
During lock down, when schools and offices closed, people were binging content and spending money on entertainment inside of the house. Many subscribed to various SVOD services and there has been a positive correlation between lockdown and increased consumption of media. According to Omdia, we saw more than 220 million new online video subscribers - a level of growth that we have not seen to date and will not likely see in the future.
To meet this demand numerous streaming services from Disney+ to HBOMax have saturated the market, making online streaming a growing medium for content owners to get their content in front of the eyes of viewers. IP-based content distribution, shortened movie distribution windows and live-streaming of high-value premium content is the norm.
Unfortunately, players within the M&E ecosystem are not the only beneficiaries of this emerging digital world. Pirates have seen the opportunity of the distribution of content over IP and they are taking advantage of this new access point to high-quality, in-demand content. Shocking in its impact, pirate subscription services are a billion-dollar industry in the U.S. alone.
The begs the questions, How is the piracy threat evolving? and What strategies and tools are available to help aid the fight? These questions and more were recently uncovered during the DTVE Digital Symposium, Content Piracy in the post COVID-19 era: The evolving threat and how to fight it.
With the increase demand for content, it would seem that having numerous streaming service options would be everything a consumer would want. However, the opposite tends to be true. Subscription fatigue is real, both in terms of ease-of-use and costs. When you add up the cost of each service, consumers are quickly approaching similar costs to what they would be paying for a traditional cable service in the U.S. This combined with having to keep track of what content is on what service and how to find desired programming, can be cumbersome.
What's more is that, according to Omdia, consumers who pirate content go the cinema twice as much as non-pirates. They also participate in what can be perceived as more expensive services, such as viewing pay-per-view content four time as much as non-pirates. In short, these consumers are willing to pay for content - but prioritize convenience and accessibility.
Pirate services are an attractive alternative. Monetizing valuable content that they have stolen, they can offer consumers virtually any content, all on one platform at minimal costs. Consumers tend to go on the path of least resistance, making accessibility and ease-of-use more attractive than doing the right thing. While many consumers do not have malicious intent, the outcome of consuming pirated content is malicious.
Providing an excellent user experience, with great content is key to keeping consumers withing the legitimate value chain. At the same time, anti-piracy technologies and services much be adopted by the entire M&E ecosystem to address the issue of piracy. There are number of technologies and tools content owners, broadcasters and service providers can embrace to do their part in protect content - the industry's most valuable asset.
Forensic watermarking: Forensic watermarking enables content owners and pay-TV operators to embed a unique serial number in the content as it is playing, or at any point within the content value chain. By detecting these marks it is possible to identify which legitimate clients the stream is leaking from, and then to stop the distribution through that point.
Monitoring: Powerful monitoring with sophisticated data collection is essential in fighting commercial piracy. Because there may be many different forms of piracy active for a given service at any particular time, an analysis of which one is having the biggest impact on the business must be carried out on an ongoing basis through automated monitoring. An effective monitoring service employs a great deal of complex technology to quickly and accurately identify illegal streams and files and then alert anti-piracy analysts.
Take down: When it comes to take-down services, technical countermeasures must be on point. With the right solutions in place, it is possible to identify weaknesses in any part of the illegitimate services distribution chain. Once identified, action can be taken to allow the content rights holder to disrupt or shut down the illicit service.
Legal Action: In some cases, litigation, such as blocking orders, cease-and-desist orders or criminal complaints, is the only way to achieve results. Such is the case with recent legal victories from IBCAP, where NAGRA's technical services were leveraged to fight content piracy. Or the example of Deutsche Fu ball Liga (DFL), the Spanish Football League (LaLiga), NAGRA and Nordic Content Protection, the Spanish National Police, and law enforcement agencies throughout Europe, for cracking down on an international illegal IPTV streaming network boasting 40,000 video channels and VOD content and 2 million subscribers.
Industry Collaboration: It is time for content owners (studios, sports rights owners), broadcasters and pay-TV service providers to come together to understand, manage and disrupt the ecosystem in which pirates operates. To be successful, anti-piracy measures must go beyond these typical players to include adjacent industries as well - such as government/legal entities, ISPs, cloud vendors, social media sites and even payment vendors.
The good news is that all players in the M&E ecosystem have access to the technologies, tools and expertise to improve their defense against all forms of piracy. Together, the industry can continue the fight and preserve the integrity of the legitimate content value chain.
The DTVE symposium session is now available on-demand. It featu
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
13/09/2025
ATLANTA Cox Media Group has announced that the company's vice president of news, Misty Turnbull has been inducted into the National Academy of Television Ar...
13/09/2025
AMSTERDAM Shotoku Broadcast Systems, a major developer of robotic systems, has announced plans to take studio robotics to the next level at IBC2025 by debuting ...
13/09/2025
At IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero Mini, the company's lightest and flattest wireless intercom beltpack to date. Designed to del...
13/09/2025
Shotoku Broadcast Systems, the international developer of dependable, userfriendly robotic systems, is taking studio robotics to the next level at IBC 2025 with...
13/09/2025
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, today released the 9th annual Video Developer Report 2025/26, offering an in-depth look at the evolvi...
