How to ensure your TV Service doesn’t get left behind by Apple & Google
OK, so it’s well understood that there’s just too many Video on Demand and online TV services and it has become a real challenge to find relevant content at the right price.
At the 2018 Pay TV Show, Parks Associate’s Brett Sappington said there were 215 SVOD services available in the US !!
I’m sure like me you’ve rented a movie only to discover later that the same movie was available to view for free on Netflix, Amazon or another S-VoD or TV catch-up service. It’s frustrating, and it happens far too often. Many times you don’t even realise you’ve done it. Well, the good news is that Universal Search is designed to ensure this never happens again and both Apple and Google are working hard to ensure that they own this space, ie. the first step in your customer’s entertainment journey. The question is what can you do about it?
1. What are Google & Apple up to?
There are three main steps when it comes to viewing a movie or a TV show as outlined below. Both Google and Apple both want to own step one in this process “Search & Discovery".
Google and Apple are investing significant resource to ensure that when it comes to watching TV and Movies the first step in the customer journey will start with them via their Universal Search solutions.
1.1 - Apple
Apple’s solution was first to market. With their Universal Search, Apple TV and iOS customers in select countries can take advantage of Siri, the TV app or the built-in Search feature to easily find movies and TV shows by title, genre, actor and more from across multiple apps simultaneously. On iPhone and iPad, Universal Search is integrated into the main Search feature, formerly known as Spotlight and accessible by pulling down on any Home screen. Screen shot of search for X-Files TV show below.
1.2 - Google
There are some really interesting developments at Google too. Google TV was in the operator’s face – with Google trying to assert itself over the top of content owners and service providers, but now Google has come back with a more mature attitude and got it right. Google’s current policy of not interfering with the Operator Tier and allowing operators to use their own UIs is going to prove very successful. Most recently Swedish operator Com Hem launched the Google Android tv-based platform Tv Hub. Just like the Apple experience using the voice control on the Tv Hub, based on Google Technology, users can search for tv channels, movies, actors or music by using their voice and talk to the remote control. The search results are retrieved from the content in any of the installed apps, whether it's movies, TV shows or YouTube clips as shown in the image below.
2. How can you keep your TV / VoD service relevant?
For those TV operators that aim to remain relevant they need to compete with Apple and Google when it comes to offering helpful and advanced search and discovery features to their end users. These would include features such as:
- Universal / Cross Catalog Search for linear, catch up and for the leading S-VoD and T-VoD providers.
- Deep linking to the selected movie or TV Show in the relevant content providers app.
- Relevant and Helpful Recommendations based on consumer preference and viewing behavior is an important feature. However, research from Ericsson suggests that majority of us get our recommedations from friends, family and colleagues. Therefore a social recommendation feature should also be considered.
- Personalised Movie alerts users bookmark upcoming movies or TV shows and when they land in a partner T-VoD or S-VoD catalogue the user is notified via push message or email.
- An Open App Store: this is a key challenge for operators that currently offer closed set top box environments. The reality is that pay TV operators no longer provide all the premium video their customers consume. An operator cannot predict what mix of S-VoD, Catch Up TV and T-VoD services each of its customers is using. So, it must have an app store that includes access to as many services as possible. The best way to do this is to pick an open app store that is already available on many other TV devices. Content providers already have an incentive to create an app for these open app stores, and even small operators can take advantage of the scale offered by them. All roads lead back to an Android based solution here !!
3. Conclusion: To Stay Relevant You Have To Meet Your Viewers Evolving Entertainment Needs
Altman Vilandrie Research released data which explored how consumers were dealing with many different sources of TV entertainment. As a solution to the complexity of finding something to watch, A&V asked if consumers would prefer all their services from a single source. 86% of the sample group said that they would prefer a single source.
More recently in Q2 2018 Cellular One conducted research aimed at users of its “Chill VoD” solution which provides universal search and discovery across the leading T-VoD and S-VoD providers in the US market. They found that 87.5% of their customers find cross-catalog search capability very useful. Screen shot of Chill VoD app below with cross catalog search result for Steven Spielberg movies below.
However, this does not mean people want TV operators to curate which services they can and cannot access. Far from it. They will continue to sign-up for and use any service that interests them. What they need is a service that will enable them to perform a cross catalog search of the services that they have across linear, catch up, S-VoD and T-VoD as shown in the image above. Google and Apple are already offering these type of solutions. The good news is that there are companies like Vennetics that can assist you in delivering engaging and advanced Search and Discovery solutions to enhance your existing TV offering and enable you to stay relevant by matching their evolving entertainment needs.
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If you would like to learn more about meeting your customer’s evolving entertainment needs by enhancing your TV / VoD offering with a universal Search & Discovery feature please contact Vennetics.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Great post Jan Michael thanks for pitching in. As I mentioned in the article I think the big shift we're seeing in the market is the reality that pay TV operators no longer provide all the premium video their customers consume. An operator cannot predict what mix of S-VoD, Catch Up TV and T-VoD services each of its customers is using. Many TV providers have put a finger in the dam by adding Netflix to their offering, but what consumers really need is access to an open app store enabling them to personalise their viewing options with relevant content. This ofcourse opens the door to companies like Samsung, Apple, Google, LG, Sony etc. that can provide advanced search and discovery features to consumers from their smart TVs, STB's and mobile devices. Interesting times !
Product and Business Viability Consultant
6 年I believe this is a slippery slope and one that adds value to Apple and Google at the expense of smaller providers.? I've been in that situation where the content that I was seeking was free on one service and available at a cost on another.? In this case - free won.? But, if you are on the other end then what is the value?? So in the situation where the cost of the asset varies, the one who has the largest coffer and can afford the most free content will always win.?? And, what happens when the universal data provider starts charging for position on the search results?? Again, bigger coffers win.?? The fact that so much identical content is available on so many different sources is the challenge and may be the downfall of an OTT provider.? Note that the bigger providers have recognized that too and now offer large amounts of exclusive content.? They also have smarter ways of packaging the content and bringing value beyond the one asset.? And, in many cases they offer user experiences that go well beyond their competition.? So, if you are offering the same content that everyone else is offering and do little to differentiate yourself then you too will fall victim - and I say so be it!?