The first approach is a greater focus on scripted content, with Towler arguing that BVOD (broadcaster VOD/streaming) services are underweight in this department when compared to SVODs (both for current catalogues and upcoming commissions).

She presented figures showing the proportion of UK SVOD and BVOD content catalogues that are scripted. Taken in January 2023 (from the Ampere service Ampere Analytics) these reveal that ITV has the highest proportion of scripted content among UK broadcaster streaming services, at 53%, but this is still lower than all the major SVODs.

The UK SVOD with the lowest proportion of scripted content is NOW, at 57%, while Disney+ leads with 84%. The Ampere Analysis figures show that My5 (the Channel 5 BVOD offer) has 23% scripted content, with All4 (from Channel 4) at 33% and BBC iPlayer at 45%.

Towler’s advice is that while scripted content is more expensive, it has higher engagement and better longevity. To support this, she offered the London audience a graph showing the average relative popularity of scripted vs unscripted titles in the months following release, using an Ampere Analysis Popularity Score that is a measure of relative consumer search activity levels on third-party sources such as Google and Wikipedia. This showed that scripted content begins life significantly more ‘popular’ than unscripted content and then increases that relative advantage dramatically in the months that follow.

The popularity data came from ‘Ampere Analytics, Ampere Commissioning’ (a service within Ampere Analysis) and covered the top 25 scripted titles and top 25 unscripted titles released by BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 for seasons released since 2018.

At launch, scripted content was around five times as popular as unscripted (based on the search activity), but at three months this was closer to 8x as popular, and at nine months it was in the region of 12 times as popular as unscripted.

With the cost of scripted content in mind, Towler demonstrated how the rate of growth for global content spend is slowing, but noted that co-commissions can be used to increase output. This is the second of her strategies to increase broadcaster share of digital viewing time.

She gave figures for the % of broadcaster scripted series that are co-commissions on a quarter-by-quarter basis. These showed regular fluctuations but a general downward trend.

For example, the highest peak for broadcaster scripted series co-commissions since Q2 2022 has been 11%, whereas there were peaks of 17% in Q2 2020 and 14% in Q1 2021. The most recent trough was 8% in Q3 2022, whereas previous troughs were 12% (e.g. Q3/Q4 2020) and 10% (e.g. Q3 2021 and Q1 2022).

Co-commissions are often among broadcasters’ most popular recent shows, Towler told the Connected TV World Summit gathering (once again using Ampere’s Popularity Score, and so based on relative consumer third-party search activity).

A diagram outlined the proportion of Top 50 popular titles in 2022 (in the UK) that were co-commissions (using the Top 50 across BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – with the data again from ‘Ampere Analytics, Ampere Commissioning’). For all shows in the Top 50 during 2022, one-fifth were co-commissions. If you count only the newer content – the Top 50 shows in 2022 that were also released after 2020 – two-thirds were co-commissions.

“Co-commissions offer a cost-effective opportunity to increase the volume of premium scripted content in broadcasters’ slates,” Towler concluded.

Towler’s third suggestion is that broadcasters should take advantage of the fact that non-exclusive licensing is set to increase – meaning more studio titles will be available to license. She used HBO Max in the USA as an example, where the proportion of the catalogue that is exclusive was 80% in August 2022 but 75% in January 2023.

[The context, of course, is that when major international studios launched their direct-to-consumer ‘+’ services there was a general shift towards studios feeding their own streaming services with their own content – sometimes at the expense of third-party licensing. If studios are licensing more to third-parties again, broadcasters can boost their BVOD offer with the titles that become available.]

Towler also suggested that broadcasters can license their own content to (non-broadcaster) AVOD and FAST services to reach new audiences.

The fourth item on the ‘to-do’ list is to release more digital-first premieres, which Towler described as “key for transitioning viewers to the online platform.” Based on first-run series released in 2022, ITV is leading the way among UK broadcasters for BVOD premieres, with 7% of those first-runs going to the streaming service first. For Channel 4 the figure was 6%, with the BBC at 3%.

As well as getting linear viewers into streaming, first-run digital premieres will help draw in new audiences, she noted. Towler also advised that weekly releases on VOD help retain users and prolong engagement, compared to full-series drops.

The final part of Towler’s five-point plan is a focus on younger viewers. She had a graph showing that Netflix Originals skew younger than content on SVOD in general, and pointed out that these are backed by an aggressive social media strategy “that is key for engaging younger groups.”

Broadcasters could learn from Netflix in this regard. “A successful social media strategy across Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat can help engage this demographic,” Towler advised.

