Energised by the return to large-scale in-person events, 2022 was seen by many as the year the media industry came together again to re-engage, reconnect and innovate. Rapidly evolving consumer trends, new technologies and shifting market conditions have brought new business models to the forefront of an industry in flux.
Looking ahead to 2023, broadcasters and their technology partners are identifying pioneering methods to harness new monetisation streams amid increasing complexity and media fragmentation. BroadcastPro ME spoke to several leading technology vendors and media service providers for a pulse check on the key trends set to shape the broadcast media landscape this year.
Realising a cloud-first future
Media companies of all shapes and sizes are beginning to understand the full potential of the cloud for broadcast and streaming. Cloud and hybrid environments have been on the agenda of visionary media technology providers for some time, but they will continue to find their way into the mainstream of video production and distribution in 2023, as cloud has become fundamental to product strategy and the unlocking of new revenue streams.
“The media and entertainment industry’s shift to the cloud can’t really be considered a future trend anymore – it’s happening right now, every day, on every continent,” notes Venugopal Iyengar, Deputy COO, Digital, at Planetcast International.
Pointing to cloud-based media asset management systems harnessing AI workflows to enable efficiencies, he also explores how cloud-based playout systems can help drive new OTT monetisation opportunities and the growth of FAST channels across international markets. “Cloud innovation is empowering technology partners to enhance almost every area of their product portfolio to design more agile, scalable and affordable solutions to help media brands achieve evolving business goals in the digital-first era.”
Planetcast International considers playout disaster recovery (DR) one of the vital business challenges that can be addressed through cloud innovation. Iyengar notes: “Taking learnings from the past couple of years and looking to 2023, broadcasters of all shapes and sizes have become acutely aware of the need for reliable disaster recovery systems. Cloud-based DR models are democratising access to playout disaster recovery for the global media market. Facility- and location-agnostic virtualised disaster recovery offers a more flexible and commercially viable alternative to traditional monolithic DR models based on a full active/active on-premise set-up.”
Net Insight’s Jonathan Smith, Solution Area Expert – Cloud, sees cloud technology as fundamental to powering growth in the global esports market: “The cloud opens up new opportunities for esports organisations and athletes to create new experiences by ‘meeting’ and competing in virtual environments. In 2023 we’ll see esports scaling even further, reaching more digital platforms, markets and geographies.
“More eyeballs mean more monetisation potential, and this will be a key area of focus for the esports industry this year. As a sport created, produced and distributed in the cloud, esports can also leverage the power of cloud technology to deliver more personalisation and targeted advertising.”
While digital-native esports has been quick to embrace cloud-based production methods, in 2023 we’ll see greater adoption of cloud workflows for traditional event production as the media industry moves out of the experimentation phase and pioneers real-world, feasible cloud use cases.
Robert Szabo-Rowe, SVP Engineering and Product Management at The Switch, explains: “Cloud-based production is now capable of producing live events of every calibre and scale, and in 2023 more content owners and broadcasters will use it for both core and overflow production work. Cloud-based production is now mature enough to be used for large-scale, mainstream productions – however, many broadcasters continue to use on-site and remote production for tier-one live broadcasts, which often involve more complexity around the end-to-end workflow. This will likely continue for 2023, but cloud will increasingly be used to deliver lower-cost productions for second- and third-tier and online events.”
David Bramley, Director at Platform Communications, notes an accelerated cloud trajectory as we begin the new year. “Cloud has been on everyone’s roadmap, with various levels of buy-in, for years, but the necessity to move to cloud production during lockdown accelerated this process. Once you’ve got one workflow on the cloud, media and entertainment companies discovered very quickly that it makes sense to move other workflows there too.
“In the same way that corporates initially used the cloud as back-up for their on-premise solutions and have now moved to on-premise as a backup for their cloud-based IT systems, we’re seeing that cloud is becoming the primary mechanism for many media and entertainment companies throughout acquisition, production and distribution. There will probably always be a place for islands of on-premise storage, but the benefits of spin-up/spin-down economics, containerisation, edge compute and intelligent networks will see the cloud continue to dominate,” he concludes.
IP foundations fundamental to international distribution
For Malik Khan, LTN Executive Chairman and co-founder, the shift to IP video transport is paramount to achieving efficient scale in today’s digital landscape and is a necessary foundation for reaching new international markets: “Bringing niche content to diverse global audiences used to be unfeasible from both a technology and business perspective. In other words, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.
