Gideon Gilboa, EVP Product and Marketing at Kaltura, explains that the time is ripe for pay-TV providers to rise to the challenge of the streamers, embrace super-aggregation and give viewers what they really wantBy Contributor
Published: March 11, 2021
Gideon Gilboa, EVP Product and Marketing at Kaltura, explains that the time is ripe for pay-TV providers to rise to the challenge of the streamers, embrace super-aggregation and give viewers what they really want
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The emergence of over-the-top (OTT) TV streaming services has been a sobering experience for pay-TV operators worldwide, as they saw their comfortable ownership over video delivery to our homes ebb away.
The last few years has been a transformative time of entertainment disaggregation. Every content owner desperately wanted to be an app. Brands, media companies and broadcasters all aspired to having a direct connection with the user uncluttered by the cable, satellite or telco TV provider, that ever-present intermediary with whom the content owner was obligated to share the spoils.
Disaggregation also happened because in the traditional fat pay-TV bundle, there is almost by definition a limited amount of content relevant to any individual subscriber. Inevitably, he or she was paying for lots of content of no personal interest. Subscribers began to believe they could find more real value for their money elsewhere.
Another contributing factor to disaggregation, if we're being honest, was because pay-TV providers, in the minds of many of their customers, inched up their prices often without any accompanying perceived enhancement to services. Clunky, out-of-date on-screen experiences started to become unpalatable to users now accustomed to slick discovery and viewing on their tablets, smartphones and connected TVs.
Following years of what the media called the Streaming Wars, it is evident however that there's been no winner takes all . Cord-cutting is still happening at pace. There is general agreement that the proportion of homes with pay-TV in the traditional sense looks likely to continue to decline.
But all is not lost for pay-TV.
The streaming experience, after years of service proliferation, is far from perfect. Deciding which services to buy can be a big research exercise. Having to perform multiple searches for content, browsing through each and every streaming service you pay for, all with different interfaces - some quite good, some very, very bad - hunting everywhere for the next show to watch, has started to become tiresome. And paying three, four, five or more separate monthly fees just for digital entertainment is downright inconvenient. Streaming subscription fatigue is a thing.
Welcome to the era of TV reaggregation What is the established pay-TV operator to do now? It needs to evolve. Cable and satellite providers, as well as telcos, continue to have the huge advantage of being a key gateway into the home, and with long-standing customer relationships.
Traditional providers have an opportunity at hand, and it's their choice whether to seize it or pretend these seismic changes aren't happening.
Incumbents now have the chance to learn lessons from the streaming wars and act on that knowledge - to embrace the rich offerings of OTT and weave them into larger, super-aggregated' pay-TV offerings.
Faced with a kind of stalemate, the aftermath of the streaming wars, operators have begun to closely study what the OTT services do well, and to adapt. Pay-TV providers are finally studying the modus operandi of those who disrupted their dominance. As the old saying goes: If you can't beat em, join em. Fortunately for viewers around the world, this TV rapprochement' has begun in earnest.
Achieving the super-aggregation nirvana Pay-TV operators today are introducing Netflix and other streaming players into their bundles as a priority. But simply having an extra button on a remote control is not enough to deliver a great super-aggregated' service to subscribers. People appreciate curation. We like it when a curator considers thousands of artworks to lovingly assemble a selection into a themed exhibition at our favourite museum. We like it when a close friend tells us about a TV programme they think we'd like. Technology is now enabling the pay-TV provider to be that friend.
Vodafone Spain recently saw a sizeable, rapid gain in new TV subscribers, reporting in November 2020 a total of 1.5 million at end-September, including a Q2 2020 hike of 114,000 new subs. The company experienced this steep rise in subscribers because it set itself a clear goal to become the number one destination for scripted content in the country. The company aggregated scripted series originating from multiple sources, including HBO, to create a dedicated bundle at a price only marginally higher than that of just one standalone streaming service. But importantly, it also acts as curator, offering recommendations for viewers. This example illustrates the power of super-aggregation to attract and engage.
So why isn't every TV viewer living the curated super-aggregated dream? What is standing in the way?
The major explanation is that to become one represents a big commitment to the consumer that is based on the principles: 1, always have the most popular and relevant traditional and OTT content on your service. 2, provide the best-possible user experience for discovering and watching
