TV is Not Dead But It Is Evolving. A Look at On Demand

In this increasingly complex media world, on demand is emerging as the connector of viewing experiences that appear to be keeping television relevant and robust. That is according to the recent B&C Multichannel Summit which looked at the state of the television industry through the lens of on demand. Panels of content providers, data / measurement companies, advertisers and programmers offered their perspectives on how to best adapt to changing consumer behaviors.

Fighting market change is futile; The consumer is in charge and it is up to the industry to evolve. As Louis Hillelson, VP/Group Publisher Broadcasting and Cable/ Multichannel News noted, "Accessing on demand, anywhere, on any device is what the consumer demands."

TV is Not Dying ... But C3 Is

Rentrak CEO Bill Livek showed data that demonstrated that TV viewing was not declining. According to Livek, there are currently 57 million homes that are on demand enabled. The average household now spends 9.3 hours watching television with the time spent viewing primetime programming on demand doubling in the past five years. And that is because 100% of broadcast content is now available on demand. So in sum, "TV viewership is largely unchanged" he said, "Everyone is talking about the death of TV and the birth of digital but that is not so." 

But what is happening, according to Livek, is the erosion of Live TV viewing. He continued, "Fewer are watching live TV. They are using DVR and on demand platform and are segmented by time." In fact, "The majority of prime VOD viewing happens after 3 days of air."

This impacts the TV selling model which sells off C3 ratings. Further, when you view the Rentrak data through the prism of playback, it shows that certain programs are generally viewed at different playback intervals. Advertisers might benefit from placing ads in programs according to playback behavior which is something that Livek calls, "Time as a demographic."

The Business Model is Changing

For major content creators such as Ron Sanders, President Warner Brothers, Worldwide Home Entertainment Distribution, a “digital sell through opportunity” is emerging as the fastest growing home entertainment segment. What it offers is an early window to feature films in the home. Sanders said that “It is a way to keep consumers inside your cable system and keep them from ordering Netflix and Amazon.” He explained, “Once you buy it, you can download it or stream it to any device. And you can experience enhancements with a dynamically updated content structure. Now through digital we can add additional content over time such as interviews or extra directors content for example. It is a new digital service that expands the relationship with content that we've never had before. You can even copy and send your friends your favorite scenes.”

For Laura Fortner, EVP Marketing and Business Development, Whistle Sports, combining proven stars with emerging YouTube celebrities can not only be enjoyable for audiences, it can also produce unexpected fans. She explained, “We are learning how to combine the power of YouTube stars with other represented athletes. We tried an unexpected combination of talent in bowling trick shots with an amateur from Australia sharing his expertise with a professional bowler. The audience loved it and we had 21 million views. Millennials loved it even though bowling is an older sport.”

Embrace Technology or Die

Whether it is IP STBs or an initiative to expand TV everywhere, many companies are adapting to the changing technology and using it to improve the customer experience and satisfaction. Embracing technology is proving to be a very profitable way to sustain and enhance your business. The failure to embrace technology may prove to be your downfall.

Kevin Conroy, Chief Strategy & Data Officer and President, Enterprise Development at Univision, summed it up, “Choice always wins. The industry has not always offered the greatest choice or flexibility. It is all about choice and convenience. Brands that get it, that accept the new features of new technology and embrace the attributes of that new technology are in a position to win. It is never too late to get ahead of the curve. If you have audience and a value proposition and a willingness to innovate and push and are not be afraid to fail, take advantage of and continue to fuel the same level of innovation that made you great to begin with.”

Advanced Advertising - Automation, Measurement and Stewardship, OH MY!

There is a lot of activity brewing in the advanced advertising sector and the recent Multichannel Advanced Advertising conference in NYC brought many of us up to date. The conclusion of the conference was, as we prepare for the upfront TV season, advanced advertising will not only be a bigger player, it may even shift dollars. And, according to most of the panels, when we say Advanced Advertising we are also saying TV Programmatic in the same breath.

Granted, most of us think of advanced advertising as local time now but it is fast moving into national applications. Fox recently announced the appointment of Joe Marchese to President-advanced advertising products, a new position overseeing all non-linear TV advertising products and services inside Fox.  According to Louis Hillelson, Group Publisher B&C / Multichannel News, “It is only March 2015 and we have already seen movement in this space.” 

Unifying content offerings and getting credit for all of the audience delivered is the Holy Grail. This requires accurate cross platform metrics, the ability to steward all of the different units and an effective and automated platform to drive the sales process from proposal to completion. 

Automation

Even in this technological age, there are still a number of inefficient manual processes in the television buying and selling process. There is a great hunger among many of the buyers and sellers to automate and streamline processes. Todd Gorden, EVP Magna Global , explained, “Traditional television still has manual processes - Faxes, retyping of plans. We want to automate. Free up more time for conversations that help each business. (TV Programmatic) offers quality data to define target, a tech platform to facilitate business and inventory that can take advantage to where technology takes us.”

Measurement

It all comes down to measurement and the ability to match disparate datasets accurately to gain insight into true consumer behaviors.  “Measurement is a key component,” according to Comcast Executive Director, Dan Carella.  Chris Monteferrante, VP AT&T, explained how his company handles measurement. “We retrieve second by second data from every set top box and developed an algorithm that takes all STB data, culls it down and produces an optimized media plan. The science solid, the research is solid and the output is solid.” Dan Sinagoga, VP Comcast Spotlight concurred, “It is all about the data - household level data against your key segments.”

With the ability to match to segments, we are seeing “real insights into the customer” according to EVP Cadreen, Erica Schmidt, “and the best available source of media usage behavior to match it to.“ But we have a way to go. James Rooke GM Freewheel admited that there is “undervalued inventory because of measurement challenges out there.”

Stewardship

Ultimately, it is the need for seamless de’siloing systems that make the entire buy sell process fully trackable.  Monteferrante noted that, “Systems will bring it all together. What are the standards of that system? How can we tie it all together?”  Some agencies have successfully established a planning protocol. Mike Bologna, President MODI Media, sees advanced advertising commanding 20-30% of a budget at this time. He said, “Hyper segments defined for advertisers can determine how TV content indexes against segments. (We) can do a beautifully balanced TV plan for an advertiser, down to the individual household. We take advantage of all the data and technology and balance between core and future customers.”

The Future?

Though there is a lot of talk about Programmatic TV in the upcoming upfront, this does not portend the end of traditional TV. In fact the two processes can go hand in hand. Gorden explains, “Comparing traditional TV to Programmatic TV is apples to oranges. Traditional TV is a more effective way to get up reach curve. But then it levels out. Then a dollar spent via programmatic can deliver more incremental reach.”

There are many national networks starting to explore the potential, and build out their Programmatic TV strategy. Attendee Hanna Gryncwajg, SVP Sales for RLTV, sees an opportunity, “I see programmatic (automated) selling as a benefit for all national networks.  Long tail cable networks have rich audience compositions and will likely find a CPM benefit from their current undervalued impressions.  Under appreciated audiences such as Boomers (Adults 50+) will be welcome when data shows they are the ones buying certain products and services.”

This article first appeared in www.MeediaBizBloggers.com