Tag: Digital Rights

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 1-12 • Complete Series

Web Seminar Series - Visual Unity Global (training, #12, Entertainment Streaming, title)

• OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar Series ’14 & ’15

• This post links to all presentations from our 2014 & 2015 Web Seminar series. Enjoy!

1 • Setting the Stage for Over the Top Video Services

Portfolio - Visual Unity Global (training, 14.Jun.10, #1, Setting the Stage for Over the Top Video Services)

• This presentation sets the ground work for the terminology surrounding OTT & Multiscreen services, and sets the stage for future presentations that will explore the digital video landscape and corporate portfolio of Visual Unity Global.

2 • Origins of Over the Top Video Services

Portfolio - Visual Unity Global (training, 14.Jun.10, #2, Origins of Over the Top Video Services)

• To better understand where we are going, it helps to know where we came from.  This presentation investigates when OTT video services began to emerge, and the market landscape that made it happen.  We also look at how different regions around the world will be implementing OTT, based on their infrastructure capabilities, and where they reside in the OTT adoption curve.

3 • The Future of Over the Top Video Services

Portfolio - Visual Unity Global (training, 14.Jun.10, #3, Future of Over the Top Video Services)

• This presentation discusses how OTT continues to evolve.  This is presented in the context of how technology and consumer behavior is shaping OTT,  such as content discovery services, and social networking.  We conclude by presenting a vision of where OTT could potentially take digital video, into the future.

4 • Corporate Services Overview
Portfolio - Visual Unity Global (training, 14.Jun.10, #4, Corporate Services Overview)

• In this presentation we provide an overview of Visual Unity Global and our service portfolio. This year our marketing department stepped-up its game yet again, and completely redesigned our corporate presentation for 2014, to better communicate our stellar capabilities of the vuMedia™ platform, and adjacent services.

5-7 • Return On Investment for Video Streaming

Portfolio - Visual Unity Global (training, 14.Jun.10, #5, Return On Investment for Video Streaming)

• ?Investing in video streaming services requires a solid understanding of the Return on Investment (ROI) for such a platform. In this presentation we breakdown the value proposition of Over the Top content (OTT) platforms, used to generate new revenue streams from entertainment assets.  Understanding ROI, requires a breakdown of cost savings, new revenue streams, feature enhancements, and other intangible benefits. This web seminar looks into various aspects of content management, delivery and consumption, and how cloud-based services such as OTT not only generates new revenue streams, but also opens new doors to monetize entertainment libraries.

8-12 • Entertainment Streaming

Portfolio - Visual Unity Global (training, 14.Jun.10, #10, Entertainment Streaming)

• Building a new Video Streaming service starts by understanding the market landscape. We’re all familiar with the SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. But dissecting the challenges in the Video streaming industry is about understanding problems, before a solution can be formulated. Creating a gap-analysis is the next step in recognizing opportunities in this rapidly changing market space. Then, examining subscriber behavior ensures that we look through the lens of the consumer. Once those steps are completed, we can formulate a strategy to build an innovative and competitive video streaming service. This presentation takes a modern market approach for video streaming through an assessment of Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors, & Strategies (or COBS).

• Tags

2nd Screen, Broadcast, COBS, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, dusil.com, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors, Entertainment Streaming Challenges, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities, Entertainment Streaming Strategies, Gabriel Dusil, Internet Video, Linear TV, Multi-screen, Multiscreen, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Return On Investment, ROI, Search & Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, TCO, Television, total cost of ownership, TV Anywhere, TV Everywhere, Video Streaming

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 12 • Entertainment Streaming, YouTube vs. OTT

• Entertainment Streaming Q&A

• Welcome to the twelfth and final web seminar in this series.  This presentation is also the final part of our “Entertainment Streaming Services – Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors and Strategies” series, focusing on summarizing the COBS analysis.  We also answer questions regarding YouTube as an OTT service, compared to using a “private” OTT platform.

14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #12, Entertainment Streaming COBS)

• Synopsis

• ?Check out other white papers, video presentations, and opinion pieces from my blog “Digital Video for a Digital Generation”: dusil.com

• Building a new Video Streaming service starts from understanding the market landscape. We’re all familiar with the SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. But dissecting the challenges in the Video streaming industry is about understanding problems, before a solution can be formulated. Creating a gap-analysis is the next step in recognizing opportunities in this rapidly changing market space. Then, examining subscriber behavior ensures that we look through the lens of the consumer. Once those steps are completed, we can formulate a strategy to build an innovative and competitive video streaming service. This presentation takes a modern market approach for video streaming through an assessment of Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors, & Strategies (or COBS).

