By Rahul Mehra, Chief Technology Officer, Consult Red

The opportunity for telco and Pay TV providers to diversify their retail offer has arrived but those with RDK and Linux middleware-based video devices risk getting left behind.

The provision of apps to users outside of Google’s own Android TV ecosystem remains challenging. Native apps are costly to develop and maintain while control over user experience and customer data is often ceded outside of the operator’s domain.

A new advanced application delivery platform changes this at a stroke. AndApps™ from Consult Red unlocks access to the vast library of Android applications directly on suitable RDK and Linux middleware-based devices. The solution empowers telco and Pay TV providers to manage the app’s full lifecycle from onboarding to deploying and managing subscriber availability – efficiently, effectively and securely.

With AndApps, operators can deliver any number of available and maintained Android apps alongside native RDK and Linux applications for a unified user experience.

What’s more, it keeps you firmly in control of your service delivery and your customer experience.

All the upsides

AndApps means you can engage and excite subscribers with the widest range of applications such as access to cloud gaming, local catch-up content, ‘must-have’ SVOD services and social media applications – all delivered within your existing user experience and on your deployed CPE devices. You can leverage many market-available applications to cut time to market and save on associated development costs while reducing reliance on developers to port or update applications for your platform.

AndApps greatly simplifies app onboarding. Rather than having to execute big software releases on an annual or bi-annual basis, you can control App lifecycles — nimbly deploying, updating or uninstalling apps and runtime updates on in-field devices using downloadable application container technology.

Because it is built on several open source projects, AndApps enables flexible development and future scalability. It leverages AOSP (Android Open Source Project), which is maintained by Google, community-contributed, field-proven and receives monthly security patches and regular bug fixes. Because you’ll be running applications on AOSP, you can also benefit from new app releases and features as soon as they are available, typically without re-porting or additional development.

Most importantly, you’ll maintain complete control of your customer experience and subscriber data. You decide which apps you make available, and on which devices, with the future option of monetisation via advertising and in-app purchases.

AndApps components

There are three components to the AndApps solution providing operators the flexibility to tailor deployment:

AndApps Runtime is the component of the platform that is deployed on the set-top box or connected TV device. It adds a containerised AOSP image, integrates drivers optimised for hardware profile, and adds components to enable seamless operations with your UI and application lifecycle management.

AndApps Cloud delivers the operator-centric management of the platform and enabled devices, including application and runtime lifecycle management. It is used for the delivery of AOSP security and version updates, and to deliver apps to the devices in the field.

AndApps Warehouse is a global application repository managed and populated by application vendors and Consult Red. These applications are made available for operator distribution via AndApps Cloud.

AndApps Services

AndApps is designed and delivered by Consult Red alongside comprehensive supporting services that include consultancy, device and end-to-end system integrations, development and any required customisation and optimisations. Once deployed, in-life services including app onboarding, maintenance, runtime updates, and QA, will ensure ongoing security and stable operation.

Why Consult Red?

AndApps has been developed by Consult Red, a trusted partner to some of the largest global media operators including Liberty Global, Comcast, Sky and DIRECTV. We have 20 years of middleware experience, over 10 years of RDK development experience and 5 years of experience in field-proven application containerisation for video CPE devices.

Come and see us at IBC 2023 or the RDK Global Summit to explore how you can take advantage of this next-generation consumer-facing opportunity. Reach out here.

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.

According to Digital TV Research, OTT revenues from rented episodes/movies will increase in the period between 2022 to 2028, from $1.8B to $2.5B.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “AVOD will grow faster than SVOD. AVOD revenues will increase by $10 billion between 2022 and 2028 to reach $16 billion. SVOD revenues will total $24 billion by 2028 – up from $17 billion in 2022.”

According to Digital TV Research, Netflix will control 31.7% of total SVOD revenues by 2028, while Disney+ will earn 14.2% and Paramount+, 7.2%. HBO and Amazon will earn 9% and 7.5% respectively, while Apple TV will control 1.9%. The research company says that, while Netflix will remain the top SVOD revenue earner and will experience growth in Asia, in North America and Latin America its SVOD revenues are set to fall. The streamer that will generate the most additional SVOD revenues is Disney+, climbing by nearly $7B between 2022 and 2028.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, says: “This growth comes despite most of the major platforms scaling back their content spend, which makes them less attractive to new subscribers. There is still plenty of growth left in the sector – both from international expansion and as US pay TV subscribers continue to convert to OTT.”

The research company also forecasts that SVOD will be the main driver of OTT revenues in the region reaching $3.82B in 2028, up from $2.03B in 2022. MENA AVOD revenues will climb to $1.55B by 2028 – up from $1B in 2022. From that total, Turkey will contribute 62% of AVOD revenues, with Israel and Saudi Arabia contributing 11% and 10% each, respectively.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, says: “We forecast 42 million SVOD subscriptions by 2028, double from 21 million at end-2022. Netflix will have 11 million subscribers by 2028. Disney+ started in the Arabic countries, Israel and Turkey in 2022 – with 7.22 million subscribers expected by 2028.”

