
Succeeding in Video by Enhancing the Viewing Experience
Todays hotly contested pay-TV market is getting increasingly aggressive. Multiple OTT services are competing to capture market share as the transition from traditional pay-TV services to internet-based services keeps accelerating. But these market dynamics are also creating an environment where regional US pay-TV service providers could enjoy a clear advantage.
This was the focus of the recent Light Reading webinar, Getting Personal: How Regional & Local Service Providers Can Succeed in Video by Enhancing the Viewing Experience. Moderated by Light Reading's Cable/Video practice leader, Alan Breznick, the webinar featured panelists John Warmath, CEO of 1Tennessee; Dustin Twyman CTO of 1Tennessee; Michael McLaughlin, CTO of IPVconnect; and Rohit Mehra, Sales VP of NAGRA. All participants shared their perspectives on consumer expectations, the profitability potential of pay-TV service, the benefits of switching to IPTV and how to select the right partner to achieve your objectives.
A market driven by consumer demand
Kicking off the conversation, Breznick queried the panelists on what consumers are seeking and expecting in a pay-TV service today.
McLaughlin weighed in on the challenge with his customer base, mainly consisting of private communities and MDU-type environments, looking for compelling reasons not to just think of IPVconnect as a broadband service provider but also as a provider of video services. Given the crowded video space, IPVconnect zoned in on providing a package of services that distinguishes them from competitors, featuring localization, custom channel options and PPV options.
People are looking for a more and more complex feature set, content aggregation, content discovery, and they want it in an intuitive, easy-to-use package, added Warmath.
Unique opportunities for local and regional providers
The key to all this is the matter of profitability. When asked if pay-TV services can still be profitable for local and regional providers, the panelists shared their perspectives.
You have three strategies, kill TV, let it die slowly, or invest to stop the attrition that everyone is seeing. This depends on the provider but, a substantial number of our customers want to do business locally. If we can provide a product and a service that lives up to their expectations, they're going to do business with us, especially when it comes to seeing local sports and news. It really comes down to providing that product that fits their expectations and moves seamlessly between services they're choosing are with the ability to use their own devices, stated Warmath.
Twyman added, Competitors such as Hulu or YouTube TV now cost $70-80 by themselves and don't give you all the content that we can provide the customer. And, with the box rental costs not associated with the new service on the CAPEX side, I think it is a more profitable situation. Traditionally, you would have spent all your money on the CAPEX side and keeping the headend going.
Reaping the many benefits of a compelling consumer offering
Along the way of implementing the new solution, the panelists uncovered surprising insights with both consumers and their own teams. These learnings shed light on how smaller service operators can create a compelling consumer offering with many benefits.
The television is not the only platform anymore. It has amazed us, particularly in the plus-55 community, how open and excited they are about being able to have different viewing options. When we first introduced this to our customers, we thought our take rate for devices such as Firesticks would be really focused on our younger tech' community. But what has been a shocker is that our plus-55 community is successfully using the Firesticks today, noted McLaughlin.
Twyman added, This product can be launched in less than 30 minutes for a whole house. And, you're giving the customer DVR services from their mobile device, their iPad; there are just so many different variations of what you're giving the customer that they would never get from a traditional system. Once customers experience it, they don't want to ever go backward. Additionally, 1Tennessee has experienced a pleasant surprise from a technician side of things as well. No one wants to go into a house and rewire five boxes that will go away in the future anyway.
Final words of advice from the experts
When asked how do you overcome the financial hurdles to make the transition to IPTV? The panelists each shared advice for operators considering the switch.
Do your research. Find a good solution provider that will work with you and help you fill some of the holes that you don't already have on your team, some that will be committed to making it happen, stated Warmath.
McLaughlin added, There are many legacy providers out there claiming to do IPTV. But when you look underneath the hood, it's basically an add-on to what they have been providing. Although there's a significant investment in this, at the end of the day, the return on our investment we feel is very reasonable. If you're looking at a smaller customer base, it amazing how affordable this is.
NAGRA plays an important role in helping operators transition to IPTV to serve consumers and customers better. We work with its partners to deliver a fully-featured hybrid streaming solution powered by the OpenTV Video Platform. The solution enables operators to optimize the customer experience against their local requirements. With a low-touch market entry proposition, this turn-key solution is designed to deliver the benefits of a tier-1 solution without the hefty price tag.
The webinar is accessible in its entirety to learn more from panelists on how your pay-TV business can benefit from this inn
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
25/08/2026
Open, Sustainable, Predictable: What Utah Scientific Is Bringing to IBC 2026 As broadcast leaders prepare to gather at the RAI Amsterdam for IBC 2026, the main ...
