Week In Review: OTT. Still Not Just A Fad; Sheryl Goes Shopping
1. OTT. Still Not Just A Fad
Not that we ever went there, but there was definitely some residual skepticism over OTT in the industry. That’s why it’s reassuring to hear that several recent studies show that over 50% of American households now have some form of OTT video service, a number that promises to keep on growing.
One of the things that is going to move that needle upwards will be the rapid growth of MVPD-based TV Everywhere once Nielsen finally rolls out their long-awaited TAM (Total Audience Measurement) system. As we’ve noted previously, the main reason networks have put so many restrictions on TV Everywhere is that because those views aren’t counted towards the ratings, they don’t get paid for them. But once those views are counted, they’ll be pushing in the other direction, looking for as many ways as possible to give viewers access to their programming.
The MVPDs will also see this as a boon, as they can upsell customers on faster broadband speeds, all the while increasing stickiness and the amount of time their users spend watching TV.
In other words, it’s a win-win situation all around, especially for viewers who’ll be able to enjoy the expanded access.
Why It Matters
Nothing is changing television more than the shift to OTT, which is responsible for the biggest behavioral shift the industry has ever seen, namely time-shifting. Now that half the households in America have access to OTT, it can’t be dismissed as the province of tech-savvy early adopters any more: this is mainstream. As such, networks will have to adapt their strategies to account for a world in which the people in Peoria stream video as frequently as the people in Palo Alto.
That affects many things— production, scheduling and content acquisition, just to name a few, but he biggest affect it will have is on advertising. The TV advertising ecosystem was not designed for a time-shifted, OTT-enabled world and it’s been very slow to catch up with it.
Seeing these stats will hopefully produce the kind of necessary innovation that forward-thinking executives have been hoping for. (“Hopefully” being the operative word here. The television industry has a terrible tendency to drag its feet on these matters, especially when it comes to advertising.)
What You Need To Do About It
If you don’t currently have an OTT strategy in place, you need to get one. And if you do, you need to make sure it’s centered around a mass audience, not just a bunch of early adopters. That holds true whether you are a network, a studio, an MVPD or an advertiser. This is happening. Make it happen for you.
2. Sheryl Goes Shopping
Several reports have Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg down in Hollywood, looking for celebrities willing to use the new Facebook Live app to live stream their latest adventures. According to the reports, Ms. Sandberg will express her appreciation with a sizable check. That’s because Facebook is doubling down on live streaming, making it a priority in the coming year, said directive coming from none other than Zuckerberg himself.
Why It Matters
Live streaming was easy to dismiss as 2015’s SXSW fad, it’s popularity limited to a few thousand superusers and their fans. But live streaming has legs and it has use cases that go way beyond being a novelty act. If we buy into the notion that video is the new text, then live streaming becomes an incredibly effective way to connect to audiences and create a level of authenticity that’s hard to recreate elsewhere.
What You Need To Do About It
Figure out your live streaming strategy and start playing around with it. It’s as simple as linking your Twitter account to Periscope. Identify what you’d want to live stream, who is best qualified to handle the technical aspects of it and what you’re promoting. For networks, behind-the-scenes and backstage type video has proven very effective, both with scripted series and with sporting events. But that’s just a start and the current period, before live streaming goes mainstream, is the ideal time to experiment.
