Such availability of content has been created by a democratisation of the TV landscape, where broadcast-quality channels can be spun up efficiently and cost-effectively like never before. Setting up, operating, and monetising a high-quality streaming service is more affordable than ever – mainly because it is now possible to create high quality content and launch streaming apps more efficiently and with fewer vendors.

In this article, I will spotlight how any organisation with good content can get involved in this exciting era for digital distribution.

Maturing technology

The streaming market is fierce and demanding to compete in. Huge investment in vast content libraries has created access to thousands and thousands of films, shows, and other content. Despite such access at the tip of their fingers, audiences often report that they struggle with searching for content and getting relevant recommendations. There is a huge opportunity for niche streaming services to get a slice of the pie as a result, as they can cater better to specific interests. Maturing streaming technology has levelled the playing field by providing such niche content owners a more affordable route to market by going direct-to-consumer (D2C), while also guaranteeing a high-quality viewer experience.

Now, there is an exciting opportunity for niche content providers to meet the needs of an under-served audience in the simplest way. Whether it is content for older audiences, people who like art, independent films, education, fitness or health and wellness, or live streaming faith-based services, there is now the possibility of providing a dedicated service to suit a viewer’s specific interests that the big platforms don’t provide.

The streaming technology market has been evolving rapidly for over a decade now and it has given vendors a lot of streaming experience. There are now genuine end-to-end solutions available – from content ingestion and management through to app development – that deliver great quality experiences.

Such technology has levelled the playing field for content owners with high-quality video content, and its potential is giving them the power to ingest, organise, distribute, and monetise that content to any digital destination.

More monetisation options

D2C also provides a fantastic opportunity for content owners to build first-party data sets and monetise them. What these organisations are doing, ultimately, is getting control.

They can leverage the potential of FAST channels and distribution to grow audiences. They can also embrace subscriptions, advertising, or a hybrid of SVOD/ AVOD to maximise revenues across all bases. For brands, D2C providers can offer an appealing proposition: brand-safe, contextually safe ad placements for a highly dedicated audience.

Securing your future today

The digital media paradigm has changed forever and has set the pace for a new ecosystem. By providing consumer access to all kinds of high-quality content, the opportunities have never been greater for audiences to find the content they want via D2C services. The playing field has been levelled and, while the big streaming companies may continue to occupy viewers’ top one or two subscriptions, there is a fantastic opportunity for niche services to take the next spot.

We are all in the media business now, and it looks like it will stay that way.

As a result, there is more pressure on sports rights holders to maximise the value of their investment. The industry strives to offer more personalised entertainment experiences, meaning rights-holders face essential decisions that will make or break their investment when devising the best go-to-market strategies to overcome today’s challenges.

In parallel with the increasing competition for rights is the lowering of the barriers to entry for our entrants into the market. Streaming has opened the door to direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming operations – look at how Amazon Prime has disrupted the market using the D2C model. Also, for less valuable sports than the UEFA Champions League football, there is an opportunity for sports organisations to cut out the middleman and go D2C.

Adopting a D2C strategy is possible because of the high quality and affordability of streaming technology. However, delivering the content at a premium quality and at scale is a complex process. This is partly due to the increased demands on monetisation in the digital arena, especially where advertising is concerned.

The current advertising landscape

Many ad experiences remain poor for viewers, with excessive repetition and poor execution. In many cases, rights-holders miss out on achieving the highest CPM through a lack of personalisation and measurement.

With a cohesive D2C strategy, sports organisations can create a 360º view of their fans by collecting data on their interactions and spending behaviours. They can then use this data to target customers with relevant adverts promoting specific products, an essential revenue generation tool in today’s market.

Adopting a D2C approach is already finding success, particularly in the U.S. live sports market with the NFL, NBA, and MLB. These sports organisations are offering a strategy that hits the mark with fans. They provide them with greater freedom, choice, and flexibility with their desired content, including access to archived content, real-time stat overlays, social media integration, and live in-game chats. This move has created a fan ecosystem and maximises revenues through personalised experiences.

