Tag: Gabriel Dusil

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

2014 November 3 / / 1 Comment

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

2014 October 21 / / 1 Comment

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

OTT & Multiscreen • Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society • 1-7 • Complete Series

2014 October 10 / / 0 Comments

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (title)

In this post you get access to all seven white papers from this Q&A series on Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society. You also get one-click access to each original post. Enjoy!

• Synopsis

•  Understanding the entertainment market from ten thousand meters helps industry executives make strategic decisions. This leads to tactical initiatives that drive innovation, new services, and revenue growth. This Q&A series takes a top level view of today’s digital landscape and helps decision makers navigate through the latest technologies and trends in digital video. Gabriel Dusil, Chief Marketing & Corporate Strategy Officer from Visual Unity, discusses the ongoing developments in Over the Top (OTT) services, how these platforms are helping to shape today’s digital society, and addresses the evolving changes in consumer behavior. Topics include 2nd Screen, 4K Ultra High Definition video, H.265 HEVC, global challenges surrounding content distribution, and the future of OTT.

• Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society – Q&A Series

1. Is 2nd Screen a threat to broadcasters? What are the challenges for OTT moving forward?

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (part i, thumbnail)

 

2. How will 4K be adopted by consumers?

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (part ii, thumbnail)

 

3. Is there a future for 4K video in broadcast?

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (part iii, thumbnail)

 

4. How is OTT evolving, and what’s in store for subscribers?

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (part iv, thumbnail)

 

5. How is digital video affecting global communications?

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (part v, thumbnail)

 

6. Transcoding Challenges with H.265 HEVC & 4K UHD.

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (part vi, thumbnail)

7. What are some improvements that OTT can offer to Online Entertainment Services?

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (part vii, thumbnail)

• Tags

• 2nd Screen, 4K, Broadcast, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, Entertainment, Gabriel Dusil, H.264, H.265, HEVC, 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, second screen, Smart TV, Social TV, TV Everywhere, Television, UHD, Ultra HD, Ultra High Definition, Video Streaming, Visual Unity Global

OTT & Multiscreen • Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society • 7 • What improvements can OTT offer to Online Entertainment Services?

2014 September 11 / / 0 Comments

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (title)

• Video

• 9 minutes 44 seconds

7. What improvements can OTT offer to Online Entertainment Services?

With regards to improving OTT, there are four main features that will significantly improve the quality of online digital video services:

  • Content Accessibility
  • Content Upgradability
  • Content Portability
  • Subscriber Personalization

a. Entertainment Needs to be Accessible

Today’s digital society is migrating from an entertainment ownership paradigm to a licensing model. Past consumers typically bought hard copies of music and movies. Then they evolved to using the cloud for storage[i]. The main issue with ownership is that it is inherently inefficient from a global content management perspective. Millions of users own duplicate copies of their entertainment, which in turn amounts to millions of duplicate copies of the same song, movie, or TV program. For the environmentally sensitive, this needlessly adds to the amount of polymer, paper, and other harmful chemicals required to manufacture said copies, not to mention the wasted shelf space they take up in the home.

Extrapolating the idea that content in the future will mainly come in licensed form, it’s conceivable that once content resides in the cloud, those millions of duplicate copies will be rendered unnecessary. Imagine an OTT provider telling their subscribers:

“You no longer need to keep all of those files in the cloud.  We will delete your library and give you the best resolution and quality available for your purchased content. We will even allocate a license to members of your family. Furthermore, you can stream that content onto any device you own. We will format and deliver that content in the best quality possible, depending on the location, device, or network you happen to be using.”

That statement may not yet be feasible, but it offers a realistic vision of the future for OTT services. The licensing model will flip the entertainment industry’s current paradigm on its head. Rather than having millions of users accessing millions of duplicate versions of their entertainment, subscribers will simply license a single instance of that content, whenever and wherever they want. This is the essence of OTT.

13.Nov.20 - Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society (part vii, The ability to access content anytime, anywhere)

OTT services ultimately facilitate a single instance paradigmfor content. This approach has already begun. Consider Apple’s iTunes Match Service[iii] where users can upload their music library to the cloud. In fact, there is no need to upload music at all because the software recognizes that the subscriber has an instance of a song on their computer and grants them access to that song in the cloud. This same principle is possible for movies, TV shows, and any other type of entertainment content.

