The Content Conundrum

There is no arguing with the numbers. Consumers love video. They especially like video-on-demand. They don’t care if it’s long form, short form, professionally created, user generated, fiction or documentary. Our obsession with video is seemingly unlimited. But, do we know where to find that program we heard about? What device do we use to access it? Or, what it costs?

This is the content conundrum. Where do we find the content we want to watch? Is it broadcast or SVOD? As of August 2020, the Leichtman Research group says 78% of US TV households also subscribe to an SVOD service. And, 55% of U.S. households have more than one SVOD subscription. Knowing which channel or service has the content we want to watch is a BIG challenge.

As an example, last year religious groups were disturbed by the Amazon Prime Video series “Good Omens”, however, they encouraged fellow believers to boycott Netflix not Amazon Prime. Or, there is the confusion about when and where to access “The Good Wife” spinoff “The Good Fight”. Which episodes are exclusive to CBS All Access? And, which are available on CBS Broadcast or Amazon Prime Video? Do we subscribe to watch it now or wait until it is available as part of another subscription? We want the content we want but sometimes we don’t know where to find it or how we want to pay for it.

Content search and discovery is a challenge that has existed since the days of channel surfing 100s of pay TV channels – and it has not gotten any better with the rise of OTT services. The interface may have changed from the antiquated grid to the so-called ‘modern’ carousel, but neither resolves the discovery challenge. So, what can video service providers do to retain their valued subscribers?

Pay TV providers are integrating streaming services (Netflix is channel 800 on my service). Roku, Sling TV and Hulu are integrating live TV with their streaming offers. Apple TV, Amazon Channels and The Roku Channel are aggregating various OTT services within their digital storefronts. So, aggregation is possible, but does it just exacerbate the already difficult challenge of discovery.

A lot of very smart people continue to take advantage of data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve what is called universal search (the ability to search for content across all linear or streaming services). But universal search is not yet mainstream, and consumers need solutions, now, that make it easier to discover the content they want. Some short/mid-term options that could allow for easier discovery and consumption include:

·     Assigning favorite channels to your remote control or pinning favorite programs and apps to the top of your user interface

·     Operators and UI developers allowing consumers to personalize the layout of the UI, prioritizing favorite apps or genres

·     Enabling alerts when content is available via your platform of choice

Once the consumer understands which services have the content they want, they are faced with a decision regarding cost. It’s great news if the content is part of a service where they already have a subscription. But what if they don’t have a subscription. Even with ‘subscription stacking’ on the rise there is a limit to the what consumer households will pay for entertainment content. The challenge then lies in managing which subscriptions are turned on or off based on the household budget.

The content conundrum is here to stay. In fact, it will only get worse as direct-to-consumer platforms further restrict the availability of their content on alternate services. Content is the main attraction, but consumers want finding it and accessing it to be easier. The winning video service provider is the one who makes it convenient to discover content and manage subscriptions across a variety of platforms.

What’s your perspective?