Whole sessions are devoted to answering these questions, and others explore how broadcasters can increase their share of digital viewing time, and what the expansion of SAVOD (Subscription with Advertising VOD, exemplified by Netflix Basic with Ads) and FAST means for the TV advertising market. Early confirmed speakers across the agenda include:

• Pedro Bandeira, Vice President Product and New Business, Europe, Deutsche Telekom
• Aušra Sidaravičienė, Group Chief Technical Officer, TV3 Group
• John Jelley, Senior Vice President, Product and UX, Peacock & International, D2C at NBCUniversal Media
• Ken Morse, Director of Application Delivery, Sky
• Pierre-Adrian Irlé, Head of Play Suisse, SRG SSR
• Jason Briggs, President and General Manager, RDK
• Mehmet Eroglu, Chief Commercial Officer, Foxxum
• Gary Woolf, EVP Strategic Development, All3Media International
• Marcos Milanez, EU General Manager, Rakuten TV
• Ivars Lubāns, Head of Product, Go3, TV3 Group
• Akhila Khanna, VP, Partnerships and Business Development, UK, Paramount.

You can see an up-to-date list of publicly announced speakers here.

There is a session titled ‘Driving D2C and SVOD growth’, focusing on how channel groups, studios and SVOD providers maximise their potential audience reach, convert app availability into paying customers, maintain attention in an increasingly competitive marketplace, guarantee win-win relationships with CE/OS/STB device platform providers, and expand market share during a cost-of-living crisis.

As part of a four-session advertising stream on Tuesday March 21, leaders who are driving the advanced advertising transformation will explore how we maximise the value of free connected TV, and how we make TV a better product for advertisers (spanning the latest thinking on making cross-platform buying easier, improving cross-platform measurement, and attributing TV exposure to business outcomes, among other things.

A session is devoted to ‘Preparing for a larger addressable TV universe’, exploring the challenges (as well as opportunities) as the number of addressable-enabled platforms and homes increases – acknowledging the fact that free-to-air platforms are increasingly ready to join the party, adding to Pay TV and streaming footprints.

The ‘Win-wins in the Television OS marketplace’ session focuses on how TV-OS providers, television set OEMs and content owners work together to increase total household reach, audience engagement and ongoing revenue opportunities for streaming TV. This includes  a look at the Pay TV operator Smart TV model (pioneered by Sky Glass), the role of independent OS/UX providers, and how global OS/UX providers in the CTV/Smart TV space differentiate themselves.

Connected TV World Summit is renowned for delivering smart new thinking and research, and many of the world’s leading analysts are gathering to explore these mission-critical issues:

• ‘The subscription economy in an inflationary era’ – Tim Mulligan, Executive Vice President and Research Director, MIDiA Research
• ‘Content and windowing strategies in the D2C market’ – Jack Davison, Executive Vice President, 3Vision
• ‘The impact of Netflix and TikTok in video advertising’ – Maria Rua Aguete, Senior Director, Media and Entertainment, Omdia
• ‘How broadcasters increase their share-of-time in digital’ – Lottie Towler, Research Manager, Ampere Analysis
• ‘The future of free-to-air aggregation’ – Richard Broughton, Executive Director, Ampere Analysis
• ‘Decarbonising TMT’ – Alice Enders, Director of Research, Enders Analysis
• ‘Technology choices shaping the sports experience of the future’ – Tom Morrod, Research Director & Co-Founder, Caretta Research
• ‘Media & Entertainment opportunities in the metaverse’ – Joseph Teasdale, Head of Tech, Enders Analysis.

‘Delivering an experience: STB & Operator App’ is a session that explores two parallel and closely entwined technology roadmaps: the next-generation TV experience delivered via a set-top box, and operator/aggregator services enabled directly on a television without an STB, whether in the form of ‘Operator as an App’ on a third-party television brand or embedded into an operator-produced television set (as with the pioneering Sky Glass model).

In ‘Cementing the consumer love affair with TV’, 90 minutes are devoted to best practice and global innovation in content discovery. Ampere Analysis is leading a special session dedicated to the future of televised sport, focusing on rights and distribution strategy, while there are parallel sessions devoted to beating the sports streaming pirates and building the sports streaming networks of the future.

Connected TV World Summit has moved to a new venue: Convene, 22 Bishopsgate – London’s second tallest building, next to the Gherkin and minutes from Tower 42. For the first time, the organisers (disclaimer – Videonet is owned by Adwanted Group, which produces Connected TV World Summit) are hosting some Masterclasses, making use of ultra-modern networking and meeting spaces to dig deeper into narrow-focus topics, led by experts in the field.

Nathalie Lethbridge, Founder and Principal Advisor, Atonik Digital, leads the FAST Masterclass, and the consulting/research firm MTM leads the Customer Retention and Acquisition Masterclass. There is a special breakfast devoted to how we decarbonise the television value-chain while ensuring the industry ends the process as large as it started.

The organisers are predicting 100+ senior-level speakers and 600+ (unique) delegates over the two days.

You can find more details about Connected TV World Summit 2023, here.

The registration for this event can be found here.

Connected TV World Summit is produced by Adwanted Events (formerly called Mediatel Events). Adwanted Events also delivers The Future of TV Advertising Global (also with Sydney and Canada editions), The Future of Media, The Future of Brands and The Future of Audio, among others.