ITV

Tag: Ed Barton

  • Android future of TV, but many unwilling to pay

    NEW DELHI: Around 72% of respondents in a recent survey are considering Android implementations as a part of their set-top box (STB) strategies. In addition, 50% of respondents in a global survey see Android as being important for their goals within the next five years.

    These are among the findings of a research done by digital security platform Irdeto and OvumConsulting indicating that a majority of video service providers have either Android TV or Android Open Source Project (AOSP) on their technology roadmaps.

    Conducted in February 2017, the study “Is Android the future of the set-top box?” covered 300 TV industry professionals.

    Around 106 respondents were from APAC, segregated by Ovum into two categories: Developed which had 58 respondents and developing which had 48 respondents. India figures in the latter category.

    It also identified a variety of benefits they perceive Android TV to offer, including the availability of new features and services, faster time-to-market, an attractive user interface and cost efficiencies.

    However, while a majority of respondents indicated a commitment to Android, only 54% of video service providers are willing to pay more for Android chipsets than traditional chipsets with embedded middleware.

    Features, specifically the ability for users to download additional apps, are the driving force leading Android implementations. Video service providers with more than one million subscribers (43%) and those with less than one million subscribers (34%) both said that this was the number one driver for adoption.

    However, despite service providers’ confidence in the benefits of Android TV, there are significant concerns around piracy and cyberthreats. By allowing easy installations of other applications onto the STB, 43% of respondents believe there will be an increased attack surface, while 41% are concerned that their subscribers could install apps for illegal streaming.

    “Video service providers are feeling pressure to continue to innovate their offerings to satisfy consumer demand for an optimal user experience,” said Irdeto director of Product Management Frank Poppelsdorf. “These results indicate that Android TV is not only on pace to play a critical role in the future of TV distribution, but are essential for the industry to meet growing consumer demand for new and innovative services. However, the open nature of the technology brings up several security concerns, especially in regard to piracy. As the industry continues to shift toward more open platforms for the set-top box, it will be critical for video service providers to implement a robust 360-degree security approach to ensure their premium content is protected while optimizing flexibility and time to market.”

    While many expect Android to dominate the TV landscape in the near future, the survey revealed that more education on the differences between Android platforms may be needed. Only 52% of those surveyed understand the differences between Android TV and AOSP.

    “Education on Android platforms is critical for video service providers to understand the capabilities, benefits and drawbacks of each technology in order to make the best strategic decision concerning their technology roadmap,” saidOvum Practioce Leader TV Ed Barton. “These types of insights identified in our survey with Irdeto are key to help pay TV operators, broadcasters and OTT streaming providers better anticipate the opportunities and challenges ahead. We were pleased to work with Irdeto on this survey of C-Level executives as well as professionals across multiple disciplines to identify Android strategies that will shape the pay TV market in the years ahead.”

    As platforms like Android TV become the new norm in the TV landscape, it will be important for operators to employ a holistic, 360-degree security approach to secure these next-generation devices. Stofa, Denmark’s most innovative supplier of cable TV and broadband internet services, recently selected Irdeto Cloaked CA to securely deliver content through its upcoming new Android set-top box (STB). Not only will subscribers have the full range of Stofa services on the STB, they will also have direct access to the Google Play app store and to streaming services such as YouTube. Stofa intends to revolutionize the user experience with its new Android STB and with Irdeto’s latest renewable and cardless software security, any form of content delivered to customers will be robustly protected.

    The survey was commissioned by Irdeto and conducted in February 2017 by Ovum. 301 TV industry professionals spread across six regional groupings, including APAC, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa and North America participated in the survey. All respondent companies provide video services as part of their business and the service provider types were Internet service providers, OTT video providers, pay TV operators (cable, DTT and satellite) and telecoms providers. The survey targeted an informed audience with a representative proportion of C-level respondents alongside technology, content, marketing and network security.

  • Go Digital, Go Local is flavour of Asia TV Forum 2015

    Go Digital, Go Local is flavour of Asia TV Forum 2015

    SINGAPORE: It seems the pre-market conference is looking to set the tone for the rest of the market as well. Everyone, who is either involved in the content creation or content aggregation end, is thinking digital and going local.

     

    Post the keynotes earlier in the day, the sessions that followed include: ‘The Future of TV and Visual Entertainment,’ ‘Native Players, Digital Strategies,’ ‘View from Over The Top’ and ‘Digital Content: Cashing in or Cashing out?’

     

    In the first one, UK-based Ovum’s practice leader Ed Barton took to stage and gave some valuable insights in terms of how the world’s leading broadcasters and pay-TV operators are rethinking their business models to adapt to the ever changing and evolving viewing habits of the consumers. And even more importantly how advertisers are now thinking outside the box to catch their next potential customer.

