Are you ready for Streaming 3.0?
Carlo De Marchis
Advisor. 35+ years in sports & media tech. "A guy with a scarf" Public speaker. C-suite, strategy, product, innovation, OTT, digital, B2B/D2C marketing, AI/ML.
John Kosner has introduced the term "Streaming 3.0" in a recent article with Ed Desser , let's analyze what he means and what are the potential scenarios in front of us.
Meanwhile Formula 1 has introduced a new F1TV premium subscription level, which in my view is what I would, call Streaming 3.0 - taken from another angle (I am still a product guy).
Starting from these two interpretation of what Streaming 3.0 could really be and which scenarios may open up, I have decided to ask two questions: one for John and for F1.
Let's start from understanding what's inside these two concepts, one by one.
What is John Kosner saying?
In his Sports Business Journal column with Ed Desser, John Kosner outlines the evolution of sports media distribution through three distinct phases:
The Evolution of Sports Media
Key Insights on "Streaming 3.0"
Potential New Players in Sports Media Rights
The Economic Model
Kosner predicts that to make the economics work, winners will create bundled offerings that combine:
Kosner concludes that sports rights prices will continue to rise, especially for top properties, as competition intensifies and companies seek to leverage sports content as a retention tool for their core businesses.
Full article: https://www.kosnermedia.com/news/streaming-30
What has F1 announced?
Formula 1 has launched F1 TV Premium, representing what could be considered a product-side manifestation of "Streaming 3.0" with its focus on personalization, enhanced quality, and multi-device functionality.
Key Features of F1 TV Premium
Evolution of F1's Streaming Strategy
F1 TV has evolved through three distinct tiers:
The "Streaming 3.0" Elements
What makes this align with a product-side "Streaming 3.0" vision:
As described by Ian Holmes , Chief Media Rights and Broadcasting Officer at Formula 1, this represents their "continued commitment to improve content offering" by allowing fans to "create a personalized platform" for complete immersion in the racing experience.
Full article: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/f1-tv-launches-new-f1-tv-premium-subscription-tier.46ULoJHnve3zgO0pmiKzrF
My question for John Kosner
Great analysis, John. I appreciate the scenario building in your "Streaming 3.0" vision, particularly how you've mapped out the potential for non-traditional players to enter the sports rights ecosystem.
What I'm particularly curious about is the driving force behind this evolution. Is there a strategic architect guiding this transformation? Is it primarily the tech giants seeking valuable content to boost retention and engagement metrics? Or perhaps the sports properties themselves orchestrating this fragmentation to maximize revenues?
Alternatively, are we witnessing something more organic - a natural market evolution where multiple forces (technology improvements, consumer behavior shifts, financial pressures on traditional broadcast models) are converging without any single dominant driver?
The reason I ask is that understanding the primary catalyst might help predict where this goes next. If tech companies are the driving force, we might expect more bundling with their core services. If it's rights holders, perhaps we'll see more creative splitting of packages. And if it's truly organic market evolution, the end state might be more unpredictable than either scenario.
Would love your perspective on who's really in the driver's seat of this transformation.
My question for F1
Regarding F1 TV Premium, I'm curious about the future vision once this product gains traction with avid fans and achieves more complete platform coverage.
What is the long-term strategy for availability? Will this premium experience eventually be accessible globally without regional restrictions? I wonder why such enhanced viewing experiences should be limited by traditional rights agreements when they serve a different audience segment - the super fans who want deeper engagement beyond standard broadcasts.
Is there a possibility for rights owners in various territories to integrate this enhanced experience into their general OTT platforms through partnerships? This could create a win-win situation where traditional broadcasters maintain their general audience while F1 reaches the avid fans directly.
As an advocate for making global enhanced products available to all dedicated fans regardless of location, I believe there's no real competition here except ego. The casual viewer and the hardcore fan seek fundamentally different experiences. Why not serve both optimally through different channels?
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on how F1 envisions the evolution of this premium product in relation to your existing broadcast partnerships over the next 3-5 years.
What is Streaming 3.0 for you?
Write your take in the post comments when you have time, it could be an healthy debate.
This is episode No. 219 of my LinkedIn newsletter, A guy with a scarf.
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Advisor. 35+ years in sports & media tech. "A guy with a scarf" Public speaker. C-suite, strategy, product, innovation, OTT, digital, B2B/D2C marketing, AI/ML.
1 小时前Read the full response here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/carlodemarchis_streaming-sportsmedia-digitaltransformation-activity-7305913649695490048-eLnz?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAAC-tsBO_D_N03TAVB1nWrP6zaxFvbJ5y4
Founder & CEO | Addressing Challenges, Providing Value
10 小时前OTT had, and has, all along promised a better experience than legacy, one-way distribution modes. What F1TV has done is hit the bullseye by providing to all who wanted the true OTT experience - the ability to watch 'what-I-want-to-watch, how-I-want-to-watch-it and on the-devices-of-my-choice'. Personalisation by way of camera choices, realtime data choices, audio/language choices, etc. is what OTT is all about. Finally, the power of OTT comes forth. I'm now my own content director. Since the tech is, and resources are, available, I foresee this premium experience becoming the basic standard for all rights holders to implement hereafter - not just for sports, but for entertainment, reality-shows, music shows, et al.
Responses (Part 2): 2.????3.0 is about the non-tech sports giants.?Market evolution.?Companies differentiating themselves by targeting sports fans.?The tech and media companies are already playing, so who steps forward over a longer period to take advantage of the value of exclusive sports content. 3.????Streaming services are packaging more.?As the rights costs spike, there will be natural partnerships.?That is how the U.S. cable industry has worked.?Operators funded programming production, with advertisers contributing their part.? Streaming 3.0 will simply be more diverse and interesting! 4.????In terms of F1 … Country-by-country licensing dates to another era.?There were no global media operators in the last century.?Since the 90’s, some have offered regional services (e.g., Sky, Star, ESPN), but prior to streaming, there was no common platform or operator.?When global companies bid more than individual media companies in each country or region collectively, rightsowners will look to license them.?See Amazon, Netflix to date.? 5.????Streaming 3.0 is bigger than sports.??However, we focused only on live sports, observing that the big potential change is in who buys and aggregates the content next.?
Hi Carlo, Some responses from Ed Desser and me about your different questions (Part 1): 1.???We believe that the primary catalyst is organic forces: o???The Internet connecting everyone and providing a global market for sports fandom and viewership o???Improved streaming technology that makes the experience of watching sports on streaming better and better to the point that it is becoming a substitute for traditional broadcast/cable delivery – although still neither as good nor as reliable o???Dissatisfied with the costs and quality of the traditional pay TV bundle, U.S. consumers are “shaving” the cord (moving down from MVPD services to DMVPDs offering fewer channels like YouTubeTV) and to cutting it altogether o???Seeking reach and increased revenues, sports rightsholders are l striking more deals for the same inventory – opening the way to more entities (both traditional and streaming) purchasing sports rights and creating more viewer confusion (finding out what’s where).??Those sports properties with the most leverage are leading this movement o???As streaming services compete for paid subscribers and confront churn, they are moving naturally to add advertising tiers, making sports a logical programming acquisition ...
Gest?o ADM/OP | Sales | Marketing | Finance | Economy - Gerente Operacional da Madeiras Cosme Velho
21 小时前Love this content about sports, marketing and business! So cool to watch the evolution of sports streaming and the IA tools erupting in the markets nowadays and bringing so much alternatives and market disruptions! Love to see it. Specially because it makes the consumer experience so much better and personalized ????