Practically speaking, one instance of a movie won’t happen in its purest form due to global delivery and caching requirements, archiving, competing services with the same title, etc. But theoretically it is possible have a single 4K or UHD[iv] master of a movie sitting in the cloud (Figure i). If a subscriber wants to access a movie, their content rights license is approved and granted for different devices or users. The movie would then be transcoded on the fly to suit the screen size, processor limitations, and networking capabilities. There are critical factors necessary to make this work, including: chipsets that can transcode 4K content on the fly, ubiquitous Internet access, bandwidth speeds that address quality of service, and seamless yet powerful DRM, to name just a few.

Figure i – Future of Content Delivery

Figure i – Future of Content Delivery

b. Entertainment Needs to be Upgradable

Once content resides in the cloud, such as in an OTT service, then the idea of an upgrade path is viable. Consumers today don’t upgrade their movies and music in the same manner as they upgrade software. Why not? If a user has a Blu-Ray version of a movie and buys a new 4K television, then why shouldn’t there be the possibility to upgrade to a better version? Consumers don’t want to buy content over and over again every time technology improves.

Likewise, when a new family member wants to access the family OTT service, there should be a content rights provision to accommodate that desire. When an extended or recut version is available, or a new featurette[v] is available, subscribers should have the option to pay an incremental fee for that content as well.

Simply put, entertainment should be upgradeable. With content residing in the cloud, OTT services can allow for this level of granularity. A cloud-based licensing model, therefore, provides the platform for upgradability in a manageable and scalable service.

c. Entertainment Needs to be Portable

Content needs to be protected in order to maintain a level of control over portability. Ultraviolet DRM is a solution that seeks to address this need, but true portability is still in its infancy. DRM and the broader scope of content protection is a delicate balance between control and freedom.  The digital locker offered by Ultraviolet seeks to provide a level of freedom for consumers, but can nevertheless feel like a digital prison sometimes.

Portability in the entertainment industry has been extended with the advent of multiple screens (TV, PC, and mobiles), but there are still improvements to be made. Content purchased on one platform (iOS, Android or Windows) should be available on other platforms. Content bought on disc should port to any digital screen owned by the purchaser. Content bought in one geographic region should be accessible internationally. Even movies enjoyed in the cinema could have agreements with OTT providers to find creative ways to offer theater releases in sync with online subscribers.

d. Entertainment Needs a Stellar User Experience

Subscribers want to have fun before, during, and after a movie. The more they have fun, the longer they will stay and play. The longer they stay, the more money they will spend.

This virtual playground is called the User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) in OTT. It centers on social media, recommendation engines, trivia, games, and statistics, as well as many other features. It’s all about a bi-directional dialog and relationship with subscribers. The consumer is no longer an anonymous viewer to entertainment. Instead, the OTT service provider can facilitate a personal and engaging dialogue with each and every subscriber.

Word-of-mouth and advertising serves to promote head-end content, but does little to promote long-tail titles. With the massive libraries of some OTT services numbering in tens of thousands of titles, it’s quite likely subscribers are not taking advantage of all the content available to them as these libraries are simply too large to navigate. According to Netflix, their recommendation engine accounts for at least 75% of what is being viewed[vi]. A related study found that 14 percent more subscribers enjoy videos following a recommendation versus browsing[vii]. Using different metrics surrounding recommendation engines[viii],therefore,subscribers can migrate to undiscovered titles that are already residing in the service they paid for.

The UI/UX provides the interface to discover new content and allows content distributors to monetize long-tail material that sits dormant in libraries for most of its useful lifespan.

Finally, the value of social media in entertainment should not be underestimated. According to Ooyala, “Personal testimonials are one of the most powerful influences on all types of consumer action… By learning what their trusted friends have enjoyed, and by comparing that to their perception of how much they have in common with the recommender, viewers get a very personalized and motivating impression of what to check out.”[ix]

Clearly, recommendation engines help consumers reach the heretofore uncharted depths of large entertainment libraries.