25/08/2026
NC State's Matthew Byrd breaks down how an IP-based infrastructure is delivering greater flexibility and scalability for Wolfpack productions...
25/08/2026
Deal expands the DTC reach in-market of Capitals, Wizards, Mystics games and oth...
25/08/2026
The two-year renovation period will create a stadium of the future for the NFL f...
25/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
25/08/2026
Shell Energy Stadium in Houston has installed a new L-Acoustics A Series loudspeaker system, designed and installed by LD Systems, a Clair Global brand. The 20,...
25/08/2026
FloCollege is expanding its distribution and product offerings for the 2026-27 season, covering more than 20 NCAA partner conferences across Division I, II, and...
25/08/2026
TNA Wrestling and REVOLT have announced a content partnership bringing exclusive TNA Xplosion matches and content from TNA's library to REVOLT.
Our indust...
25/08/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its Q3 2026 Data Hub analysis showing that FAST sports programming is growing at more than ...
25/08/2026
Amagi has appointed Thomas d'H rouville as Head of Sales for France, Benelux, and Nordics. Based in Paris, he will lead Amagi's growth strategy across t...
25/08/2026
IPC has appointed CCATech as its channel partner in Brazil, expanding the company's presence in Latin America. CCATech was founded in 2023 by Carlos Abrah o...
25/08/2026
FanConnect has announced the FC4, a multi-output media player designed to drive mid-sized video walls, multi-screen concession stands, and multi-display digital...
25/08/2026
JWX has launched JWX Content Hub, a platform for publisher video that combines content transformation, social distribution, audience engagement, and monetizatio...
25/08/2026
Techex has appointed Stuart Almond as Chief Revenue Officer. Almond brings more than 25 years of experience across technology, media, and telecommunications, ha...
25/08/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate infrastructure connecting SDI, SMPTE ST 2110, MXL, and software-based processing at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September...
25/08/2026
Franchises are taking greater ownership of production, distribution, and the fan...
25/08/2026
The first-year circuit for former professional athletes leans on LiveU, Starlink...
25/08/2026
Announcing the 2026 Sundance Institute Breakthrough | Focus Features Fellows
L...
25/08/2026
Auction Part 3 running until 9 September 2026
Soundgas have announced that the latest stage of their John Paul Jones Gear Auction is now live, and that bids...
25/08/2026
Over 60 award-winning artists, songwriters, producers, engineers
The MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo SF), San Francisco's premier event for m...
25/08/2026
All three versions receive firmware upgrade
Groove Synthesis have just launched a free firmware update that kits the 3rd Wave out with two major new feature...
25/08/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Lingopal, the AI-powered live translation and localization specialist, is unveiling new platform capabilities at IBC2026 (11 14 September, RAI Amsterdam), helpi...
25/08/2026
Bminty is supporting TV5MONDE in the evolution of its editorial processes through a new AI-assisted press information generation solution. Combining the Louise ...
25/08/2026
Two Cultures. Millions Reached. One Berklee Connection. Meet Annie Dickinson and Zhengxi Zhang-the couple who turned their creative partnership into music car...
25/08/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced that Law&Crime has migrated its Court TV channel, s...
25/08/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast and media industry, is showcasing the breadth of its ca...
25/08/2026
Thatcham, UK 25 August 2026: Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, has announced that leading broadcast rental company Minitech has purchased a Le...
25/08/2026
Appear's X20 Platform enables visually lossless video contribution with sub-frame latency and full path redundancy for TVTEL's centralised VAR operation...
25/08/2026
World-first demonstration combines 5G Broadcast and Media over QUIC for seamless, ultra-low-latency hybrid media delivery
Big Blue Marble will showcase new dev...
25/08/2026
MNC Software, a global leader in network management and operational support systems tailored to the broadcast and media industry, will showcase its complete sof...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/08/2026
Company to Demonstrate Practical AI Applications That Add Value Today and Longer-Term Path Toward Agentic AI
At IBC2026 (Sept. 11 14, RAI Amsterdam, Stand #1.B...
25/08/2026
Serving South Florida with a unique blend of jazz, Latin jazz, salsa, reggae, blues, and culturally reflective programming, WDNA 88.9FM operates as both a tradi...
25/08/2026
GlobalM announced that it is integrating its GMX software-defined media platform with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), bringing together Oracle's global c...
25/08/2026
Siena Kelly, Connor Swindells and Sophie Wilde join Boyle in the eight-part series from Working Title Television and Story Films, directed by Emmy and BAFTA nom...
25/08/2026
The critically acclaimed thriller will return to Sky in NovemberTuesday 25 Augus...
25/08/2026
Wuppertal August 25, 2026
Scottish Rugby Expands Managed Coach Communications Partnership With RiedelRiedel Communications today announced the continued expan...