The key point about TVkey Cloud is that the Pay TV operator brand is placed front and centre – this is not the operator appearing as one amongst many connected TV apps that are accessed via the app store every time you need it. This is, in effect, a virtual set-top box experience, as if Claro (and other TVkey customers like VTVcab in Vietnam) did have an STB plugged into HDMI1. The programme guide you see is the one belonging to the Pay TV operator. The solution takes full advantage of the Smart TV’s remote control and other built-in features.

Customers of the Claro tv+ service can launch the initial activation process from the Samsung TV app store. But as NAGRA explains to Pay TV providers on its TVkey product page, the app then becomes the primary UX for the Pay TV customers. “Your brand remains visible at all times. Your app will be the first one consumers see when the TV is turned on. Pick the features you want to activate for your subscribers.”

TVkey Cloud takes care of the content security that would normally be managed from a set-top box. The solution complies with the MovieLabs requirements for Enhanced Content Protection of 4K Ultra HD, HDR and early release content.

“We are working together with Samsung and NAGRA to facilitate access to our customers who have Samsung TVs without the need for additional devices. In this way, we reinforce our purpose of enabling customers to watch TV how and when they want, in a simple way and without the need for a receiver,” confirms Rodrigo de Gusmao, Executive Director of Claro Colombia’s Mass Market Unit.

The direct-to-TV launch is the latest part of a multiscreen offering supported by NAGRA that gives access to all Claro entertainment content on a wide choice of devices, including via Android TV.

In Vietnam, VTVcab, one of that country’s largest Pay TV providers, has been using TVkey Cloud to expand subscriber reach by harnessing Samsung Smart TVs as a set-top box replacement. These companies are not the only ones who have been focused on how to provide a Pay TV experience where the operator remains in control of the user experience but without supplying a set-top box.

As we reported recently, Deutsche Telekom is weighing up its options, with Pedro Bandeira, Vice President Product and New Business, Europe, adamant that the company cannot become one app among many on the TV screen, so can only remove the set-top box if it can remain the primary application and UX.

At Connected TV World Summit in March he outlined a vision to become a virtual STB on third-party Smart TVs, in collaboration with the TV makers, or follow the Sky Glass path and design and retail its own television sets. The decision to appear directly on the ‘glass’ is driven by the need to ensure the Pay TV UX sits in front of any other UX on a Smart TV.

Samsung TV Plus will also be distributing the DAZN Women’s Football Channel in Australia and New Zealand, where the channel launched on April 26. VIDAA will carry both channels in Australia, Brazil and Mexico.  Other partners will be brought on board following launch, DAZN stated.

Chris Jo, SVP of Platform Business at LG Electronics Home Entertainment Company, says: “”The user base of LG Channels in Europe has tripled in the last year, thanks to availability of a growing number of channels. With the addition of DAZN’s popular sports channels we expect more LG TV customers in Europe can enjoy their favourite game on the big screen.”

DAZN Combat covers boxing and MMA, including live events, highlights, archive fights and documentaries. The channel will show live boxing events, as well as re-runs from DAZN’s roster of boxing and combat properties, including Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy.

DAZN Women’s Football offers elite competitions including the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) and Finetwork Liga F, plus archives, behind-the-scenes access and highlights and documentaries (like ‘EQUALS’, a six-part documentary series putting viewers one-on-one with some of the top stars in the women’s game).

DAZN recently launched DAZN RISE: a free, ad-supported 24/7 channel in Germany and Austria dedicated to women’s sport. That channel includes live broadcasts and highlights of the UWCL, the French and Spanish first leagues, Division 1 Féminine and Finetwork Liga F. Women’s Bundesliga is being added in September, plus golf, handball, basketball, hockey and boxing.

The move will see Samsung TV Plus deepen its geographical smart TV footprint, with new TVs offering the service being sold in markets including Italy, Spain, Turkey, New Zealand, the United States and the UK.

Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs) expected to use Tizen OS include Atmaca, HKC and Tempo, with new smart TVs under brands Akai, Bauhn, Linsar (distributed by Tempo) being available as of this month in Australia.  Additional brands, including Vispera (distributed by HKC) based on the operating system will be made available in Q4 of this year.

Yongjae Kim, EVP of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics, said: “2022 has been a memorable year for Tizen OS as we celebrate its 10th anniversary and the very first Tizen-powered smart TVs available from other brands. Starting with these new Tizen-powered smart TVs, we will continue to expand the licensing program and introduce Tizen OS and its ecosystem to more products and brands around the world.”

According to Samsung, there are currently 200 million people from 197 countries who use Samsung smart TVs powered by Tizen.

The Smart TV manufacturer and service provider leveraged Xandr Curate to run the pilot campaign, in collaboration with Lucidity. Samsung tapped into Lucidity’s blockchain-based technology to analyse and glean insight into the ad supply chain for any unconfirmed impressions, clicks, or other breakages hindering the delivery of ads. It then used Xandr Curate – a Microsoft-owned self-serve platform that allows users to create packages of curated inventory and sell them programmatically –  as the mechanism to transact against those insights.

Ben Kneen, Senior Director of Product Manager at Xandr, explains that Samsung’s collaboration with Lucidity enabled it to identify the supply that should be bought. The question remained as to how to operationalise around those insights to buy “that specific supply from those exact paths in one or several DSPs.”

He continues: “That’s when Xandr Curate came in. Xandr Curate is effectively a marketplace creation and management tool. More tactically it’s a way to build multi-seller deals from inventory across the programmatic ecosystem, packaging that inventory into deals any DSP could buy and then layering any additional value you want to bring as a curator (in terms of data assets you have.)”

He cites the SPO strategy developed with Lucidity as one instance of an asset that can be laid over the curated inventory packages, with other examples including unique negotiated commercial assets or unique data. He says: “A lot of times people who are playing in [the curated inventory] space set up independent trading desks. You have to sign IOs (Insertion Order) with them. They would have to run the campaign and pick the DSP.

“Our curated marketplace has really solved the problem of buyers wanting to use their own DSPs.  If you’re a media buyer who wants to transact programmatically, you might not want to sign an IO, you might want the reporting to be in your system. Xandr Curate lets all the players in the market that have unique assets – like Lucidity with its supply scoring capabilities – make those assets transactable in a programmatic way for any buyer, with any DSP of their choice.”

This is made possible by the fact that all of the inventory packaging runs off the Deal ID. Kneen remarks: “The Deal ID has been in the market for about ten years. It is probable that 50% of the market is going to get transacted through Deal ID. It’s a really robust, mature, well-supported way to transact, that’s integrated across the entire ecosystem.”

In the case of Samsung’s pilot campaign, Xandr built a Deal ID that targeted the supply Lucidity advised Samsung should buy. He clarifies that transacting against the Deal ID effectively bypasses any SPO logic or optimisation technology that is typically in a DSP. He says: “Deal ID is typically a ‘I know what I want to buy just let my buy it’ mechanism’”.

Xandr research shows that roughly half (47%) of media buyers say driving spend towards performing inventory is a requirement for their supply strategy, and 30% said their objective is to improve transparency.

Microsoft has said it intends “to explore other TV partnerships as part of this next evolution in our vision.”

Samsung Gaming Hub was first announced ty the smart TV manufacturer at CES in January and is a feature of most of the company’s 2022 TV models, including Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED 4K, QLED (BU8000 series and above) TVs and 2022 Smart Monitor computer monitors. The Gaming Hub serves as a portal for users to access both cloud-gaming services and consoles on their connected TV. Its current partners include Nvidia, GEForce Now, Google Stadia, and Utomik.

Vice President of Gaming Experiences and Platforms, Xbox Corporate, Ashley McKissick said: “Playing Xbox games on 2022 Samsung TVs will be a seamless experience, similar to using other streaming apps on your TV.