14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #12, Entertainment Streaming COBS, title)

 

• Video Presentation

• 8 minutes 11 seconds

• Tags

2nd Screen, Broadcast, COBS, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, dusil.com, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors, Entertainment Streaming Challenges, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities, Entertainment Streaming Strategies, Gabriel Dusil, Internet Video, Linear TV, Multi-screen, Multiscreen, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Return On Investment, ROI, Search & Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, TCO, Television, total cost of ownership, TV Anywhere, TV Everywhere, Video Streaming


14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #12, Entertainment Streaming Q&A, Premiere Pro)

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 11 • Entertainment Streaming Strategies

• Entertainment Streaming Strategies

• Welcome to our eleventh web seminar.  This presentation is also the forth part of our “Entertainment Streaming Services – Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors and Strategies” series.  This installment focuses on Product Strategies for delivering OTT Services.

14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #11, Entertainment Streaming Strategies)

• Synopsis

• ?Check out other white papers, video presentations, and opinion pieces from my blog “Digital Video for a Digital Generation”: dusil.com

• Building a new Video Streaming service starts from understanding the market landscape. We’re all familiar with the SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. But dissecting the challenges in the Video streaming industry is about understanding problems, before a solution can be formulated. Creating a gap-analysis is the next step in recognizing opportunities in this rapidly changing market space. Then, examining subscriber behavior ensures that we look through the lens of the consumer. Once those steps are completed, we can formulate a strategy to build an innovative and competitive video streaming service. This presentation takes a modern market approach for video streaming through an assessment of Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors, & Strategies (or COBS).

14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #11, Entertainment Streaming Strategies, title)

• Download the Native PowerPoint Slides

14.Jun.10 – Visual Unity Global (training, #11, Entertainment Streaming Strategies).pptx

 

• Video Presentation

• 12 minutes 8 seconds

• Follow along with the video, by clicking through the slides here:

[slideshare id=46976608&doc=14-150414063901-conversion-gate01]

 

• Tags

2nd Screen, Broadcast, COBS, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, dusil.com, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors, Entertainment Streaming Challenges, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities, Entertainment Streaming Strategies, Gabriel Dusil, Internet Video, Linear TV, Multi-screen, Multiscreen, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Return On Investment, ROI, Search & Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, TCO, Television, total cost of ownership, TV Anywhere, TV Everywhere, Video Streaming


14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #11, Entertainment Streaming Strategies, Premiere Pro)

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 10 • Entertainment Streaming Behaviors

 

Graphic - Dusil.com, web seminar, title

• Entertainment Streaming Behaviors

• Welcome to the ten installment in our web seminar series.  This presentation is also the third part of our “Entertainment Streaming Services – Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors and Strategies” series.  If you missed Part 1: Entertainment Streaming Challenges, you can find the presentation here.   If you missed Part 2: Entertainment Streaming Opportunities, you can find the presentation here. This part focuses on the User Behaviors in today’s digital entertainment services.

14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #10, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors)

• Synopsis

• Check out other white papers, video presentations, and opinion pieces from my blog “Digital Video for a Digital Generation”: dusil.com

• Building a new Video Streaming service starts from understanding the market landscape. We’re all familiar with the SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. But dissecting the challenges in the Video streaming industry is about understanding problems, before a solution can be formulated. Creating a gap-analysis is the next step in recognizing opportunities in this rapidly changing market space. Then, examining subscriber behavior ensures that we look through the lens of the consumer. Once those steps are completed, we can formulate a strategy to build an innovative and competitive video streaming service. This presentation takes a modern market approach for video streaming through an assessment of Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors, & Strategies (or COBS).

