Viewers who consume on four devices watch 42% more TV than those who watch TV only, according to NBC Sports Group.
In a presentation entitled OTT Launch Strategies & Business Models: Case studies from across the industry, Tony Emerson, MD, worldwide media & cable, Microsoft, referred to average time per day watching NBC Olympics to highlight this statement, with the four devices in question being TVs, PCs, mobiles and tablets.
Emerson identified the top five media OTT strategies as being to reach totally new audiences; unlock new niche markets; enhance/grow existing broadcast/linear revenues; create a better viewing experience; and create a closer connection to your audience/fans.
He cited examples of several companies that used Microsoft Azure to enhance their offerings and thereby significantly widen their reach. They included Japan’s Fuji TV, which arrested a worrying trend of seeing the average age of the audience increase by one year every year; Rakuten Showtime, also from Japan, which was offering 120,000 VOD contents and live streaming; NGSN, streaming football; and NBC Sports.
Perhaps most interestingly, he spoke about Real Madrid’s digital transformation. The club is the number one sports franchise in the world, across all sports, but until recently had a very limited digital presence and opportunities for growth.
However, it entered into a technology partnership with Microsoft earlier this year to drive its digital transformation and this has proved very effective.
Only around 5% of Real Madrid’s fans are actually based in Spain and an app created by Microsoft helps the club connect with the remainder, a large number of whom are surprisingly found in Indonesia.
Emerson also revealed that Microsoft spends between $4 billion and $4.5 billion a year on growing its cloud capability.
