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...
08/09/2026
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...
08/09/2026
Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...
08/09/2026
Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...
08/09/2026
Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...
08/09/2026
Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...
08/09/2026
Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...
08/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...
08/09/2026
AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...
08/09/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...
08/09/2026
M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...
08/09/2026
Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...
08/09/2026
Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...
08/09/2026
SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...
08/09/2026
New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...
08/09/2026
Built for rap producers, by rap producers
Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...
08/09/2026
Classic Sound Techniques design revived
Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...
08/09/2026
Latest soft synth inspired by the Memorymoog
XILS Lab have just launched a software instrument that draws its inspiration from Moog's iconic Memorymoog,...
08/09/2026
The Airport Chaplain takes off as SBS's biggest launch of 2026
8 September, 2026
Media releases
1.67 million viewers on National Total TV to date
Best...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...
08/09/2026
New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...
08/09/2026
Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...
08/09/2026
Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...
08/09/2026
Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...
08/09/2026
BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...
08/09/2026
Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...
08/09/2026
Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...
08/09/2026
Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...
08/09/2026
A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms
At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...
08/09/2026
Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...
08/09/2026
LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...
08/09/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...
08/09/2026
Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...
08/09/2026
Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...
08/09/2026
Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning
Quortex today announce...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...
08/09/2026
J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026
Search
Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers
Today, Sky launches a new version of the Sky Go app for Sky Glass ...
08/09/2026
Documentary thriller simulating a Russian attack on UK soil will culminate in a live final episode reuniting the playersTuesday 8 September 2026
Trailer releas...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg to host next t...
08/09/2026
Wuppertal September 8, 2026
Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset PlatformRiedel Communications today announced the launch of its new OnAir headset platform, a...
Succeeding in Video by Enhancing the Viewing Experience
