TVOT 2023 with Tracy Swedlow

May 24-25 marks the next TV of Tomorrow conference in San Fransisco and a time of vast changes in the media landscape. Tracy Swedlow, CEO TMRW Corp. and Co-Executive Producer of TV of Tomorrow (TVOT) among other notable achievements, gives us an overview of what has been happening, where we are going and what to expect at the San Francisco conference.

Charlene Weisler: Can you give me a short recap of the media landscape for the past three years and any impact good or bad from the pandemic?

Tracy Swedlow: Subscription-based streaming services grew rapidly during the pandemic, but there’s been quite a slowdown in subscription growth rates in recent months (in part, because people are no longer sitting around the house with nothing to do, as they were during the lockdown; and in part simply because subscriptions are increasingly expensive) and churn rates, which have always been an issue for SVOD, are increasing significantly (40% according to a new Deloitte study). FAST/AVOD has also been growing rapidly, partly as a result of subscription-inflation. The fact that it’s accessed primarily on CTV platforms presents significant opportunities for gathering granular audience data and for enabling FAST’s monetization through increasingly personalized, targeted and interactive advertising—so, for example, one thing we’ve been seeing recently is a swell of interest in new, interactive advertising formats.

In addition to fueling the growth of streaming, it’s arguable that the pandemic also accelerated the rise of shoppable TV by increasing consumer usage of/familiarity with ecommerce: again, the wide distribution of CTV platforms has also been a catalyst here.

Another significant development over the past three years—even though it’s one whose full potential hasn’t yet been realized—is the ongoing roll-out of broadcast TV’s ATSC 3.0 standard (which has the consumer-facing brand, NEXTGEN TV) and the increasing availability of TV sets that support it. This will allow major improvements in audience measurement, advanced advertising and interactive services and promises a renaissance for local broadcasting.

Last but not least, the past three years have seen significant attempts to improve audience-measurement and the data-driven advertising it enables, not only through competition and the innovation that competition encourages, but through major industry coalitions and collaborations.

Weisler: What is this year’s TVOT about? And why?

Swedlow: We don't really impose an overarching theme on each event since we cover multiple, often quite disparate areas of and developments in the TV industry (everything from JICs to Web3, from AI to local CTV), and trying to fit everything into a unified concept would probably come across as somewhat forced. However, one thing I think I can say that TVOT is about this year—and every year—is community; a chance for leaders who’ve been working in this industry (and attending the show) for many years and who’ve built up a huge store of knowledge and experience not only to connect with one another but to meet and exchange ideas with emerging talent and new entrants into the TV business. The event is a little like a salon, where disparate ideas, strategies and industry sectors cross-pollinate.

Weisler: What are the top issues for media companies coming up?

Swedlow: Improving how viewership is measured in an increasingly multiplatform environment; improving how the data thus generated is interpreted and made use of while, and this is an issue that seems to be increasingly on everyone’s mind, maintaining privacy and promoting transparency; and in general, figuring out how to survive and thrive as some areas of the industry undergo rapid disruption (for example, by AI) while other areas (such as SVOD) that saw disruption just a few years ago reach maturity and possibly even start to retrench.

Weisler: What will the impact of AI be?

Swedlow: Honestly, I think the question is really, “What will the impact of AI not be?” I’m convinced it will affect most if not all areas of our industry—and, for that matter, of our daily life. Content creation, distribution and discovery, creative versioning for addressable advertising and data collaboration are just a few areas that immediately spring to mind.

Weisler: Give me three predictions for the next 3 years.

Swedlow: First, NEXTGEN TV will lead to a renaissance in local broadcasting, enabling improvements in audience measurement/data and advanced advertising, as well as more interactivity and multiple new consumer-facing services. Second, every press release announcing a new product will have “AI” in the headline, but (joking aside) this won’t be the usual marketing hype; AI will have huge consequences for television, advertising and pretty much every other area of human endeavor. And third, TV advertisers will know a lot more about audiences than they ever imagined they could, and those audiences will find advertising way less intrusive—in fact they might actually enjoy watching it, because it will be finely tailored to their interests and needs.

This article first appeared in Mediapost.