     

    “Pay-TV growth in developing regions will be driven by finer market segmentation. While digital will continue to grow and rely heavily on what millennials choose to consume, with creators having to strategise better and cater to those needs,” said Barton.

     

    According to Ovum’s study, India’s average revenue per user (ARPU) from Pay-TV subscribers would be around $7.24 by 2020, whereas that for APAC will be at $8.63. But, what was more interesting is the fact that according to the same study, China would be having a lower ARPU than the Indian sub-continent, which is somewhat hard to digest. “The growth for video on demand services and HD services will be directly proportional to the ARPUs drive they receive,” Barton added.

     

    Next up the panel discussing ‘Native Players, Digital Strategies’ saw Endemol Asia MD Fotini Parakakis, MNC Sky Vision – Indonesia, VP director Yudha Wibawa and BBC Worldwide – SEA, SVP & GM Monty Ghai giving their views on what they believe is the future of digital content from the broadcaster’s perspective.

     

    “Broadcasters and brands are more open than ever before to explore differentiated content offerings and break out of the old school, tried and tested formulas. It’s heartening to see independent content creators, who got their very own multi-channel networks (MCNs) now taking it a step ahead by working with broadcasters to create more engaging content,” said Parakakis.

     

    Sharing similar views BBC’s Ghai shared, “We are exploring short format shows as well, but our main focus will continue to remain long form premium content since that’s in our DNA. That being said, what I believe will work for SEA and rest of Asia is if digital content can be used to drive audiences to consume more content on linear as well, rather than leading to cannibalise its presence.”

     

    Indonesia is somewhat similar to how India is progressing in terms of its digitisation process, and people there too face similar hurdles like low broadband connectivity and penetration, along with infrastructure woes. But even in such a scenario MNC Sky Vision’s Wibawa sees a ray of hope. “Although only a few cities are in the position to look at heavy consumption of content on the mobile (given the low broadband penetration) it is still worth a shot and a fairly large population (read over 30 per cent) that is on the look out for such content,” Wibawa said.

     

    Similar discussions were held during the other two sessions as well, which clearly shows that digital is here to stay and if creators embrace the idea of ‘Going Local, but for the world’ then there’s nothing that can stand in the way of how Asia transforms from being influenced by western content, to influence western content instead.

  • Global ad spend to increase by 4.9% to $465.5 bn in 2012

    Global ad spend to increase by 4.9% to $465.5 bn in 2012

    MUMBAI: Following 3.8 per cent growth in 2011, global ad spend is expected to grow by 4.9 per cent in 2012 to $465.5 billion, according to the latest forecast from Strategy Analytics.

    Although total US advertising spending is expected to increase by less than the global rate, at 2.7 per cent this year to $152.1 billion, it is a significant improvement on the 0.6 per cent growth in 2011. The US also underperforms Europe as a whole, which is expected to grow by 3.7 per cent to $136.3 billion in 2012.

    Strategy Analytics director of digital media strategies Ed Barton explains, “Major global-impact events led by the Olympics, the US Presidential Elections and the European Football Championships, as well as Japan’s continuing recovery from the earthquake, combine to paint a brighter picture globally in 2012 for advertising spending overall. Furthermore, we expect that total ad spend will surpass half a trillion ($500bn) dollars in 2014.”

    Global advertising by media type: Looking at spend by media type reveals that global TV advertising is expected to grow by five per cent in 2012 to $188.5 billion, equivalent to 40 per cent of all global spending.

    Global print advertising is expected to grow by half a per cent, accounting for a 26.4 per cent share. Other traditional formats including cinema and radio will grow by approximately four per cent.

    In contrast, global online advertising is expected to grow 12.8 per cent to $83.2bn in 2012, accounting for 18 per cent of global ad spending.

    Barton says, “Online advertising will continue along its growth trajectory fuelled by strong growth in emerging markets and increased spending volumes on social networking and online video advertising.”

    US/Europe advertising by media type: It is a similar picture in the US with online advertising leading the way. Online is expected to grow by 6.7 per cent this year to $27.4 billion compared to 3.7 per cent for TV and 2.9 per cent for other traditional formats. Print is expected to decline by 1.5 per cent.

    In comparison, online advertising across Europe is expected to grow by 11.7 per cent this year compared to 3.4 per cent for TV and 2.4 per cent for ‘other traditional’ advertising. Print is expected to decline by 0.1 per cent.

    Barton notes, “The US continues to be a leader in terms of the share of revenue generated by TV advertising – its share in the US this year will be approximately 41 per cent compared to 35 per cent in Europe and 24 per cent in the UK. In contrast, Internet advertising tends to have a smaller share of spending than in other markets. However, the share of advertising dollars allocated to the Internet continues to grow and is projected to overtake print advertising in the US in 2016 – a year ahead of when this is expected to happen for the total global market.”