Modelling.
Designed to take place
at the beginning of the
customer
deployment
process, the service
involves a thorough
Nowadays, many consumers access TV services via their mobile devices, leading to an inﬂux of OTT services
analysis of key variables

http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.piksel.com/2015/03/piksel-digital-enterprise-6-0/

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