14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #10, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors, title)

• Download the Native PowerPoint Slides

14.Jun.10 – Visual Unity Global (training, #10, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors).pptx

 

• Video Presentation

• 12 minutes 59 seconds

• Follow along with the video, by clicking through the slides here:

[slideshare id=46505285&doc=14-150331131548-conversion-gate01]

 

• Tags

2nd Screen, Broadcast, COBS, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, dusil.com, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors, Entertainment Streaming Challenges, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities, Entertainment Streaming Strategies, Gabriel Dusil, Internet Video, Linear TV, Multi-screen, Multiscreen, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Return On Investment, ROI, Search & Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, TCO, Television, total cost of ownership, TV Anywhere, TV Everywhere, Video Streaming


14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #10, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors, Premiere Pro)

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 9 • Entertainment Streaming Opportunities

• Entertainment Streaming Opportunities

• Welcome to our ninth web seminar.  This presentation is also the second part of the “Entertainment Streaming Services – Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors and Strategies” series.  If you missed the first part of this series, you can find the presentation here. This installment focuses on the Opportunities in delivering OTT Services.

14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #9, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities)

• Synopsis

• ?Check out other white papers, video presentations, and opinion pieces from my blog “Digital Video for a Digital Generation”: dusil.com.  In case you’re interested, I also run a separate personal blog at gabrieldusil.com.

• Building a new Video Streaming service starts from understanding the market landscape. We’re all familiar with the SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. But dissecting challenges in the Video streaming industry is about understanding the problems, before a solution can be formulated. Creating a gap-analysis is the next step in recognizing opportunities in this rapidly changing market space. Then, examining subscriber behavior ensures that we look through the lens of the consumer. Once those steps are completed, we can formulate a strategy to build an innovative and competitive video streaming service. This presentation takes a modern market approach for video streaming through an assessment of Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors, & Strategies (or COBS).

14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #9, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities, title)

• Download the Native PowerPoint Slides

14.Jun.10 – Visual Unity Global (training, #9, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities).pptx

 

• Watch the Video Presentation here:

• 7 minutes 9 seconds

• Follow along with the video, by clicking through the slides here:

[slideshare id=45361561&doc=14-150303034943-conversion-gate01]

• Tags

2nd Screen, Broadcast, COBS, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, dusil.com, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors, Entertainment Streaming Challenges, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities, Entertainment Streaming Strategies, Gabriel Dusil, Internet Video, Linear TV, Multi-screen, Multiscreen, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Return On Investment, ROI, Search & Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, TCO, Television, total cost of ownership, TV Anywhere, TV Everywhere, Video Streaming

 


14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #9, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities, Premiere Pro)

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 8 • Entertainment Streaming Challenges

Graphic - Dusil.com, web seminar, title

• Entertainment Streaming Challenges

• Welcome to our eighth web seminar.  This presentation is also the first part of our “Entertainment Streaming Services – Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors and Strategies” series.  In this installment we focus on the Challenges of delivering OTT Services. 14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #8, Entertainment Streaming Challenges)

• Synopsis

• ?Check out other white papers, video presentations, and opinion pieces from my blog “Digital Video for a Digital Generation”: www.dusil.com • Building a new Video Streaming service starts from understanding the market landscape. We’re all familiar with the SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. But dissecting the challenges in the Video streaming industry is about understanding problems, before a solution can be formulated. Creating a gap-analysis is the next step in recognizing opportunities in this rapidly changing market space. Then, examining subscriber behavior ensures that we look through the lens of the consumer. Once those steps are completed, we can formulate a strategy to build an innovative and competitive video streaming service. This presentation takes a modern market approach for video streaming through an assessment of Challenges, Opportunities, Behaviors, & Strategies (or COBS). 14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #8, Entertainment Streaming Challenges, title)

• Video Presentation

• 9 minutes 6 seconds

• Download the Native PowerPoint Slides

14.Jun.10 – Visual Unity Global (training, #8, Entertainment Streaming Challenges).pptx

• View the PDF version on slideshare.net

[slideshare id=44593425&doc=management-ottmultiscreentraining8entertainmentstreamingchallenges-150212064603-conversion-gate01]

• Tags

2nd Screen, Broadcast, COBS, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, dusil.com, Entertainment Streaming Behaviors, Entertainment Streaming Challenges, Entertainment Streaming Opportunities, Entertainment Streaming Strategies, Gabriel Dusil, Internet Video, Linear TV, Multi-screen, Multiscreen, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Return On Investment, ROI, Search & Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, TCO, Television, total cost of ownership, TV Anywhere, TV Everywhere, Video Streaming


