Content providers are struggling with the number of different technical platforms in the IP area.
“Our big challenge is that if I look at 20 or so platforms, you’re looking at 15 integrations,” Oliver Slipper, joint CEO of sports distributor Perform. He told the IHS Future of Digital Media Distribution conference that the over-the-top TV sector needed to develop into something more akin to the mobile phone and tablet market. “The technical space is very onerous to get a return on investment. It will sort itself out and there will be two or three category winners within a few years.”
There was support from Davide Turi, marketing manager with Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset, who said that rather than a transition between broadcast and IP there was an integration that represented the biggest challenge in the company’s history.
“In analogue TV it was important to select and package the right content, now we have to provide a comprehensive package to the consumer to deliver that content.”
Tarosh Tavakoli, CEO, Videoplaza, said questions had to be asked as to whether it was sensible to be on platforms with few subscribers. A clear strategy had to be developed.
