Preparing to go D2C: three takeaways from OTT Question Time #49

Content, technology, customer journeys: what does it take for broadcasters, film studios, and operators to go direct-to-consumer (D2C)? In light of growing demands from hungry audiences, fierce competition for eyeballs and so on, expanding the offering beyond the classic business models is a necessity for many.

VOD Professional’s Kauser Kanji hosted appointment #49 of his OTT Question Time, to try and provide an answer to the question posed above. Our Technical Director, Ashley Horne, sat down with Tom Williams, CEO of Ostmodern, Joe Foster, CEO and Co-founder of Easel TV, and Debbie Leishman, Co-founder of The Subscription Agency.

The conversation deepened rather quickly, and there are at least three takeaways we thought we’d round up. Read on.

#1. Convergence vs stand-alone services

Direct to consumer strategies have developed in the past few years following different trajectories. The American broadcast landscape taught us the elements of convergence, of aggregating services for a more comprehensive offering to be distributed to large audiences. The United Kingdom, instead, did show a different approach, with stand-alone services surfacing with the aim to win more considerable slices of existing audiences, and to meet the business objectives.

In over 15 years of development for the OTT product, the paradigm has somehow shifted. US-based services are now embracing a more D2C-focused strategy – even though there are still content aggregators in the space – while the British landscape is gradually moving towards a process convergence. “There’s been an obvious transition, – our own Ashley Horne highlighted – and for the United Kingdom particularly, the interest is in how compatible the different technologies in use are. Think of streaming bitrates or specific formats required. Monetisation plays a key role in terms of differentiation, too. We do have three to five services in the UK, some free or covered by TV license-related fees, other working as AVOD – with ads served as part of the offering – and then hybrid, SVOD/TVOD. Being able to own the relationship with audiences is much more than just going D2C. It goes from providing the right technology and video workflows, to owning the development of frontend applications to maximise the impact with the end-users”.

#2. VOD to live: who dis?

Free ad-supported television (FAST) channels are a hot topic in the streaming space today. Ashley Horne stated: “It’s a very interesting topic, given the debate that unfolded in the past few years on how relevant linear channels can still be. Thanks to VOD2Live technologies content owners are empowered to quickly create a live, linear channel on the back of VOD catalogues, with the additional benefits of adverts.”

As stressed by the other panellists, content experiences typical of broadcasters’ offerings pre-OTT era have somehow been forgotten in a dusty corner. The advent of ‘on demand’ changed the way users consume content. And the fact that the OTT and streaming space is reconsidering the experience even across services initially conceived as ‘catch-up’ spaces reflects the need for more discoverability across the endless sea of content we are navigating today. It’s clear that creating linear services quickly for thematic content not only adds functionality to OTT services but also distribution and syndication for those platforms taking the content aggregator approach.

#3. Telcos and D2C relationships

The strategic element for telcos to consider is partnerships with content owners, besides the technological infrastructure. It’s key for these entities to make the experience as smooth as possible to maximise traction with new and existing users. Interusability underpins the experience: think of signing up to a service via SMS with a mobile number, or other identifiers that are linked to a different contract, for instance with a network/data or broadband provider. Purchasing flows are at the core of telcos, yet they still need content owners – and other tech providers – to come in and fill in the boxes with specific offerings that can be offered for upsell.

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The full recording of the webinar is available here.