 

Revenge, Confusion and Kumbayah at the TV of Tomorrow 2019 Conference

Between ATSC 3.0, Addressability, live programming such as news and sports and OTT, this year’s NYC TV of Tomorrow conference offered a great sense of anticipation regarding the future of media. From when I first attended the conference in 2012, the ecosystem has gone through a series of seismic changes, lurching forward in one area and contracting in another. Recall the first rumblings of Addressable? Now it is reaching critical mass. Remember 3D TV? Yeah, neither do I. This year, the prognosticators report the following:

Revenge of the Nerds

There is more data than ever which leads to much more complexity in how it is used. “There is a greater need for examining multiple data sources, rather than simply relying on one or two” stated Helen Katz, Senior Vice President and Director Global Analytics and Insights, Publicis. “Given the increased complexity in consumers’ media and purchase behavior over the past five years, buyers and sellers both need to look to more granular data to do their jobs effectively.”

To that end, Julian Zilberbrand Executive Vice President Audience Science, Viacom/CBS, got it right when he said, “If you don’t have your nerds, you’re dead.” Arming your company with the best talent in data science, research and analytics is a must to compete in this ever complex media ecosystem. I have been in the nerd sector of the industry for decades so this evolution in industry attitude is very welcome.

We Are All Confused

As frenetic and confusing as the change is for those who work in media, the world is equally so for the consumer. “There is consumer confusion about how to access content,” stated Julie DeTraglia, Head of Research, Hulu. “We went into homes and found that people don’t understand their own TV sets.” Natasha Hritzuk, Vice President Consumer Insights, WarnerMedia, added, “It is a challenge for consumers. People feel overwhelmed. They have to grapple with the device proliferation and the choice of content.”

Part of the confusion on the media side is the changing ways to do business. “The rules we grew up with are antiquated,” stated Peter Olsen, Executive Vice President Ad Sales, A+E Networks, “It was good when we started because TV didn’t have to sell itself,” but now there is more competition. And even current business rules are not as simple as we may think. Take, for example, calculating attribution. “When I view engaging content, I won’t switch to buy something. I will wait,” explained Radha Subramanyam, President and Chief Research and Analytics Officer, Viacom/CBS. “Half of TV impressions are not counted because they are time shifted. Tons of clients do attribution around live. But no one will stop in the middle of a great program to buy something, especially something expensive.”

A Media Kumbayah

For the first time in our history, there has been a partnering of not only frenemy companies who compete on the same side of the business but also those who compete across the negotiation table. Programmers, networks and content distributors are forming working open partnerships with agencies, brands and advertisers. This cross industry collaboration is a welcome advancement where agreed upon solutions can be facilitated and moved more quickly into market.

David Ernst, Vice President, Advanced TV and Digital Insights, A+E Networks, explained that, “We offer insights as to how well campaigns on our networks are driving results, driving KPIs, drive to the web or retail location. What is changing is the dynamic of media seller and buyer. Once at odds, we are now all in same boat. There is more collaboration with agencies.” Olsen is, “confident in the bigger picture that TV works and we need to get there fast. It will take a couple of years but when we put our heads together we find many solutions.”

Be Careful of Simple Solutions

To mitigate this confusion, there may be a temptation to enforce simple standardizable solutions. But this lack of nuance would be a mistake. Collecting all content into an app, for example, aggregates content from many properties which can be good but, recalling her past experience in CPG research, Hritzuk warned that, “We are on a point of inflection to become commoditized. I worry about commoditization of inventory.”

Bringing different datasets together can solve for the deficiencies in each. Tom Ziangus, Senior Vice President Research, AMC Networks, noted, “There is a level of granularity that we don’t have with Nielsen but a level of information on Individual viewers from Nielsen that we don’t have from big data,” he explained. However, bringing different datasets together is complicated. “We need to ‘de-babelize’ the dataset [into one common language],” noted Jonathan Steuer, Chief Research Officer, Omnicom, “Or we can’t have same buying and selling combinations.” For Andrew Ward, President, Ampersand, the industry should, “move away from panel survey-based to deterministic.”

Remember too that we are not always seeking the same solutions. “PlutoTV is free so we are not competing for money but competing for time. People feel overwhelmed and confused over places to watch things. For many, Pluto is easy, like turning the TV on. We are not trying to get dollars out of people’s pockets. We are competing differently,” explained Colleen Fahey-Rush, Executive Vice President, Chief Research Officer, Viacom.

For Katz, she believes the industry will eventually come together to create a common data platform that incorporates data from multiple sources. How soon that will happen remains to be seen. Stay tuned for TVOT 2020.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Important Trends for Television From the 2017 TV of Tomorrow Conference

While we’ve certainly seen dramatic trends for television in the past few years, the technological advancements projected for 2018 presage an entirely new level of drama and change. The annual TV of Tomorrow conference in New York in December 2017 helped frame many of these issues, some of which have the potential to radically change the industry’s revenue model.