13/09/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with StreamShark, the trusted video platform for enterprise...
13/09/2025
Ikegami has chosen IBC 2025 in Amsterdam as the launch venue for a major addition to its range of viewfinders. The new VFE-P711AD is a 7-inch high resolution OL...
13/09/2025
Founder-led Merger to Fast Track R&D, Asset Library Upgrades, Tools and More; No Disruption to Pricing or Support for Users
Today, KitBash3D, a pioneer in 3D a...
13/09/2025
With NDI certification, Atomos integration, Grass Valley collaboration, and a new Monitor app, at this year's IBC, Mavis is showcasing a series of powerful...
13/09/2025
Creamsource, maker of artisan LED lighting for film and television, has unveiled the Vortex24 Soft (V24S), a 1950W native soft light and the largest soft source...
13/09/2025
When international sports streaming service DAZN secured the global rights to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup football tournament, it set out to deliver an unmatch...
13/09/2025
Riedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface from Broadcast Solutions, bringing a powerful, vendor-agnostic control system to it...
13/09/2025
Building on its long-term relationship with audio metering specialist RTW, Calrec has integrated the company's brand new TMxCore metering platform across it...
13/09/2025
Calrec is expanding its family of future-ready self-contained Argo M control surfaces at IBC2025, with the addition of a brand new powerful 48-fader console. Co...
13/09/2025
Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking Study by Scripps Research scientists shows how the brain learns to seek alcohol for relief, not jus...
12/09/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: Fox Sports Ups Look as Canon, Sony Power Shallow ...
12/09/2025
ABC/ESPN Excited For WNBA Postseason Coverage In Revamped FormatThe Finals moves to a best-of-seven series in 2025By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor
Friday, Sep...
12/09/2025
(L-R) Jade Croot, Rosy McEwen, and Bryn Chainey attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Rabbit Trap at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park ...
12/09/2025
For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...
12/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...
12/09/2025
IBC2025 began on Sept. 12, with exhibits and conferences running through Sept. 15 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. Explore the full TV Tech coverage of t...
12/09/2025
The Best Fictional Bands (and the Artists Who Make Them Great) With Spinal Tap II: The End Continues hitting theaters and songs from KPop Demon Hunters ruling...
12/09/2025
Industry veteran Tom Baldassare has joined Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, as a Se...
12/09/2025
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, and more, today announced a...
12/09/2025
PlayBox Neo, a leading provider of media playout solutions, has partnered with AI-Media, pioneering developers of AI-powered captioning technology, to integrate...
12/09/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
12/09/2025
New alliance strengthens the IT channel in Germany and Switzerland in protecting business-critical SaaS data.
Keepit, the world s only independent, cloud-nativ...
12/09/2025
Fincons Group, an international IT business consultancy and systems integrator company with more than 40 years of experience in the market, is proud to announce...
12/09/2025
Following its acquisition of Telemetrics, EVS continues its push into robotics with an announcement at IBC2025 that it is acquiring XD motion....
12/09/2025
TORONTO The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) has announced the appointment of Eduardo Ruiz Sanchez, deputy director, broadcast operations at Telev...
12/09/2025
Ed Miller, a longtime broadcast engineer in Ohio and a former national president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, has died....
12/09/2025
AMSTERDAM At this year's IBC2025, the Advanced HDR by Technicolor initiative will be pushing broadcasters to adopt a more dynamic, frame-by-frame conversion...
12/09/2025
Feature-length retrospective from Studio Crook to air in 2026
Sir David Jason returns to the nation's favourite comedy channel, U&GOLD, for Open All Hours:...
12/09/2025
September 12th, 2025
Tribeca X and The Female Quotient to Host Powerhouse Em...
12/09/2025
Friday 12 September 2025
The Boomtown Rats, Nyah Grace, Soweto Kinch, Royal Ballet and Madness also announced to perform at the ceremony on Tuesday
Sky today ...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom BeltpackAt IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero M...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interfaceRiedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface fro...
12/09/2025
Back to All News
New International Crime Series Road (WT)' Explores Twiste...
12/09/2025
Back to All News
First Look: Thai Crime Drama Everybody Loves Me When I'm ...
12/09/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Marks 10 Years in Japan, Announces Three New Series Th...
12/09/2025
CORE+ virtually removes distortion, setting a new standard for church sound and giving worship teams the clarity and confidence they need.
Read the full artic...
12/09/2025
The Late Late Show is back with a bang after the summer break, and Patrick Kielt...
12/09/2025
The World Athletics Championships, Ireland v France in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Irish Champions Festival, and two Sports Direct Men...
12/09/2025
The Records Show starts Sunday at 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player.
Katie Hanno...
11/09/2025
Report: Busy Live Sports Streaming Execs Have Low-hanging Fruit' in Front o...
11/09/2025
Inside Game Creek Video's Big Week as Ovation, Flagship Make NFL DebutsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 7:00 am
Pr...
11/09/2025
NFL Kickoff 2025: Prime Sports Starts New Season at Lambeau Field; Sets Sights o...
11/09/2025
College Football Kickoff 2025: NBC Sports Pushes HDR Image Quality, Aerial Drone...