14.Jun.10 - Visual Unity Global (training, #8, Entertainment Streaming Challenges, Premiere Pro)

OTT & Multiscreen • Developing OTT for the Emerging Markets, II

Graphic - Digital Trends Video Opinions (header #2, web)

The observations in Part I of this article, “Developing OTT for the Emerging Markets“, outline specific challenges to entertainment providers in developing markets. But the weakness in capital in the emerging markets is somewhat offset by the strength in being able to peer into the future, by observing what the USA is doing today. This helps local players to assess what will come to their market several years from now and essentially creates a leap-frog effect for ambitious companies wanting to adopt the latest OTT solutions. Rather than wait 4+ years to adopt the latest OTT solutions, they can implement a service today, in parallel to their American counterparts.

Figure iii – Average Bandwidth Forecast by Region

Figure iii – Average Bandwidth Forecast by Region

Much of the adoption curve across the globe is driven by the behavior of local subscribers, as well as the adoption curve of new technologies in these regions. Here are a few areas where emerging markets differ from developed markets:

  • In the west, consumers are enticed by the introduction of 4K Ultra High Definition TV. But in developing markets, service providers just want to ensure that their standard definition content (SD @ 528 lines) is served to their consumers in the best quality possible. In some cases, an even lower resolution is offered, such as 288 lines or even 144 lines, requiring limited bandwidth transmissions and mobile devices (Figure iii).
  • 2nd screen and TV everywhere continues to be a hot topic in the west. In many emerging markets the second screen is, in fact, their primary screen. Mobile devices in emerging markets are used as a primary screen for voice, messaging, video, music, content, news, and even banking.
  • In some emerging markets the penetration of smartphone devices is relatively low. A device such as the iPhone is considered a luxury item. With some markets lacking a well-established middle class, the iPhone becomes the Prada of the mobile market, left to the top percentile of society. In the west, the iPhone is another high-end smartphone, but in developing markets the iPhone helps define one’s identity. This has allowed some of the lower cost Android manufacturers to gain market share.
  • HTML5[ix] and responsive design[x] may be at the top of the agenda in web design, but the emerging markets’ focus on serving video content to a much wider range of feature phones does not support advanced web features. There are thousands of feature phones that have limited video capabilities. Smartphone penetration is low, although gaining market share rapidly, but there is a concerted effort to support video to a wider range of legacy devices.
  • In the west, pay TV providers concern themselves with a growing number of cord cutters and cord shavers. In fact, some emerging markets have a large population of cord-nevers, where the market penetration of pay-TV is much lower (Figure iv). For example, the sub-Saharan region has less than 8% market penetration in pay-TV. Even though this market is expected to double by 2020, their market penetration still won’t come close to many developed countries[xi]. It is also possible that if a country misses the adoption curve of pay-TV, then they may prefer to use the Internet as their primary source of entertainment[xii]. This will further limit the penetration of pay-TV subscribers.
  • The west obsesses about BIG data. Many clients in the west have several years of experience in OTT services, so their focus changes from “We need to make sure the service works”, to “How do we increase our average revenue per user (ARPU)?” Reaching this goal results in focusing on collecting, correlating and analyzing more and more data. Emerging markets, on the other hand, don’t yet have a BIG data frenzy. It’s about basic reporting on what the service provider is selling, who is consuming their content, and which devices are displaying their video. Reporting is seen as providing the basic data needed to measure the success of an OTT service. It’s not yet treated as a complex analytics engine that will generate a higher ARPU[xiii]. Emerging markets are still building their first OTT service, or just investigating its commercial viability. OTT v2.0 features like complex analytics and recommendation engines will come in due course.
Figure iv – Pay-TV Average Revenue Per User (Bubble size represents the relative number of household with PayTV)

Figure iv – Pay-TV Average Revenue Per User
(Bubble size represents the relative number of household with PayTV), Sources: iDate, Ofcom, & Wikipedia