“We’re super excited by what this next step means for all you gamers out there. With this rollout, we’re making it easier than ever to play games on the devices you already own. With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and a controller, you can easily jump into the world of gaming and connect with your friends and communities on Xbox.”

Players will be able to connect a range of Bluetooth-enabled controllers (including the Xbox Wireless Controller, Elite Series 2 Controller and the DualSense controller) to their Samsung TVs. Xbox’s Game Pass Ultimate subscription currently costs $15 per month, but as part of an offer, new sign-ups will pay $1 per month for the first three months.

How is behaviour changing and what do advertisers need to consider to capture consumers’ attention now?

Evolution of the TV landscape

From the first BBC television broadcasts in 1936 until the launch of Channel 4 in 1982, we only had three TV channels available in the UK. But since then the options have widened dramatically. First with cable and satellite and then with the biggest disruptor, the Internet.

The Internet democratised TV, making it easier, and cheaper, than ever to produce content and distribute it globally. One of  the biggest benefactors came in 2007 when Netflix changed its model from sending DVDs in the post to streaming content. The availability of new and exciting content was at our fingertips, allowing streaming services to establish a direct relationship with the consumer at scale. This ultimately attracted a new breed of competitor: the tech giants who, as they invest billions in content, have made TV content accessible across many devices.

In 2008, Samsung launched the first Smart TV and since then we’ve seen the creation of thousands of apps, including Video on Demand (VOD) and subscription services: all of which continue to shape the traditional model of TV. Our role as manufacturer has changed fundamentally, from a provider of TV sets to a facilitator of the discovery of great content. There is now so much fragmentation in the industry that our focus is on providing one consolidated screen where consumers can review their options and make the best choice to suit their interests. As part of this changing role we have greater insights into consumer viewing behaviours across linear TV, OTT and gaming.

How do people watch TV now?

Viewing habits are fundamentally changing and therefore the challenge to linear TV has never been greater. The sheer number of streaming services available – both subscription video on demand (SVOD) and ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) – is proliferating at speed, with more than half of British homes watching TV shows through a subscription streaming service – up 4.4% from the previous quarter – and 6.03m homes (21%) subscribing to more than two SVOD providers.

Only with clear consent from our users, Samsung Ads has access to unmodelled, first party insights from the usage of our Smart TV devices which provide channel-agnostic, real-time data demonstrating usage across linear, OTT and gaming. From this, we can see how traditional TV viewing habits are changing on Samsung Smart TVs and we are seeing people shifting their viewing habits towards more frequent use of on-demand channels and content.

For example, in Q1 this year, 28% of all our active TVs were watching less than two hours of traditional linear TV a month*. In addition, 14% were watching no linear TV at all – reflecting heavy streamers and gamers. Add these together and we see that 42% of Samsung Smart TV devices in the UK are watching less than two hours of linear TV a month, or are ‘light linear viewers’ – this is a trend we’re seeing across Europe across millions of Samsung Smart TVs in the region.

Of course, we acknowledge that our insights stem from Samsung Smart TV devices, which is not representative of the whole of the UK, but we believe we are in a strong position to help brands  navigate this complex and evolving ecosystem. All TVs are getting smarter and with 5G likely to further fuel streaming growth, we will continue to monitor device penetration with great interest.

Making sense of the changes 

As viewing behaviours change, brands need to adapt their media strategies. By understanding content viewership habits and how audiences switch between channels and formats, advertisers could gain powerful insights with which to reach engaged audiences.

Firstly, brands should look to target audiences based on using industry gold standard measurement (e.g. BARB in the UK) and augment with additional insight. Smart TVs have unlocked new datasets, which enable sophisticated reach capabilities – for example advertisers can now extend their campaign message to TV sets that have missed their linear ad on the Smart TV.

