Digital transformation is critical to future-proofing the pay-TV industry.
And according to the latest findings from the Pay-TV Innovation Forum, the industry acknowledges its need to transform. It's the only way operators will be able to deliver the full range of digital products and services that viewers demand.
But what's on the agenda for operators right now? What sort of challenges and opportunities do they see ahead of them? We spoke with several executives from across the global industry to get their views on the roles that technology, content and commercial opportunities play in transforming the industry.
Kjetil Rohde Jakobsen, Global Director Products and Partners, iflix believes that data is now the key to all facets of any pay-TV business. We have billions of data points coming into our data centre - data served by telcos, data served from non-telcos, data served from our own infrastructure, billing success rates, average wallet size, all down to product level.
We process this every day and it is the foundation of every meeting that we have in the company. It's also crucial for our advertisers too - you can't sell ads without providing reconcilable data.
Alptug Copuroglu, Managing Director of BluTV International & Global Partnerships, BluTV agrees: Rather than just having data analytics for the sake of having data analytics, our focus is on working out the business impact that analytics can deliver, whether that be helping to reduce churn - by highlighting when we should be approaching a customer with a new offer - or personalising the content offering.
Others are simply looking for new ways streamline content discovery. Mario de Oliveira Madeira, CTO at Nuevo Siglo in Colombia, says, We have a library of 10 thousand titles - it is impossible for customers to look through all this without the right tools. So, two years ago, we acquired software to start offering our viewers content recommendations based on their previous content choices.
The recommendation engine has been highly successful , he continues. The majority of content that viewers watch is now recommended by our platform. We are also constantly improving the metadata we feed into the platform, to improve the quality of its suggestions.
Overall, company culture is the biggest factor holding back our digital transformation. We need to work to make the company more comfortable with constant fast-paced change - and excited about the opportunities that brings.
Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, Zee5Global, meanwhile is considering the workforce challenges that digital transformation entails.
It was very clear early on that to run a digital business we needed a new, digitally savvy workforce, who use digital services daily and can provide their expert opinions about user experience and UI , she says.
We also had to change our approach to marketing. Anybody who runs a digital business knows how important performance marketing is, so we also needed to hire performance marketing experts.
She continues, We learned it the hard way from our previous attempt to develop an OTT service that the pace of change in digital businesses is much faster than in other media. When we launched Zee5, we moved our team out of our existing office into WeWork offices.
Anand concludes, Weve hired a young, digitally savvy team and adopted a very flat organisation structure - for example, the decision-makers sit with the rest of the team and are constantly in touch with what is happening on the ground.
Naturally, there are other hurdles to consider as part of a digital transformation journey. For example, over half of executives interviewed as part of 2019's European Pay-TV Innovation Forum believe that costly legacy platforms represent a major operational challenge.
More broadly, deciding when, where and how to change also remains a key challenge, as does identifying suitable partners to provide support and expertise.
But challenges aside, there are significant opportunities in store for the pay-TV industry - if they're bold enough to make the leap.
To find out more about the Pay-TV Innovation Forum, and how NAGRA can support your digital transformation strategies, click here.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
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, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
21/04/2026
Cloud-based production isnt going anywhere, and BitFire is doubling down by prov...
21/04/2026
The topic of artificial intelligence has a stranglehold on the sports-video-prod...
21/04/2026
5G is still a hot topic in live event production, and this workflow continues to...
21/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Ed McGivern, GM and President of Appear US, discusses the ...
21/04/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has announced an on-premise AI suite designed for...
21/04/2026
Suite Studios has integrated its file-streaming technology into the newly announced Frame.io Drive, a desktop application from Adobe company Frame.io. The colla...
21/04/2026
Net Insight has integrated InSync Technology's FrameFormer into the Nimbra E...
21/04/2026
Fox Sports has selected Appear as a technology partner to support the next phase...
21/04/2026
Diversified has appointed Tyler Affolter as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) to lead the company's commercial organisation. The appointment follows the firm'...
21/04/2026
Layercake has formalised the integration of Bitmovin's video streaming infra...
21/04/2026
The International Judo Federation (IJF) has extended its distribution partnershi...
21/04/2026
Glookast has launched the Cinnafilm Tachyon plugin for its Media Producer and Me...
21/04/2026
Eutelsat has entered into an agreement with Cadena Tres, a division of Grupo Ima...
21/04/2026
Dolby Laboratories and TV Azteca have partnered to introduce Dolby Atmos immersive audio to free-to-air television broadcasts. The implementation utilises the A...
21/04/2026
FOX Entertainment partnered with Verizon to overcome significant production hurd...
21/04/2026
Osprey Video has announced its technology showcase for the NAB Show 2026, highli...
21/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) introduced a range of new solutions at NAB S...
21/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
21/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine Immersive 100G, an immersive cinem...
21/04/2026
Clark Wire & Cable is continuing its evolution from cable supplier to full-scale solutions partner for broadcast and live production. At the 2026 NAB Show, we s...
21/04/2026
Rashad Frett attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Ricky at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by George Pimentel/Shut...
21/04/2026
Five years ago, Spotify arrived in Pakistan, opening a new chapter in the country's music scene. Since then, local listeners have explored across genres, ge...
21/04/2026
Since its launch in 2020, RADAR has been our program for spotlighting emerging artists around the world. This year marks the sixth edition of RADAR Spain, our o...
21/04/2026
Offers compact wireless solution for pedalboards
Taiwanese audio brand Cloudvocal have announced the availability of a new pedalboard-friendly wireless syst...
21/04/2026
Latest hybrid sampling/synthesis instrument arrives
Arturia's Augmented series offerings rely on a mixture of sampling and synthesis, allowing users to ...
21/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host Power Electronics Online Conference From Design to Vali...
21/04/2026
MAS and Lockheed Martin partner to establish an F-35 depot in Canada, enabling in-country sustainment and creating high-skilled aerospace jobs....
21/04/2026
Advertising strategies shift as competition grows for a large, active and qualit...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Layercake Deepens Bitmovin Integration to Power End-to-End Media Orchestration w...
21/04/2026
Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse...
21/04/2026
On-Premise AI Suite from Studio Network Solutions Debuts at NAB Show 2026
Melanie Ciotti April 21, 2026
0 Comments
Unlimited processing, no cloud depe...
21/04/2026
London, 21 April 2026 IBC today announced the appointment of Tim Banham as its first Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), a newly created role that reflects the or...
21/04/2026
Motion Design Tools - April 2026
Roland Kahlenberg April 21, 2026
0 Comments
Within 2 days, Maxon and Canva announced pro-level motion design apps - A...
21/04/2026
Chaos and Zero Density to Showcase Real-Time Ray Tracing for Virtual Studios and...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Digital transformation is critical to future-proofing the pay-TV industry.