“Today, organisations are pivoting to an IP-first future as they shift away from restrictive satellite and fibre-based models. Pioneering IP video transport technology empowers media owners to reliably and cost-efficiently deliver high-value content to untapped markets, extending reach and elevating monetisation potential.”
Szabo-Rowe shares Khan’s perspective: “Traditional broadcasters are realising that delivering content to their distributors via satellite links is becoming expensive and less available as mobile operators continue to eat up spectrum for their 5G investments. In 2023 we’ll see a heightened push from broadcasters to move to IP-based distribution, now that the technology is proven to be reliable and fault-tolerant – plus it provides improved flexibility.”
New business models for bold media leaders
With challenging global market conditions set to continue in 2023, content owners are searching for ways to drive audience retention while streamlining costs. Growing business models such as free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) and direct-to-consumer (D2C) services are front of mind for many international brands, and technology partners are focused on delivering greater innovation, to turn buzzword opportunities into real-world revenue engines.
Red Bee Media Chief Product Officer Steve Russell spotlights a maturing FAST market as high on the agenda for media leaders in 2023 – “2022 saw the rush to volume as numerous channels were launched to join the FAST explosive growth“ – and continues to keep an eye on optimisation as customers look to achieve greater quality and business impact with FAST. “We expect a new phase in 2023 as the market trends back towards quality – how to make FAST look and feel great in alignment with the wider business.”
MediaKind’s Luke Williams, Sales Director for Middle East and Africa, aligns the move to software-centric technology investments with increased market demand for D2C streaming strategies.
“In 2023, the ongoing development of D2C streaming services will continue to catalyse the industry’s move away from hardware-based static solutions for traditional broadcast, towards software-based managed cloud investments. We’ve already seen a swathe of major content owners undergo considerable digital transformations as they build out compelling D2C streaming offerings, and they will continue to lead the charge in delivering highly engaging and personalised media experiences.
“There is a new competitive landscape emerging, and we can see that in the way content owners are now delivering their D2C services on networks that the local telcos are themselves providing to customers. As the infrastructure powering D2C services continues to evolve, we’ll also see broadcasters and service providers make more third-party partnerships with cloud vendors, to make new technology investments happen faster and cheaper.”
Williams also points to data as a powerful tool for broadcasters to enhance monetisation potential and consumer experiences. “Over the next 12 months, it’s likely we’ll see content owners benefit most from adopting new technical solutions, as the data they receive from customers through streaming is far more personal than we’ve ever seen before. They can see exactly which users are using the platform, what they’re interested in, what age group they are and what adverts they respond to. This feedback loop will play a considerable role in boosting fan engagement and driving new monetisation avenues.”
Streaming battleground for live sports
Frenzied competition and increased fragmentation of sports rights are pushing demand for live event production and distribution services. Szabo-Rowe notes:
“The streaming giants, from Apple to Amazon to Netflix, are all eyeing and buying up live event rights, and this will certainly continue into 2023. This trend in turn has an impact on the production services market, as these platforms don’t have their own broadcast capabilities, despite pitching for top-tier sports rights, so they’re securing their production capabilities from third parties.”
LTN’s Khan likewise forecasts an explosion of rights and licensing deals in 2023. He underlines that to make the most of these, rights holders can harness IP-enabled multicast transmission and powerful versioning technology to enable efficient multi-platform distribution and maximise the value of premium live content. “Through cloud technology and automation-driven workflows, media companies can create multiple versions of that content for both full-time channels and live events, engaging consumers with tailored viewing experiences at scale on any platform, device or continent.”
2023 outlook
Faced with perhaps more complexity – and opportunity – than ever before, content providers, rights holders and broadcasters have it all to play for in 2023. But setting up for success in the new year isn’t just about capturing new and exciting revenue models. Offering a broader perspective on industry macro-economics, Red Bee Media’s Russell emphasises the importance of sustainability from both a commercial and environmental standpoint. Broadcasters need to do more for less to navigate economic uncertainties while taking on board stark messages from COP27 to drive good industry practice in environmental sustainability.
For Khan, and indeed the rest of the experts we spoke to, 2023 is shaping up to be an exciting year. Media companies are focusing on creativity, high-quality content and digital innovation, and the technology community is more than ready to help lead the charge. “Right now, the opportunities for media companies with great content and a bold digital mindset are limitless, and it’s up to forward-thinking technology partners to make those golden opportunities a reality.”
There’s a real sense the media industry is moving faster than ever before – and this year, content providers will need to harness creative and transformational technologies to keep up.