This data can also be used to measure campaign delivery. The experience of watching TV now resembles the digital experience more than traditional broadcast, providing further video metrics that can be reported against, including viewability, completion, view-through and clicks. In addition, Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) – which is de-identified data collected from Smart TVs – enables a better understanding of the content being consumed behind the TV screen.

Within the Smart TV ecosystem, the home screen has a very important role to play ensuring that brands and content can be easily discovered by viewers, as they are searching for new content to watch.

How can advertisers engage with the viewer while they are in a discovery mindset? 

Advertisers can do this by bringing value to the viewer through sponsorships – offering free films for a movie night for example, or providing content recommendations that are relevant to the audience and brand – there are so many opportunities to connect with engaged audiences.

Ultimately, TV still remains the best way to build a brand, launch products and communicate messages to consumers; however, with so much choice and ways to watch content, the mass audiences of before are no longer there. With the launch of 5G and new streaming services, viewership behaviours are unlikely to settle. Despite all the change, people will always want the best content on the biggest screen at their convenience.

* As per Samsung Ads data on the UK market. In the UK, Samsung Ads’ real-time data set is representative of 3.7m ACR enabled television sets. There are 5.1m ads-enabled Samsung Smart TVs in the UK and over 30m across Europe. 

Question: What are the trends in viewing behaviour that are shaping the TV landscape today – where are audiences going, and why?

Alex: As an organisation, we are uniquely placed to have a holistic view of TV viewing experience on Samsung smart TVs, which enables us to see how viewership behaviour is changing across the board.

We’re seeing both polarisation and convergence in viewing behaviours. As an overarching trend we’re seeing consumers across the board increasing their OTT consumption, and many are increasingly playing more games on their smart TVs. Our first-party data shows that 42% of Samsung UK households are light linear TV viewers, watching less than 2 hours of linear content per month.

It’s predicted that 75% of UK households will connect their TV to the Internet by the end of this year – a trend that is only being accelerated due to our current situation, as households are streaming more content. Our most recent insights show that UK households are increasing TV content consumption, which is led by growth in SVOD viewership, followed by linear.

Why are people using more OTT services? Choice and variety could be some of the key reasons why CTV adoption is increasing, with more content at our fingertips to suit any taste or mood.

Question: How much of the growth in streaming video consumption can be funded by subscriptions – do you see signs of subscription fatigue among consumers?

Alex: We’re seeing strong growth across use of SVOD (subscription video on demand) services. Consumers love great content; you only need to look at the news to see the appetite for streaming – for example globally Netflix has added 15.77m net new users and Disney+ has 50m users after just five months since launch.

What’s important for future growth is to focus on the consumer experience and aid discovery so that users of all OTT services – whether they are funded by subscriptions or ad-supported – can easily find new, relevant content that suits their interests, ultimately making choices easier and keeping them entertained. We are proud as a business to partner with SVOD services to help surface their content to our consumers.

Question: Some analysts are predicting significant growth in AVOD – is there a major role for ad-supported streaming in general (live and on-demand)?

Alex: At Samsung Ads we absolutely believe there is a major role for ad-supporting streaming, which is why we have launched Samsung TV Plus in seven markets across Europe. Available programmatically or via a managed service, this is an AVOD service that includes content from an array of content providers across many genres including film, comedy, news and sport. Importantly Samsung TV Plus provides our viewers with the ability to discover and access great content for free and gives advertisers new ways to connect with audiences that are shifting their viewership behaviours between linear and OTT.

Question: Do you think the allocation of media spend across all television accurately reflects where audiences are, or does it need adjusting?

Alex: The world of CTV is complex, with many different opportunities for advertisers to allocate media spend. Consumer behaviour is shifting at breakneck speed thanks to the proliferation of channels, and OTT viewing will only continue to change too, so advertisers need to be more flexible in how they get their message across to consumers. As a business our teams focus on desired outcomes for our partners in each market and plan accordingly. As a relatively new entrant into the media landscape we are keen to work with our customers to deliver the best possible service for both advertisers but most importantly deliver great experiences for Samsung TV owners.