 

[i] “Turning Piratez into Consumers, II”, by Gabriel Dusil, https://mykoddi.com/dusilcom/2014/07/24/turning-piratez-into-consumers-ii/

[ii] “The ability to access content anytime, anywhere and on any screen is the essence of today‘s OTT multiscreen strategy.”

[iii] Apple’s iTunes Match Service http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/

[iv] 4K UHD, Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4K_resolution

[v] Featurette, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featurette

[vi] “Science Behind the Netflix Algorithms That Decide What You’ll Watch Next”, by Tom Vanderbilt, 7th August 2013, Wired.com http://www.wired.com/2013/08/qq_netflix-algorithm/

[vii] “Branded Videos Shared More Than 500,000 Times Every 24 Hours”, by Greg Jarboe, 11th June 2013 http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2273968/Branded-Videos-Shared-More-Than-500000-Times-Every-24-Hours

[viii] For example: rating systems, social networking, “Likes”, shares, and chat statistics, viewing guides, promotion through syndication, past behavior, demographics ofusers with common interests

[ix] “Connecting Consumers with Content”, Ooyala http://go.ooyala.com/rs/OOYALA/images/ooyala-content-discovery-whitepaper.pdf

.

• Entertainment Challenges in Today’s Digital Society

•?  Check out additional thought leadership answers to the entertainment challenges in today’s digital society:

1. Is 2nd Screen a threat to broadcasters? What are the challenges for OTT moving forward?

https://mykoddi.com/dusilcom/2013/12/24/entertainment-challenges-in-todays-digital-society-i-of-vii/

2. How will 4K be adopted by consumers?

https://mykoddi.com/dusilcom/2014/01/13/entertainment-challenges-in-todays-digital-society-ii-of-vii/

3. Is there a future for 4K video in broadcast?

https://mykoddi.com/dusilcom/2014/02/10/entertainment-challenges-in-todays-digital-society-iii-of-vii/

4. How is OTT evolving, and what’s in store for subscribers?

https://mykoddi.com/dusilcom/2014/02/26/entertainment-challenges-in-todays-digital-society-iv-of-vii/

5. How is digital video affecting global communications?

https://mykoddi.com/dusilcom/2014/03/27/entertainment-challenges-in-todays-digital-society-v-of-vii/

6. Transcoding challenges with H.265 HEVC & 4K UHD.

https://mykoddi.com/dusilcom/2014/05/01/entertainment-challenges-in-todays-digital-society-vi-of-vii/

 

• Synopsis

•  Understanding the entertainment market from ten thousand meters helps industry executives make strategic decisions. This leads to tactical initiatives that drive innovation, new services, and revenue growth. This Q&A series takes a top level view of today’s digital landscape and helps decision makers navigate through the latest technologies and trends in digital video. Gabriel Dusil, Chief Marketing & Corporate Strategy Officer from Visual Unity, discusses the ongoing developments in Over the Top (OTT) services, how these platforms are helping to shape today’s digital society, and addresses the evolving changes in consumer behavior. Topics include 2nd Screen, 4K Ultra High Definition video, H.265 HEVC, global challenges surrounding content distribution, and the future of OTT.

• About Gabriel Dusil

Home - Signature, Gabriel Dusil ('12, shadow, orange)

Gabriel Dusil is the Chief Marketing and Corporate Strategy Officer at Visual Unity, with a mandate to advance the company’s portfolio into next generation solutions and expand the company’s global presence. 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, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Previously, Gabriel worked at VeriSign and Motorola in a combination of senior marketing and 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 and Access Management (IAM), and Managed Security Services (MSS).

• Tags

• 2nd Screen, 4K, Broadcast, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, Gabriel Dusil, H.264, H.265, HEVC, 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, second screen, Smart TV, Social TV, TV Anywhere, TV Everywhere, UHD, Ultra HD, Ultra High Definition, Visual Unity

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 7 • An ROI Case Study for Video Streaming

2014 September 1 / / 5 Comments

14.May.27 - Visual Unity Global (training, title)

• An ROI Case Study for Video Streaming

• Welcome to our seventh web seminar from our ’14 series.  This presentation is also the third part of our “Getting your ROI from Video Streaming series” web seminar, that we held at the end of July 2014.

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

• ?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.