Working alongside in-house teams, Accedo has developed video services for several other platforms and services, including Youview, Freeview, Android TV, Freesat, Roku, Samsung Tizen, Samsung Orsay, and Xbox.

ITVX delivers a mix of live linear content, curated FAST channels and VOD library content, which includes British boxsets from BritBox and content from other partners. The broadcaster says that much of the new content will be streamed on ITVX first, before appearing on ITV’s linear channels months later.

Steve Forde, Director of Product: Core Experience, ITVX, says: “With rapidly changing viewing habits and an increased appetite for free ad-funded content, we wanted to massively scale up our streaming ambitions, which is what we’ve done with ITVX. Accedo has been a trusted partner for years and has helped us deliver a compelling and engaging streaming service which will help us deliver our programmes to as many people as possible in all the ways they want to watch them, while also offering more value to our advertisers.”

Michael Lantz, CEO, Accedo, comments: “I’m thrilled to be supporting ITV with the launch of ITVX, promising more fresh new content than any other British VOD platform. The vast range of different and popular video content, coupled with the choice of AVOD and SVOD tiers, and the different viewing options from FAST channels to video-on-demand, will set a new standard on the market for broadcaster video services.”

She highlighted one of Netflix’s challenges was to make ads more relevant and seamless with fewer commercial breaks as she stated people did not hate ads, but they hated irrelevant ads. The ad load on Netflix’s ad tier is around four minutes per streaming hour.

She also said that Netflix was going to innovate and add 10-second, 20-second and 40-second ad formats in addition to the current 15-second and 30-second spots. Gorman revealed Netflix was using artificial intelligence to “insert ads in the right places” in shows that were not written for ad breaks, such as at the end of scenes and when the screen fades to black.

You can read the full story on what Netflix said at The Future of TV Advertising Global at our sister publication, The Media Leader, here.

The top five countries will command two-thirds of global revenues by 2028, but the U.S. will remain the dominant territory by some distance. According to Digital TV Research, its share of global revenues will be 42% by 2028, and U.S. revenues will increase by $33B between 2022 and 2028 to reach $102B.

Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research, says: “AVOD revenues from TV series and movies will grow faster than SVOD. AVOD revenues will reach $91B by 2028, up by $52B from $38B in 2022. SVOD revenues will climb by $29B between 2022 and 2028 to $132B”.

The research company predicts that by 2028, 15 services will generate AVOD revenues in excess of $1B, including Disney+ ($8.7B), Hulu U.S. ($5.3B), Paramount+ ($4.9B), Peacock U.S. ($4.8B), HBO ($4.1B), Roku ($3.3B), Pluto U.S. ($3.2B) and Tencent China ($3B).

Murray comments: “An exciting development will be the global rollout of hybrid AVOD-SVOD tiers by major platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO and Paramount+. These four platforms will generate AVOD revenues of $22.6B by 2028 – or a quarter of the world’s total.”

DAZN offers both live and on-demand streaming of live football events such as the Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League, plus other European top football leagues. The service also offers a range of live sport events from the U.S. and more, including the NFL (American football), NBA, NCAA College Football and College Basketball NBA (basketball), as well as the UFC (MMA), EHF Champions League (handball) and MotoGP (motorsport) among others.

Ronny Lutzi, CEO at Foxxum GmbH, says: “DAZN has been a highly demanded premium TV app by our customers as sports entertainment is and will remain one of the core types of content that is preferably consumed on CTV. Therefore, we are very proud to add DAZN to Foxxum CTV OS, kicking off a long-term partnership.”

Peter Parmenter, EVP Business Development at DAZN, comments: “A key priority of ours at DAZN is to partner with businesses who are able to support us on our mission to get our premium content to reach even more people. Therefore, we are delighted to embark on this partnership with Foxxum.”

The experience is monetisable through the creation of sponsored interactive experiences or ad-placements, and can be easily integrated with existing vendors, according to the company. Xtend Sports is a multi-platform solution and works with most common VR and AR headsets on the market.

The solution is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) which enables remote configuration and customisation. Video hosting, encoding, and streaming is all managed using AWS Media Services, which, according to the company, enables sports organisations to create high quality XR content, and build live and on-demand video workflows. The integration with Amazon Lex means video content providers can also build-in voice control.

José Somolinos, Solutions Strategist & XR Lead, Accedo, says: “A growing number of organisations are looking at how to monetise the metaverse, and the sports industry is certainly in a prime position to maximise the opportunity it presents.

“Most rights holders and broadcasters already have access to the right content to deliver an immersive experience, and many also have engaged audiences that are keen to interact with their services in new ways. This solution is designed to give sports organisations an easy and quick route to creating fully immersive metaverse experiences for sports fans. Looking ahead, we think there is also potential for other vertical focused XR solutions to be developed.”