Managing the VOD Explosion: A Land of Opportunity

01/12/2021

By Tom Jahr, General Manager at NAGRA DVNor

I was recently joined by a fantastic line-up of panelists where we discussed the VOD explosion we're all currently seeing across Europe. In the webinar we discussed the sea of opportunity that exists for producers and creators as new distribution opportunities are created and consumers service stack subscriptions to create their perfect viewing experience. Built on a combination of local and international services, the market growth being seen shows that consumer demand remains as eager as ever.

The lower barriers of entry have created new opportunities alongside changes in proposition structure and market dynamics. If we look to the Nordic region in general, it's always been a barometer of change thanks to the region's appetite for foreign content, its ability to export Nordic content to other European countries and be an early adopter of new consumer propositions. One example being the HBOMax launch that came to the Nordics first in October 2021.

But let's also look at the content mix that today's subscribers are favouring. We discussed on the panel the growth of cinematic TV series and how, perhaps as a result of the forced cinema closures during the pandemic, appetite for this type of content has grown. Providing high-quality content split across six or eight episodes not only extends the engagement period with the subscriber but also allows consumers to binge watch a mammoth amount of content should they so desire - therefore creating new consumer behaviours too.

This has created a level of quality that we have not seen before on television commented Marie Nilsson of Mediavision. However, for continuous growth, the perspective needs to be broadened beyond drama to documentaries, entertainment and factual as this represents genres not currently as discovered by consumers. she continued. Commenting further, SFAnytime's Peter Ohman suggested this is just part of the cyclical process of consumption which is likely to revert in time and Lars Henriksen from True Content Entertainment added that with the absence of new releases over the last 18 months caused by the lack of production, a flood of content is hitting the market and will take a year or two for viewer behavior to stabilise.

When we look at this new catalogue of titles, it's clear that marketing, positioning and catalogue curation have key roles to play. We're all used to seeing retail outlets exhibit large point-of-sale marketing displays and as Norsk Filmdistribusjon's Svanhild Sorensen said marketing [in the digital world] has a key role in helping to shape customer behaviour - and supporting, value-add content such as featurettes are critical to promoting new local titles.

Lars then posed a key question, With nearly 5,000 streaming platforms to distribute content to and promote, how do you attract audiences given the limited space that exists to advertise your content as consumers fly past in their scrolling? On this, the panel shared some insight as to the best approach which of course involves a much broader effort than simply distributing the content. You really have to do the hard work and identify your audiences and then target them via social media but this does take time and extra effort that we're not used to Svanhild suggested. Peter Ohman agreed saying New skillsets are required to market content in highly competitive environments across platforms such as Instagram and YouTube alongside traditional media marketing. Each title or genre needs a slightly different formula to really target the audience otherwise you'll waste a lot of marketing time, effort and money he cautioned.

Our panel covered a multitude of topics and ideas and what made it fascinating for me was the different angles that were covered given the different areas our panelists represented across production, distribution and service providers. If you missed the webinar, I invite you to catch-up here and if you want to continue the conversation and hear how NAGRA DVNor can help you ensure you never miss a content delivery deadline again, please get in touch here or learn more here.

LINK:	https://dtv.nagra.com/managing-vod-explosion-land-opportunity...
	See more stories from nagra

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026