Question: What are the biggest challenges for advertisers looking to maintain reach in a world where linear is in decline and streaming audiences could become more fragmented?

Alex: Understanding the ecosystem can be daunting without a map or guide because TV consumption is constantly changing – we are seeing this with our own data. This in turn creates a challenge for advertisers to find audiences because they are presented with more choice and an array of methods to consume content. Media planners need a truly multi-channel media plan for advertisers to reach today’s consumers who have fragmented viewership patterns.

Advertisers need to look for partners who can solve this challenge for them – one that can identify those viewership trends, provide insights on how they are evolving and ultimately connect advertisers with these audiences as they switch between Linear and OTT and vice versa.

42% of Samsung UK homes are light linear TV viewers

Question: Does connected TV have a special role for advertisers, given the big screen and the opportunity for co-viewing and shared experiences within the digital realm?

Alex: We strongly believe that TV is a fantastic canvas for advertisers to build brands, launch products and communicate their messages to consumers – but TV is more akin to digital experiences now compared to linear in today’s environment; the user is completely in control of their experience and this impacts how we reach them.

At Samsung Ads our role is to help advertisers do this; we are able to utilise our first party data, which is deterministic and not modelled to work with advertisers to understand how they can reach consumers in the best way for them.

TV consumption is growing and therefore will continue to form an integral part of the media landscape. It’s incumbent on media owners within this space to work with advertisers to ensure the platform continues to deliver amazing experiences which deliver against their objectives whilst delighting consumers.

Question: What are the next steps for connected TV to make it an even better environment for advertisers?

Alex: This is a nascent industry which is evolving very quickly. First and foremost we are focussed on our customers (Samsung TV owners), working relentlessly on how we improve and enhance the discovery of content. As we do this we will work with advertisers to create innovative methods of connecting brands with the audiences on our platform.

As an industry we will continue to protect customer privacy, provide total transparency around the advertising ecosystem, and work tirelessly with advertisers to deliver great experiences. We launched the Samsung Privacy Choices App at CES this year, which gives users greater control over data collection.

Question: Tell us about the creative ways advertisers are using the connected TV environment to reach audiences – any unique opportunities?

Alex: There’s so much potential for creative advertising on CTV for forward thinking brands and advertisers to take advantage of; from reimagining ad breaks to personalisation to curated content of their own.

From extending brand message on CTV to households who have not been exposed to a linear campaign, helping broadcasters broaden their reach amongst streaming audiences, to engaging gaming audiences as they play games on smart TVs – there are so many ways that connected TV empowers audiences to discover new content and brands!

Question: Samsung Ads provides a connected audience platform for advanced TV advertising, with large scale, servicing multiple clients. What principles underpin your drive for success, and how you lead your team?

Alex: Samsung Ads always puts the viewer at the heart of everything. We strive to offer innovative advertising experiences for our customers, including opportunities to discover new content, movies, series, promotional offers and services on their Samsung Smart TVs.

We are lucky to have an experienced, dynamic and diverse team at Samsung Ads and we take a humble approach to how we work with advertisers; connected TV is a burgeoning industry and it is our responsibility to analyse and capture the new ways to connect with audiences. We look to work closely with our partners in collaboration to learn together.

Question: If we look into the far future, so a 2025-30 timeframe, how will TV change?

Alex: The first electronic TV was first used in 1927 and the first ever smart TV was launched by Samsung in 2008 – so this is an apt time to be reflecting on how TV will have changed 100 years on. TV at its heart has always been about entertainment in our homes; something that facilitates shared experiences. Even in a world of SVOD, AVOD, OTT, TVOD and everything in between, delighting audiences should and will still be of vital importance, and the key to that is aiding discovery. With choice can sometimes come paralysis – so our job as TV providers and advertisers will still be to surface relevant and entertaining content to the individual using the technology at our fingertips to do so.