Often conversations around entertainment and the Internet lead to, “trading analog dollars with digital pennies”, an analogy popularized by Jeff Zucker, head of NBC Universal[xv]. In the context of this discussion, however, a far closer truth would be broadcast dollars vs. OTT pennies. But in developing markets there are no dollars to be earned since their Average Revenue per User (ARPU) is a fraction of that in the west (Figure iv)[xvi]. On the other hand, OTT pennies can be generated by high subscriber volume since many developing regions have a sizable consumer market. The selling strategy in these regions is less about increasing ARPU and more about generating a subscriber footprint reflecting orders of magnitude higher than can be achieved in the west.Possibly the most challenging issue for emerging markets is the accessibility of premium western content. 90% of American premium content is owned by nine majors in the USA: Disney, Fox, Time Warner, Comcast/NBC Universal, CBS, Viacom, Discovery, Scripps and AMC. These companies spend over 45 billion US$ on this content per year according to Todd Juengerfrom Bernstein Research[xiv]. Service providers in developing markets simply don’t have the capital to purchase these libraries. At best they can afford a tiny fraction of titles for commercial availability to local subscribers. Plan B is to consolidate content from local studios and producers. This focuses their library of titles on entertainment from regional content owners and delivering culturally diverse content that is much more affordable.

As digital video continues to grow at a phenomenal rate, I’m inclined to believe that western companies are more educated about the cultural, political, and economic dynamics of international expansion. For the entertainment community, it may be the case of realizing that earning 100 pennies is far more practical than trying to generate every single dollar.

• Synopsis

In the digital era of the 21st century, ’emerging markets’ have evolved into what we now call ‘developing markets’. If companies in the west are considered the adults of the business world, then developing markets are still at the adolescent stage. A developing market at least acknowledges that the emerging markets have entered their next growth phase. As digital video and entertainment proliferates around the world, the tide is not rising for everyone at the same pace. Developing markets still have to overcome obstacles in adopting streaming solutions due to cultural, technological, and financial challenges. This article has taken a look at some of the differences between developed and developing markets in the adoption of Over the Top solutions (OTT) and digital streaming. By examining some of these, we can help them mature into healthy and robust teenagers.

• About Gabriel Dusil

?• Home - Signature, Gabriel Dusil ('12, shadow, teal)Gabriel Dusil was recently the Chief Marketing & Corporate Strategy Officer at Visual Unity Global, and a member of the core management team that successfully secured 7.2m US$ in series “A” funding for the company in 2014. Before joining Visual Unity, Gabriel was the VP of Sales & Marketing at Cognitive Security, and Director of Alliances at SecureWorks, responsible for partners in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Previously, Gabriel worked at VeriSign & Motorola in a combination of senior marketing & sales roles. Gabriel obtained a degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Canada and has advanced knowledge in Online Video Solutions, Cloud Computing, Security as a Service (SaaS), Identity & Access Management (IAM), and Managed Security Services (MSS).

• Tags

?4K, Broadcast, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, Gabriel Dusil, H.265, HEVC, Internet Piracy, Internet Video, Linear Broadcast, Linear TV, Multi-screen, Multiscreen, New Media, Online Video, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Search & Discovery, Search and Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, Social TV, TV Everywhere, Ultra HD, Ultra High Definition, Visual Unity, emerging markets, developing markets, developed markets, Digital Trends Video Opinions

• References

[i] Internet Traffic, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_traffic & Cisco’s Visual Networking Index Forecast (’13)

[ii] Cisco, Visual Networking Index (VNI), http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/index.html

[iii] YouTube, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube

[iv] Skype, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype

[v] 50 million concurrent users online!, by Jean Mercier, http://skypenumerology.blogspot.cz/2013/01/50-million-concurrent-users-online.html

[vi] Blu-Ray, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray

[vii] Apple iPhone, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone

[viii] Sandvine – Global Internet Phenomena Report (1H ‘13)

[ix] HTML5, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5

[x] Responsive Web Design, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_web_design

[xi] “Sub-Saharan Africa pay-TV numbers to double by 2020”, by Jim O’Neill, Ooyala VideoMind, http://videomind.ooyala.com/blog/sub-saharan-africa-pay-tv-numbers-double-2020

[xii] A similar trend occurred in the payment industry over the years. Markets that introduced a check-based payment system in the 80’s migrated to credit cards in the 90’s and then to debit cards in the 00’s. In the USA, where checks were introduced, that method of payment is still used to this day. But markets in Europe that missed the boat with checks flourished with credit cards. Emerging markets, on the other hand, missed the boat with credit cards and went straight to debit cards. Furthermore, many of the smaller emerging markets still remain a cash-based purchasing society.

