Scandinavians Lead the Way in OTT Video: Here's What's Next
It's not over-the-top television, it's just television. The countries of Northern Europe have been leading the way on streaming TV and the future is seamless convergence.
At the recent Streaming Media Europe conference in London, five experts from major media companies took the stage to talk about how offline and online video are more effective when joined together. For one thing, that lets broadcasters offer more value to advertisers.
"If you look at the ad-selling part, we have just recently started to create the same routines around web TV advertising that we have on the traditional linear broadcasting," said Tommy Jarnemark, head of TV4 Play and on-demand for Sweden's TV4 Group. "We have the same process when it comes to estimating the inventory and stuff like that, so the media agencies are buying traditional TV and web TV at the same time. I would say that now we are moving into a period of time where traditional TV and web TV are getting much more integrated.
"Moving on, that's what we think is the most important thing for the TV industry is to combine all these platforms creating one single universe for advertising. We can't see them as isolated islands trying to maximize their own revenues on their separate platforms. We have to create a single universe where we can say to Coca-Cola, for example, this is the 24-hour [period] where you will have your target group on these platforms, advertising around strong content."
Broadcasters create a stronger package for their customers when their on-air and online options work together.
"We are not moving away from linear TV to something else. It's not either/or. For us, it's TV, but it's TV on all these platforms. It can be linear, it can be on-demand, it can be pay-per-view, or ad-funded or subscription-funded," said Jarnemark. "That's the most important thing for us as a broadcaster to understand, that we are creating content that can be consumed in different kind of formats. That's the beauty of the future, that the viewer can choose whatever they want."
For more from the session, watch the video below.
Over-The-Top Video in Pioneer Land
Moderator: Helge Høibraaten, CEO, Vimond Media Solutions
Sami Kanninen, Head of WebTV, MTV Oy
Tommy Jarnemark, Head of TV4 Play and On Demand, TV4 Group
Kristian Bruaroy, Strategic Advisor, TV 2
Are Olafsen, Director of Sales, UK and Nordics, Thomson Video Networks
The countries of Northern Europe are considered long time pioneers on broadband and mobile. The web TV offerings in this region are unique in having commercially successful services with rich and engaging broadcast content online commercialised through subscriptions and advertisement. How is this innovative online broadcast market developing further? Hear the thoughts of leading commercial broadcasters in the region.
Companies and Suppliers Mentioned