Market complexities 

However, despite the signs of success, the challenge of complexity looms large. There is a fantastic opportunity for companies to build D2C offerings that deliver high-quality advertising, but factoring in a mix of first-party and third-party sold creates enormous complexity. Third-party require integrations with (often multiple) ad networks. Plus, media companies must consider how to prepare ad content, brand safety, and real-time measurement – as effectively and efficiently as possible.

In addition, to effectively execute a D2C strategy, brands must have the proper technical infrastructure in place to allow them to meet demands. This means a platform enabling them to manage content and digital assets, incorporate broadcast level resilience, and integrate analytics. This infrastructure needs to be flexible enough to allow them to adjust to changes and be able to integrate new technologies in the future.

With the right tech stack, sports brands can embrace the changes in today’s market. By adopting this future-proof infrastructure, brands can improve the digital experience for their customers rather than be limited by legacy monolith systems that have become outdated, expensive to maintain and slow down progress.

Build, buy or partner? 

Scalability, resilience and flexibility are essential in managing such complexity at a mass scale in a live environment where all ad calls happen simultaneously. Identifying the right approach to technology is essential if sports rights owners are to maximise the value of their inventory in an era when the cost of sports rights only increases.

It has been common practice for organisations to have their tech in-house to capitalise. Still, we are now at a stage where media companies are turning increasingly towards third-party vendors as they seek best-of-breed solutions that will allow variation in revenue strategy over the long term.

Competition is increasing, and it’s being matched by complexity. But with the right strategy and the flexibility to deliver it, there is every reason for D2C providers to find long-term success on and off the field.

According to Jonas Engwall, CEO of Bedrock (which provides video streaming platforms to broadcasters and media companies in Europe), the answer is simple. “Content is still king in the streaming world. But the platform is queen.”

He continued that while there are exceptions, “If you look at the global streamers, they are well ahead of the local players. They are quite advanced in their content offering, massively pushing content with the platforms. And I think from a platform perspective, they’re also very advanced. They provide very personalised platforms, they’re stable, they work well.”

Ivars Lubāns, Head of Product at Go3, a local streaming provider in the Baltics (and part of TV3 Group), pointed out that the key to growth for this service was providing variety and locally-focussed content. “Regarding the Baltics, it’s a small market and Netflix is probably not that interested [in providing local content], as it’s three separate countries, three separate languages. So, we have the local knowledge and the local understanding and relevance, which is especially important for the 25+ [demographic] market.”

This was echoed by Anita Barnard, Head of Distribution and Commercial Partnerships at Marquee TV, which offers ballet theatre and opera, and whose service focuses on “content from places where people cannot or cannot afford to go to, such as the Sydney Opera House”. However, Engwall asserted that, “Local players are great at storytelling. But the challenge is to bring that content on a platform that can compete with the big players.”

The panel agreed that consolidation and partnerships could be a key differentiator for driving growth in D2C platforms. But more than that, without consolidation the CTV landscape will become too fractured for consumers. “Consolidation is the future,” said Parul Goel, Territory Head UK and Director Finance, UK/EU/Americas at ZEE Entertainment. “It’s got to happen because there is so much leaking of money everywhere. And we have to stop it to grow our industry. Otherwise, there will be hundreds of channels people won’t watch.”

Marquee TV works with local and global providers to bring its content to wider audiences and provide a better viewing experience, and Barnard sees a customer experience opportunity in this marketplace. “From a consumer point of view, there’s so many different subscriptions in their life and they just want to manage that in one place. Consolidation doesn’t have to be companies buying companies, but it needs cooperation to find an easier way for consumers to manage their subscriptions.”

Lubāns agreed on the need to evolve the CX. “[For consumers] one part is the money and the other is the experience. If you have to switch between providers to watch different content, it’s inconvenient. Some kind of aggregation has to happen within the industry.”

With the current economic situation, it can be hard to justify the investments needed to grow – and the days of growth at all costs may be coming to an end. “For global players it’s a land grab race. They are creating lots of content, but at some point they will have to stabilise to make a profit,” asserted Engwall. From Goel’s point of view, “Cost control in terms of content is the quickest way to get profit.”

With a plethora of ways to monetise content – whether using AVOD, FAST or SVOD – D2C providers should not be afraid to experiment with different strategies. As Engwall explained, “Nowadays, technology allows you to have a broader monetisation strategy; I think it’s up to everyone to try and see how it ends up … Spotify has shown in music that people will pay eventually to get a better experience. I think we’re heading in that direction.”