But there are rewards for forward-thinking media companies that understand the trends, are nimble, and are willing to take calculated risks. Trends for television fell into three general areas: data/measurement, consumer behavior, and advanced technology.

Collaboration Among Frenemies
Now more than ever, it’s time for companies to reach across the aisle and work together to find solutions to vexing industry challenges—from measurement, metric, and data standards to data labeling.

Read the full article on the Videa blog.

Welcome the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The TV of Tomorrow Offers an Exciting and Dystopian Future.

Where is TV headed? What is the TV of tomorrow? That was the question on my mind while attending the TV of Tomorrow conference held in NYC last week.

Many issues are hitting the industry now. “People are trying to aggregate data in order to organize the KPIs and monetize them while understanding all of the barriers involved how to bring all that data together,’” noted, Tracy Swedlow, Editor-in-Chief of ITVT and Founder of the TVOT Conference. In the realm of social media, many companies are grappling with “YouTube and their changing algorithms, libraries that are being de-monetized and the creation of greener pastures,” she added. 

One thing is clear; the TV ecosystem of today will definitely not be the TV ecosystem of tomorrow. Millennials are cord-nevers who didn’t grow up in a world of TV networks. Don’t expect them to change their habits as they age. And they don’t see the media landscape the way older viewers do. As Helen Katz, SVP/Global Director of Media and Insights, Publicis Media, explained when she asked her daughter what her favorite TV channels were, replied, “What is a TV channel?” 

For those of use with years invested in the industry, the changes discussed at the TVOT are at once exciting and dystopian. Here are my takeaways:

Increasing Technological Dominance

This drumbeat of technological change is leading to what Stein Erik Sorhaug, VP Product Strategy, Vimond, terms the Fourth Industrial Revolution where, through artificial intelligence (AI), we will drive human behavior and human thought. AI, as applied through Machine Learning, has the future capability to craft the most engaging content, map the most effective media plan and measure everything everywhere through the consumer journey. Ideally there will be room for both AI and human input where computers "create an inference layer" according to Mika Rautiainen, CEO/CTO, Valossa Labs, followed by "human curators editorially creating playlists and new channels," Sorhaug added.

Skill sets need to keep pace

Certain jobs could disappear in this new media ecosystem or will require different skill sets. "No question that people in yesterday's supply chain will be wiped out," stated Dave Morgan, CEO, Simulmedia, "marketing managers today don't have hard science background and will lose jobs to those who do." Swedlow suggested future media mavens, “create their own channel with their own ideas for original content. There will always be an opportunity for great content with real personalities and people who have a compelling story to tell.” 

Measurement Still a Challenge

“The lines between linear and digital are blurring,” explained Jenny Burke, SVP Sales Strategy, NBCU, “so we are concentrating on content; distributing it to whatever platform the consumer prefers.” How can this consumer journey be best measured? Aaron Fetters, SVP National Agencies and CPG Business, comScore, noted that, “times are changing and measurement must change with it. We need to future proof measurement with the growth in IoT, OTT and wearables.” But how can we accomplish this when there are walled gardens and silos of data and no industry standard content identification system in place? Until we can agree on the best way to track content, through content identification and ACR, full cross-platform measurement will continue to be a challenge and will become more complex.

OTT is Growing and Cuts Out the Advertiser

Ignore the influence of OTT at your peril. “Four major OTT services account for 80% of viewing time in OTT households with Netflix at 39%,” stated Katz. And it is growing. Since much of OTT is subscription based, this can shut out advertising. Fetters added, “We see that viewers are spending 25 hours per month with Netflix on their TV screen and that is 25 hours per month that is not available to advertising. We need to find ways of adjusting the advertising plan to reach those households.”

ATSC 3.0 Brings TV into the New Age

Although still in the arena of the engineering wonks, the advent of ATSC 3.0 will prove to be a game changer for local TV. This new protocol will, as Swedlow explained, “enable regular digital television over the air – local television and every other broadcaster - to be able to explore the relationship between linear over-the-air and interactivity on-demand.” How fast and how profound ATSC 3.0 will be depends on timing – when will all of the new chips be installed? It will take a while, she explained, because there is no deadline by the government, “but I think it will pick up steam,” she concluded.