I also see gaming as a huge trend that will continue to proliferate into the next decade and our own insights support that – we can see that gaming activity on smart TVs is growing across Europe.

About Samsung Ads Europe

Samsung Ads drives Advanced TV advertising solutions for advertisers by leveraging first-party data, powered by Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), to deliver greater measurability and analytics to drive business results. With insights from over 30 million Samsung Smart TVs across Europe, only Samsung Ads can provide advertisers with a holistic view of TV viewership behaviours.

To learn more about Samsung Ads, please get in touch with the team on adsales.eu@samsung.com.

The research firm said that TCL’s TV unit shipments increased by 112% year-on-year, while its share of North American shipments rose to 26.2% putting it ahead of previous market leader Samsung.

Samsung’s North American shipment share declined to 21.8% while third-place TV manufacturer Vizio claimed 13.7% of the market in Q1. However, Samsung maintained a “commanding lead” in terms of revenue, accounting for a 36.9% share, more than double that of any other company.

IHS Markit said that TCL’s strong Q1 2019 performance contributed to a record quarter for the North American TV market, with overall shipments up nearly 30% year-on-year to a historic high of 9.3 million units.

TV sets smaller than 55-inches drove most of the increase in TV shipments. However, the report said that growth was also boosted by an “acceleration of retail price erosion”, especially for larger TVs, with the average price-per-inch of an LCD-TV falling below US$10 for the first time in Q1.

“Amid rising concerns about tariffs arising from the US-China trade dispute, TCL and other TV brands that rely heavily on China-based manufacturing have been increasing shipments dramatically,” said Paul Gagnon, Research Executive Director at IHS Markit.

“As uncertainty mounts around a possible tariff-driven rise in costs, these brands have been bolstering shipments to protect against any potential disruption. Given that margins for TVs are relatively low compared to other consumer-electronics categories, any tariff increase would have a major impact on sales.”

Globally, TV shipments recovered in Q1, rebounding from a 1.6% decline in the Q4, 2018 to a 2.1% growth rate compared with a year earlier.

The surge in shipment growth was almost entirely attributed to the “surprisingly strong” shipment growth in North America, which offset another quarter of steep shipment decline in China and Latin America.

The satellite operator broadcast the 8K content feed – 7680×4320 pixels at 50 frames per second – via its Astra 28.2 degrees East orbital slot with the help of partners Spin Digital and Samsung.

SES provided the bandwidth, Spin Digital encoded the 8K signal, while a Samsung 8K flat screen TV directly received and decoded the broadcast signal.

SES carried out the transmission on a single 33 MHz transponder using DTH broadcast parameters; Spin Digital used its HEVC encoder at a bit rate of 70 Mbps; and an 82-inch Samsung 8K Q950RB QLED TV received the signal directly using DVB-S2 transmission parameters.

“Audiences today want richer video experiences that can be best fulfilled by immersive Ultra HD content, hence a lot of our broadcast and video customers are migrating their channels to High Definition (HD) and Ultra HD,” said Thomas Wrede, Vice-President of New Technology and Standards at SES Video.

“It will be years before large 8K flat screens or video walls become a common sight in our living rooms. Nonetheless, we are anticipating the future by working with our industry partners to further improve the consumer’s video quality experience and to define an 8K satellite broadcasting standard.”

Spin Digital’s CEO, Mauricio Alvarez-Mesa, said: “The collaboration with SES is helping to define the compression and quality settings for the new 8K format exploiting all the potential of the HEVC coding technology. Our next step is to enable similar quality and compression for live 8K HEVC.”

Samsung Research UK’s Head of Business Development and Industrial Affairs, John Adam, added: “Samsung is delighted to partner once again with SES with another leading-edge technology demonstration at the SES Industry Days. Samsung is fully committed to the development of a future 8K TV market and this demonstration of the viability of the SES satellite platform is an important step towards that goal.”