Ultimately, the panel decided, the key to growth in this sector is putting user experience first. “We want viewers to have a good experience on the bigger screens. Those who do watch via those bigger screens tend to stay longer,” Barnard observed. Lubāns concluded: “Going forward, I think the industry will focus not on the quantity, but on the quality of the content.”

The panel was moderated by Lydia Fairfax, Founder & MD at Triple Crown Consulting.

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.”

Media Distillery believes that the main technical cause preventing a good UX for linear TV ads in replay, is the lack of time markers. According to the AI-powered video analysis solution provider, this not only hinders service providers’ and broadcasters’ ability to generate additional revenue from ads, but also limits their ability to personalise and enhance the viewing experience.

The solution will enable operators and service providers to replace existing linear ad breaks with dynamically inserted and personalised ads for catch-up and replay. Additionally, the company says Ad Break Distillery can help them repurpose broadcast content for FAST and AVOD services, and to create a premium subscription which allows ad skipping.

Roland Sars, CEO of Media Distillery, says: “With the ad break markers we provide, video service providers are now enabled to do dynamic ad replacement, enforce trick play restrictions during ad breaks only, and deliver novel viewing experiences.”

Subscribers will also have access to mixed martial arts (MMA) content from top competitions, including the Professional Fighters League, MMA Bushido, King of Kings and the Brave Combat Federation.

Alongside a package of elite combat sports, fans can watch women’s football content which includes every game of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and top-flight Spanish women’s football league Primera División Femenina. Subscribing to DAZN 1 HD grants customers access to the entire DAZN service via the DAZN app.

Shay Segev, CEO of DAZN Group, says: “Getting DAZN widely distributed is a priority for us as it delivers our great and growing array of content to more and more fans. We have ambitious, long-term and strategic plans for the UK market. The more people get to know DAZN and what we offer, not just in terms of rights but the full range of digital, interactive and sports entertainment we are developing, the better.”

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 service will also offer Showmax Originals and local content from MultiChoice’s proprietary channels including Mzansi Magic, Africa Magic and Maisha Magic.

MultiChoice will relaunch Showmax using NBCUniversal’s Peacock technology platform, and the new Showmax group will be 70% owned by MultiChoice and 30% owned by NBCUniversal. The companies say the move comes as Africa approaches an inflection point in terms of broadband connectivity and affordability, and builds on MultiChoice’s success on the continent, on which it has a 50-market footprint.

Calvo Mawela, Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice, says: “We launched Showmax as the first African streaming service in 2015 and are extremely proud of its success to date. This agreement represents a great opportunity for our Showmax team to scale even greater heights by working with a leading global player in Comcast and its subsidiaries.”

Matt Strauss, Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer & International, NBCUniversal, comments, “This partnership is an incredible opportunity to further scale the global presence of Peacock’s world-class streaming technology, as well as to introduce millions of new customers to extensive premium content from NBCUniversal and Sky’s stellar entertainment brands.”

The streaming service will also offer action titles such as Rush, Rambo, and Highlander, and comedies that include Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and Four Lions. Other titles include Legend, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, The Imitation Game and Non-Stop. Additionally, Premium subscribers will have access to a catalogue of TV series that includes Hannibal, Years and Years and All the Way Up.

Laura Franses, Director of Content Partnerships, Streaming, ITV, says: “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with STUDIOCANAL PRESENTS. This fantastic collection of films and television series is the perfect addition to ITVX Premium, where subscribers can browse quality content ad-free to their hearts’ content.”

Akhila Khanna, Vice President, Partnerships & Business Development, UK, at Paramount, says: “Mobile distribution is a crucial part of our strategy to reach the widest possible audience with our premium content proposition. This significant partnership with Three UK allows us to complement their broad penetration and market-leading capabilities with the high value add on streaming content from Paramount+.”

Andy Foy, Director of New Products and Propositions, at Three UK, comments: “Our partnership with Paramount+ will make some of the best and biggest TV shows and films on the planet directly available to our customers. We are excited to be embarking on this journey with Paramount+ on the UK’s Fastest 5G Network.”