We have to be “savvy enough to take advantage of all of these new technologies because everything will be interactive. There will be shows that will be voice activated and there will be shows that will require you to interact with another person or deal with blockchain to monetize your content,” explained Swedlow. The best advice I can give is to embrace change and be nimble. The future of television will demand more of us but it will be an exciting journey.

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com

Television Prepares For the Brave New Technological World at the TV of Tomorrow Conference

The New York TV of Tomorrow (TVOT) conference is coming up on December 7, 2017 and promises to offer the most cutting edge trends in media today. I sat down with Tracy Swedlow, co-founder and CEO of TMRW Corp., the parent company that owns InteractiveTV Today and the TV of Tomorrow Show conferences to find out what to expect from this year’s meeting:  

Charlene Weisler: What makes this TVOT different from previous TVOTs?

Tracy Swedlow: This year we have a very broad array of participating companies, including many companies that are participating in the show for the first time, such as Amazon, Visa, MGM and IBM Watson Media, which I think attests to the growing importance of the advanced-TV/video industry as a whole, and the increasing number of areas that are impacted by it.

Weisler: Why are these companies now deciding to join the TVOT participant ranks? 

Swedlow: We believe it's because our presence and influence is growing, and more and more companies are starting to understand the value of being a part of this event. Each show focuses debates and sessions on new timely industry topics, new controversies and the hottest TV trends.

Weisler: What are the major trends and topics for this year?

Swedlow: We always cover OTT, advanced advertising, content, measurement, data, etc., this year we are also doing a mini-track on potential repercussions/effects of ATSC 3.0--which is a broadcaster tech that people believe will transform the TV industry at large.

Another area is artificial intelligence (AI)--the way it is being deployed, how it is being utilized, and what companies are planning to do with the technology. Data and the use of AI software are going to influence every aspect of TV experience--with everything from content being suggested to you, to how your TV is programmed, to the kinds of advertising you see. It will be the blood in the veins of the industry. AI will be broadcasters' and networks'--and really any content distributor's or advertiser's--superhero power, providing a turbo boost to data analysis, and allowing companies to use data incredibly dynamically and creatively.

Some other areas we'll be focusing on are the rise of diginets, the increasing importance of social-video creators/influencers, 360-VR film making, and the future of the TV viewing experience. And, of course, measurement continues to be a hugely important topic: among other things, this year we have leaders from multiple ad-industry organizations--the MRC, the 4A's, the ANA , the IAB, Ad-ID and EIDR--discussing the latest work they're doing on setting new standards for cross-platform measurement.

Weisler: What are the major challenges to TV in the next three years?

Swedlow: ATSC 3.0 is coming on very strong and could transform the entire TV industry--but how will that happen? It has the potential to completely change the local TV landscape, but the challenge lies in how will the industry be able to collaborate on the standard. Devices will need a special chip to make ATSC 3.0 happen--and how long will it take for that to reach critical mass? Will consumers be willing to buy the new ATSC 3.0 chip devices? So while ATSC 3.0 has huge potential, it still has adoption challenges to overcome.

Another area is in OTT. While it is a trend/topic we discuss every year, it seems that right now OTT still has a lot of issues to iron out. There is a huge amount of content on the market with so many platforms (i.e. Showtime, CBS All Access, Netflix, YouTube, Apple and more) trying to scale and find a customer base, while customers are trying to figure out what service works best for them. The result has been a lot of confusion for consumers and the creation of the dynamic of binge-and-bolt, where people sign up for a particular service to view one series and then cancel it once that series is over. So, ultimately all of these platforms are dealing with retention issues and trying to figure out how they can better manage these relationships and prevent all these cancelations--or else develop new business strategies that embrace the fact that high churn rates are now normal.

Then of course there is measurement, tracking and data which is always a challenge, with companies still trying to figure out how best to track viewership across platforms, how best to relate viewing data to purchase behavior, how to better manage data, how to share it, what to share (i.e.: privacy issues). We believe AI will play a significant role in the future of this area.

Weisler: Is linear TV dead, evolving or doing just fine as it is?

Swedlow: No it is not dead. In fact it is doing more than just fine. Right now, for example, diginets are emerging as a major new area of innovation in content and advertising. Also, ATSC 3.0--which basically brings IP to broadcast--has the potential to bring rich interactivity to linear TV. It likely means that linear and interactive and onDemand are going to combine in unusual ways.

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com