[xiii] Average revenue per user, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_revenue_per_user

[xiv] “Pay-TV Prices Are at the Breaking Point — And They’re Only Going to Get Worse”, by Todd Spangler, Variety.com, http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/pay-tv-prices-are-at-the-breaking-point-and-theyre-only-going-to-get-worse-1200886691/

[xv] Trading Analog Dollars For Digital Pennies, by Zemanta, http://avc.com/2008/11/trading-analog/

[xvi] Consolidated figures for Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_households, Ofcom, and iDate, http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/market-data/communications-market-reports/cmr13/international/icmr-3.23

OTT & Multiscreen • Developing OTT for the Emerging Markets, I

Graphic - Digital Trends Video Opinions (header #2, web)

 

Back in 1998, when I worked for Motorola, the company invited staff to join a corporate briefing on the status and future of the company. I was based in Prague at the time, and this was the first call of its type that I had the privilege of attending. There were literally thousands of people on this call, representing countries from around the world. After listening to our corporate executives talk about their vision of the future, one of the senior executives said something that caught my attention. He said (I’m paraphrasing as it’s been a while), “We plan to give special attention to emerging markets. We see a lot of opportunities in these regions and want to capitalize on their rapid growth potential. Specifically, we see states such as Idaho as an emerging market and we want to focus some of our efforts there…”

What? Idaho, an emerging market? Suddenly the reality of my role, working out of the humble Prague office located on the other side of the world, slapped me in the face. Even though I was responsible for marketing across over 25 countries in Central & Eastern Europe, it seemed that we weren’t even on HQ’s geographic radar.

I would like to provide some perspective on what are the true emerging markets in the entertainment industry – specifically in regards to video streaming. Fifteen years have passed since that call, and much of my time has been spent with one leg in western markets and the other in emerging markets. Holding dual citizenship as a Canadian and Slovak, I always felt I had solid footing in both cultures.

Figure i – Global Internet Traffic vs. Digital Video Milestones

Figure i – Global Internet Traffic vs. Digital Video Milestones, Sources: Cisco & Wikipedia

Digital video has arrived in a big way and is maturing rapidly across the globe[i]. Figure i shows the accelerated growth of internet traffic, of which approximately 70% will be video by 2016 according to Cisco’s VNI[ii] report. For nearly a decade consumers have enjoyed video streaming on their computers and more recently on their mobile devices. Even though this change occurred quickly, it has also been taken for granted. We expect high quality video streaming; that our Skype calls will work; we even assume that video will be served to our mobile devices. So, here is a quick reminder of what we didn’t have ten years ago:

  • We didn’t have YouTube, which launched in February 2005[iii].
  • Consumers were still calling long distance – Skype launched on the 29th of August 2003[iv] and reached its first 10 million concurrent users in 2007[v]
  • Blu-Ray discs had yet to be introduced, with the first titles being released on the 20th of June 2006[vi]
  • Even the iPhone began shipping as early as six years ago, on the 29th of June 2007[vii]

These products and services have become so essential to our lives it’s as if we’ve had them forever. But not everyone around the world has been enjoying entertainment at an even pace.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) maturity varies greatly outside of the developed market. The availability and quality of video streaming, communications, and mobility fluctuates depending on a given developing region. For example, the past decade has shown that the USA leads in the adoption of streaming video solutions, including its offspring Over the Top Content (OTT). Several of the first movers in OTT services who entered the market include Brightcove (est. 2004), Ooyala (est. 2007), and Kaltura (est. 2006). In addition, western subscribers consume more digital video than any other region around the work – in excess of 45GB of traffic per month. In fact, according to the latest report from Sandvine[viii], 32% of downstream traffic in the USA in 2013 can be attributed to Netflix alone. But in Europe, Canada and parts of Asia, these second-tier regions trail several years behind the USA in the adoption of OTT and video streaming services (Figure ii). European consumers, for example, consume a third of traffic compared to their American counterparts: 13GB per month. This is partially attributed to the limited supply of OTT services outside the United States.

