FEED Issue 21

45 ROUND TABLE Audience Analytics

FEED: WHATWILL THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONTENT PROVIDER AND VIEWER BE LIKE IN TEN YEARS?

GABRIEL BERGER: Some people have been predicting the imminent demise of pay-TV for a while but it still hasn’t happened, despite the growing proliferation of D2C services such as Disney and HBO Max. But what happens in the future when consumers are juggling up to ten different OTT subscriptions? It will become very frustrating to search across these different services or to find out which service offers the series you want to watch for free rather than at an additional cost. Adding this level of friction will make consumers more likely to give up on TV and do something else instead. We have been predicting the rise of super-aggregation for over two years and today there is an even greater need for universal search and recommendations. This is possible today from a technical perspective but to make it work on a commercial level, companies will need to resist the urge to go solo, and partner to ensure they don’t lose viewers over time. BHAVESH VAGHELA: The power is already moving to the customer and that’s only going to continue.

In the past, content providers had all the power – here’s our linear content, take it or leave it – but now the customer has more choice than ever to determine what content they want to watch, when they want to watch it, on what device and where. The market will continue to fragment while consumers increasingly expect an excellent customer experience. TV operators of all types will have to adapt. Going forward, the customer will be at the centre of the business and operators that understand those relationships and have the tools to manage them more effectively are the ones that are going to survive in ten years’ time. ANNA ZAIKINA: The relationship will be more stratified than before, with viewer behaviour becoming more complex. For example, viewers may use multiple content providers simultaneously, with the relationships with those providers becoming more short-term and viewers becoming less committed to one supplier. Content businesses need to aim for a more flexible strategy where they can meet the immediate requirements of the consumer based on their preferences, location and even the device they are currently using.

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