• Video Presentation

• 8 minutes 18 seconds

• Download the Native PowerPoint Slides

14.Jul.31 – Visual Unity Global (training, #7, ROI Case Study for Video Streaming).pptx

• View the PDF version on slideshare.net

[slideshare id=38554155&doc=14-140901044142-phpapp02]

• Tags

?Fear Uncertainty Doubt, 2nd Screen, Broadcast, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, Gabriel Dusil, Internet Video, Linear Broadcast, Linear TV, Multi + screen, Multiscreen, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Search + Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, Social TV, Television, TV Everywhere, Video Streaming, Visual Unity Global, Return On Investment, ROI, Total Cost of Ownership, TCO

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 6 • Getting Your ROI from Video Streaming

2014 August 22 / / 3 Comments

14.May.27 - Visual Unity Global (training, title)

• Getting Your ROI from Video Streaming

• Welcome to the sixth web seminar from our ’14 series.  This presentation is the second of three, of our “Getting your ROI from Video Streaming series” web seminar, held at the end of July 2014.

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

• ?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.

• Video Presentation

• 14 minutes 15 seconds

• Download the Native PowerPoint Slides

14.Jul.31 – Visual Unity Global (training, #6, Getting Your ROI from Video Streaming).pptx

• View the PDF version on slideshare.net

[slideshare id=38249599&doc=14-140822060930-phpapp02]

• Tags

?Fear Uncertainty Doubt, 2nd Screen, Broadcast, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, Gabriel Dusil, Internet Video, Linear Broadcast, Linear TV, Multi + screen, Multiscreen, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Search + Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, Social TV, Television, TV Everywhere, Video Streaming, Visual Unity Global, Return On Investment, ROI, Total Cost of Ownership, TCO

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 5 • Defining ROI & TCO for Video Streaming

2014 August 11 / / 2 Comments

14.May.27 - Visual Unity Global (training, title)

• Defining ROI & TCO for Video Streaming

• We are proud to present to you our fifth web seminar from our ’14 series.   This edition to the series is the first of three presentations from our “Getting your ROI from Video Streaming series” web seminar, held at the end of July 2014.

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

• ?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.

• Video Presentation

• 16 minutes 14 seconds

• Download the Native PowerPoint Slides

14.Jul.31 – Visual Unity Global (training, #5, Defining ROI for Video Streaming).pptx

• View the PDF version on slideshare.net

[slideshare id=37860406&doc=14-140811015833-phpapp01]

• Tags

?Fear Uncertainty Doubt, 2nd Screen, Broadcast, Connected TV, Digital Rights, Digital Video, DRM, Gabriel Dusil, Internet Video, Linear Broadcast, Linear TV, Multi + screen, Multiscreen, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, Recommendation Engine, Search + Discovery, second screen, Smart TV, Social TV, Television, TV Everywhere, Video Streaming, Visual Unity Global, Return On Investment, ROI, Total Cost of Ownership, TCO

OTT & Multiscreen • Web Seminar • 4 • Corporate Services Overview ’14

2014 July 31 / / 2 Comments

14.May.27 - Visual Unity Global (training, title)

• Corporate Services Overview

• Here is the forth presentation from our ’14 seminar series.

• 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.

• Video Presentation

• 13 minutes 44 seconds

• Download the Original PowerPoint Slides

Management – Gabriel Dusil (training, #4, Corporate Overview ’14, v6.6).pptx

• View the PDF version on slideshare.net

[slideshare id=37532049&doc=management-gabrieldusiltraining4corporateoverview14v6-140731062007-phpapp01]

• Tags

2nd Screen, Broadcast, BroadcastLinear, Connected TV, Digital Video, Dusil, dusil.com, Gabriel Dusil, Granularity of Choice, Linear Broadcast, Linear Television, Linear TV, linear tv + market, linear tv consumption vs ott, linear tv definition, linear tv rights, linear tv transmission rights, linear tv wiki, MSSMulti-screen, Multiscreen, Multiscreen System Integrator, Online Video Platform, OTT, Over the Top Content, OVP, OVPRecommendation, Search + Discovery, Smart TV, Social TV, TV Anywhere, TV Everywhere, Visual Unity, Visual Unity Global, vuClient, vuContent, vuEasy, vuIngest, vuMedia, vuMobile, vuMultiscreen, vuProtect, vuStats