Figure ii - OTT Evolution - Geographic Distribution

Figure ii – OTT Evolution – Geographic Distribution

The third tier in this assessment is that of emerging markets. These regions are at least four years behind the USA. This lag is significant on several fronts. First of all, from a competitive perspective, as the Internet is borderless, western companies are entering emerging markets before the local players have the knowledge, time or capital to build a service themselves. Secondly, early adopters from the west have first-move advantage to create an early footprint of global subscribers since they already have a platform and seed capital to expand to international markets. Western competitors wanting to establish a larger subscriber footprint in the east secure additional capital to buy expensive premium content. This footprint is easier to extend over the Internet where borders can be easily crossed. In contrast, broadcasters are typically restricted by geography due to regulation and the limitations of their physical infrastructure.

Stay Tuned for Part II

In the second part of this article we will look into several areas where OTT deployments in the emerging markets differ from developed markets.

• Synopsis

In the digital era of the 21st century, ’emerging markets’ have evolved into what we now call ‘developing markets’. If companies in the west are considered the adults of the business world, then developing markets are still at the adolescent stage. A developing market at least acknowledges that the emerging markets have entered their next growth phase. As digital video and entertainment proliferates around the world, the tide is not rising for everyone at the same pace. Developing markets still have to overcome obstacles in adopting streaming solutions due to cultural, technological, and financial challenges. This article has taken a look at some of the differences between developed and developing markets in the adoption of Over the Top solutions (OTT) and digital streaming. By examining some of these, we can help them mature into healthy and robust teenagers.

• About Gabriel Dusil

?• Home - Signature, Gabriel Dusil ('12, shadow, teal)Gabriel Dusil was recently the Chief Marketing & Corporate Strategy Officer at Visual Unity Global, and a member of the core management team that secured 7.2m US$ in series “A” funding for the company in 2014. Before joining Visual Unity, Gabriel was the VP of Sales & Marketing at Cognitive Security, and Director of Alliances at SecureWorks, responsible for partners in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Previously, Gabriel worked at VeriSign & Motorola in a combination of senior marketing & sales roles. Gabriel obtained a degree in Engineering Physics from McMaster University in Canada and has advanced knowledge in Online Video Solutions, Cloud Computing, Security as a Service (SaaS), Identity & Access Management (IAM), and Managed Security Services (MSS).

• Tags

?4K, Broadcast, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, Gabriel Dusil, H.265, HEVC, Internet Piracy, Internet Video, Linear Broadcast, Linear TV, Multi-screen, Multiscreen, New Media, Online Video, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Search & Discovery, Search and Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, Social TV, TV Everywhere, Ultra HD, Ultra High Definition, Visual Unity, emerging markets, developing markets, developed markets, Digital Trends Video Opinions

• References

[i] Internet Traffic, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_traffic & Cisco’s Visual Networking Index Forecast (’13)

[ii] Cisco, Visual Networking Index (VNI), http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/index.html

[iii] YouTube, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube

[iv] Skype, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype

[v] 50 million concurrent users online!, by Jean Mercier, http://skypenumerology.blogspot.cz/2013/01/50-million-concurrent-users-online.html

[vi] Blu-Ray, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray

[vii] Apple iPhone, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone

[viii] Sandvine – Global Internet Phenomena Report (1H ‘13)

[ix] HTML5, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5

[x] Responsive Web Design, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_web_design

[xi] “Sub-Saharan Africa pay-TV numbers to double by 2020”, by Jim O’Neill, Ooyala VideoMind, http://videomind.ooyala.com/blog/sub-saharan-africa-pay-tv-numbers-double-2020

[xii] A similar trend occurred in the payment industry over the years. Markets that introduced a check-based payment system in the 80’s migrated to credit cards in the 90’s and then to debit cards in the 00’s. In the USA, where checks were introduced, that method of payment is still used to this day. But markets in Europe that missed the boat with checks flourished with credit cards. Emerging markets, on the other hand, missed the boat with credit cards and went straight to debit cards. Furthermore, many of the smaller emerging markets still remain a cash-based purchasing society.

[xiii] Average revenue per user, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_revenue_per_user

[xiv] “Pay-TV Prices Are at the Breaking Point — And They’re Only Going to Get Worse”, by Todd Spangler, Variety.com, http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/pay-tv-prices-are-at-the-breaking-point-and-theyre-only-going-to-get-worse-1200886691/

[xv] Trading Analog Dollars For Digital Pennies, by Zemanta, http://avc.com/2008/11/trading-analog/

[xvi] Consolidated figures for Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_households, Ofcom, and iDate, http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/market-data/communications-market-reports/cmr13/international/icmr-3.23